>Hi Jerry, all. Odd how the suspension forks seemed so decisive for a
>couple of years in P-R and then disappeared. I don't suppose they
>were banned?
The suspension ban came much later. The story is that Mapei's sponsor, Colnago, wanted to showcase their new "Precisa" forks. The forks had a reputation for being harsh-riding, and perhaps Colnago wanted to counter that by having them used in Paris-Roubaix. (This is speculation and rumor, I don't have good sources for this.)
Anyhow, Mapei couldn't use RockShox, so they looked carefully at other factors that could improve comfort and speed on the cobbles. The story is that they ran very low tire pressures, and they won impressively two years in a row.
Granted, Mapei was a powerful team, and might have won anyhow, but their 1-2-3 win in 1996 was pretty astounding.
Anyhow, details about the new Bicycle Quarterly, including a photo of the favorites in the 1994 Paris-Roubaix, all on RockShox, are at
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/
Anyhow, once Mapei had shown that you didn't need suspension to win Paris-Roubaix, others also abandoned the bouncy forks.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com