How did I not know about this?

His was a remarkable
His was a remarkable achievement, although the spin put in from the journos is a little off the mark. He rode a quality Reynolds 531 frame with good quality gearing that matched his actual speeds well, so although its easy to be seduced by extra gears and losing weigh from the bike they don’t actually translate to massive gains on the road. This said I reckon his old tyres would run slower than up to date designs, and the road conditions were certainly worse than we would have nowadays.

Even now the audax mob will sway towards a steel steed as it gives you long term anti-fatigue riding (along with Ti) and I believe its comfort and fit which dictate long distance performance.