1995 TIME Helix Equipe HM
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

I wasn't even looking for such a bike, but came across it randomly on craigslist. I remember these bikes when they were new in 1995, I saw them at Open Road Bicycle Shop in Pasadena before they moved to their current location on Sierra Madre Boulevard. These were very sophisticated and expensive bikes back in the day. I was thinking of picking up a new frameset because I felt my Aero Turbo was a bit too small for me. This TIME seemed to be the right size and appeared to be in pretty good condition, so I drove to Oakland to check it out. Turned out it was being sold by Roberto Bicicletas who is a big eBay seller. The bike was in decent shape and Roberto even threw in a nice quill stem. So on June 23, 2012, I brought home a really nice early carbon fiber frameset. The frame had a CyclePath of San Mateo sticker on it, which is my favorite local bike shop. I asked Roberto where he bought the frame, he looked it up online and told me Utah; so its funny how this bike has come home after many, many years.

7/8/2012 - I stripped down the Aero Turbo and transfered most of the Dura Ace 7400 gruppo over. I started building it up on Friday night and finished it Saturday morning. Afterwards I went out for a 20 mile ride in the afternoon and was very pleased. The frameset transferred power very efficiently yet it was comfortable over rough pavement. Overall, the bike felt light and very solid, just what you would expect from a pro caliber bike.

6/2/2013 - I purchased a set of Spinergy Rev X wheels yesterday, a totally vanity purchase. They simply look amazing, even today I can't think of a wheelset that look better. So I cleaned them up and inspected them for cracks, overall they look very good and are quite true. I put on some new Michelin Pro3 tires and Michelin tubes with a 60mm valve stem, which is the absolute minimum you can use without using valve extenders. Since the wheelset came with an 8 speed cassette, it was a natural fit to put them on the Helix Equipe; besides, it follows the non-metallic theme of frameset, saddle, and bottle cage. I took it out for a flat 16 mile ride on a gusty day. Let me say how impressed I was with the speed of these wheels, I was riding one or two gears higher, just cutting through the wind like I never had before with conventional wheels. I still don't trust them much, but for rides on smooth roads without a lot of turns, these sure are fast - and sexy.

7/7/2015 - After selling a few bikes, it turns out this is the lightest and most sophisticated frameset I currently own. Last Sunday I took the bike for a ride and two things were clear - the Spinergy wheels are laterally wobbly and the Cinelli saddle shape is not very comfortable for me. So I ended up putting the original wheelset back on, using the original DA hubs builts with Velocity Aerohead rims. I also swapped out the saddle with the Selle Italia SLR from my Mavic bike, which dropped the weight down to 19 lbs 14 oz.. Moving forward, I plan on making this a hill climb bike and put a SRAM Apex group on it.

9/131/2015 - It took me over two months to do it, but I finally completed my lightweight climber. I swapped the DA gruppo onto the Viva Sport and put the Apex gruppo on the Helix. When it was done, the bike dropped 14 oz., to 19 lbs. flat.

8/9/2016 - I took off the Cane Creek Strados wheelset to put them on the Swiss Cross and put on a set of Cane Creek Aerohead wheels with titanium spokes on the Helix, which dropped 10 oz of weight from the bike.

10/27/2016 - I decided to put the Spinergy wheels back on, primarily because they looked so much better on the bike. I also found a Deda quill stem to complete the all black look. This was particularly hard because I wanted something in the 110mm range, 26.0mm clamp, many quill stems could not get through the tight bend of a compact handlebar, and it had to be black. So the Deda was ideal at 105mm, had a detachable 26.0mm clamp, and even matched the handlebar brand. Finally I installed the Thomson seatpost that I had purchased last year. The weight went up a pound to 19 lbs 6 oz.

4/30/2018 - Since this is such a nice riding bike, I decided to put the more durable Strados wheels back on, and put the Spinergys onto the Aero Turbo. I also installed a new set of Mavic tires, as the sidewalls of the Hutchinson tires were starting to crack. Dropped a total of 8 oz.

6/7/2019 - I put the Cane Creek wheels on the Allez Sprint X1, so I put that Shimano wheelset on the Helix. Just need that proprietary Dura Ace cassette.

6/29/2019 - I installed a 7800 DA Cassette, now the bike is all set.

8/17/2019 - Sold the bike to a person in San Jose.

Here are the specs:

Frame: 1995 TIME Helix Equipe HM, 57cm, 130mm spacing. Serial Number: BF8M56.
Fork: 1995 TIME Helix Equipe HM, 1" threaded.
Wheelset: Shimano WH-R560, natural aluminum.
Tires: Mavic Yksion K10, folding bead, 700x23c, black.
Cassette: Shimano Dura Ace CS-7800, 12-25, titanium.
Cranks: SRAM Apex, 50x34, 170mm, 110 BCD, black. MY2012
Bottom Bracket: SRAM GXP Team BB. ISO threaded. MY2012
Front Derailer: SRAM Apex, braze-on, black. Installed with a clamp-on adapter. MY2012
Rear Derailer: SRAM Apex WiFLi, 10sp, black. MY2012
Lever/Shifters: SRAM Apex, DoubleTap, black. MY2012
Headset: TIME integrated headset.
Chain: SRAM PC 1031 PowerChain.
Stem: Deda Elementi Murex , 1" quill with 26.0mm clamp diameter, 105mm reach, black.
Handlebar: Deda Elementi Piega, 42cm wide, double-butted 6061-T6 aluminum, black.
Brakes: SRAM Apex, dual pivot, black. MY2012.
Pedals: n/a.
Seatpost: Thomson Elite SP-E156, 25.0mm x 330mm, black.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR, black.

The bike currently weighs 18lbs 14oz as shown. The frame weighs 3lbs 3oz (1,445 gm), the fork weighs 1lb 3oz (538 gm).