Superb: Mali Track Bike
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Superb: Mali Track Bike

Mali-PINP.jpg

If there’s one thing I love about small track frames, it’s when the drops are lower than the front wheel. Ever wonder why Keirin racers wear carbon-knuckle gloves? Well, it has a little to do with protection if they crash and a lot to do with catching their knuckles on their opponent’s rear wheel during a sprint. That’s what I was told by an old racer in Tokyo. Nuts right? Not that this Mali track bike is Japanese or NJS, but it’s a perfect bike to illustrate that point on. In fact, this frame is Russian.

Galina Yenyuchina rode it to victory for the URS in the 1994 World Sprint Championships. It’s now for sale at Superb and there are some details to die for on this frame. This is the kind of innovation (or gimmicks) people used on their bikes when limited by steel as their material. Kinda nuts right?