CORIMA COUGAR
A road-going version of Boardman’s Hour record bike
This bike will be instantly recognisable to many British fans as the road-going version of the bike that Chris Boardman set the Hour record on in 1993. Riding on the Vélodrome du Lac in Bordeaux on the Tour de France rest day, Boardman set a new record of 52.270km, just six days after his rival Graeme Obree had set a new record on the Hamar track in Norway.
Not only was it a brilliant ride by Boardman, one year after his Olympic gold medal-winning ride in Barcelona, it was a brilliant bit of timing. With the Tour’s press pack in town, coverage was guaranteed and Boardman duly signed a pro contract with Roger Legeay’s Gan team.
It no doubt helped that he set the record on a French bike. Based in Loriol-sur-drôme, just south of Lyon, Corima was set up by two French carbon experts in 1973. It wasn’t until 1988 that they built their first cycling product, a disc wheel. Four years later they came out with the Corima Cougar, favoured by track sprinters as well as Boardman.
This is the (rather more ugly looking) road-going version of that bike, but its tube profiles are unmistakable. Around 1,000 Cougar frames were built, with those destined for professional athletes having a bespoke custom build. The remaining frames were available in a limited number of sizes, had a slimmer, but more curved down tube, a seat tube that took a seatpin, and a modified head tube to take road-going forks and stem.
This bike no doubt graced Britain’s dual carriageways early on Sunday mornings, with its rider dreaming of being just like Chris. You won’t see many, if any, Corima bikes in TTS these days, but their carbon wheels are still popular on the road and track.