In 1987, Stephen Roche rode a Battaglin steel frame to victory in the Giro, Tour and World Championships. The guys at GCN decided to try it out and compare it to a modern bike.
In the intervening period, bikes have come on in leaps and bounds. The Battaglin has Columbus SLX tubing, which was a high spec at the time, but is still significantly heavier than carbon fibre frames. The below description of SLX is from Columbus.
“Superbutted” tube set specially designed for professional cyclists, featuring five spirals for greater rigidity in the joint area or the bottom bracket. Double-butted tube ends.
Other major differences between the bikes on trial were the downtube shifters, toe clips and 7-speed block.
