Graeme Obree – IHPVA Land Speed Record challenge now to take place in UK

Apologies if this has been done before

http://www.humansinvent.com/#!/8856/obree-set-for-land-speed-record-attempt-in-great-britain/

Respect!

100mph!!

Reading the first article they have on Obree, I’ve always wondered why fairings for bicycles have never really been a thing.

That guy never fails to impress me. Not so sure that that fairing will catch. If he needs sponcers then it’s quite obvious which company he should start with.

I hope he doesn’t kill himself because passing through The Pearly Gates at 100mph inside a 10ft condom is no way to make an entrance.

God Speed Mr Obree!

Durex?

😆

Yep. That site that the story is on is really interesting.

“100mph”…do we know what speed he’s done so far?

I’ve always wondered why fairings for bicycles have never really been a thing.

Same answer as to why recumbents aren’t everywhere – they were popular up until the ’30s when the UCI banned them. A bunch of blazer-wearing old men with rose-tinted ideas of what a bicycle is have been limiting cycle sport ever since.

Which is why performance-enhancing drugs are so popular.

The bike is so good to look at as well.

You’d think there’d be some flex in those links from his feet to the cranks (they must have a proper name

impressive stuff tho, I hope he goes down in history as the legend he should be.

I’m sure I’ve seen a small piece of footage where he’s actually riding the bike. Can someone point me to it?
I want to look at the push/pull pedalling method in action.

Found it at last:

Same answer as to why recumbents aren’t everywhere

Still, I see more people riding recumbents than I do faired bikes (I’ve never seen anyone riding a faired bike).
And I can’t even find anywhere in the UK which sells fairings.

I’d’ve thought that a relatively minor modification which reduced air resistance would have seen more popularity.

ive seen a fair few faired bikes in holland – i was riding my tall folder mean while i heard a sound akin to a disk TT wheel coming up behind – turned round and a human powered EGG recumberent wooshed past

I’ve always wondered why fairings for bicycles have never really been a thing.

Too much faff. People like simplicity. And do we really need more speed? It’s dangerous enough as it is going 45mph down road hills.

As for increasing speed – why? If it were a competition thing it wouldn’t help you win cos everyone would have them. If you are out for a spin, who cares? If you are trying to train to get faster, you still get faster, fairings or no.

And where I used to work in Germany there was a shop making fully enclosed low rider two wheel recumbents. As if that wasn’t fast enough, he could add an electric motor capable of 500W for 40 mins!

Got in himmel das is schnell, jawohl!

As for increasing speed – why? If it were a competition thing it wouldn’t help you win cos everyone would have them. If you are out for a spin, who cares? If you are trying to train to get faster, you still get faster, fairings or no.

Transport.

I think most recumbents look uncool and a bit crap, bar this

until you put a fairing on it:

Well, fairings on bikes specifically are a problem as they’re almost unrideable in crosswinds – you can put on a small nosecone and tailbox, but any more and they get pretty sketchy.

Speedys are pretty cool, but not very road practical – HP’s new full-sus folding trike is coming in the spring, and they’ve been producing silly videos about it:

Molgrips like this.

On a side note – how come the record is allowed to be set on a 6% descent?!!!

No idea where they get 6% from – it’s 0.6%:

http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2012/whpsc_site.htm

Ben, what’s impractical about the speedy and what’s better about the one in your vid?

Have you tried a Speedy? 🙂

I’ve owned several – they’re beautifully made, and on a perfectly smooth open road they’re a blast to ride. But they’re also very twitchy, have no suspension, are basically bui8lt to size, and don’t do luggage or other stuff very well. They’re race trikes, and very good for racing, but not for other stuff, and I found them too delicate for normal road use. They also have lots of specialist parts on them.

The Scorpions are touring trikes, really – more relaxed steering, can carry luggage, can have very good mudguards, can fold up, can be full suspension, can have normal brakes and gears, and don’t mind hitting potholes.

It’s the difference between a time-trial road bike and a MTB, really. Neither is “better” as such…

What you all REALLY want is this. Sure, it has a motor but the upside is worth it…

OK, the massive perspex dong has placed half chewed banana on the monitor… 😕

Ta Ben, never tried either, the Speedy just looked like a bike I#d want to ride.

bencooper – Member

No idea where they get 6% from – it’s 0.6%:

http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2012/whpsc_site.htm
Cool – I thought 6% was unlikely!

Ta Ben, never tried either, the Speedy just looked like a bike I#d want to ride.

Mark and Sanny have been talking for years about doing a MTB recumbent feature for the mag – maybe I should get onto them about that again. I’ve got a new full-sus Scorpion demonstrator arriving next week – chuck knobblies on that and it’ll be fantastic fun…

No new info here, but some nice photos.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/534749/obree-ready-to-lay-it-down.html

More on the article.

Anyone heard anything else on this?

I’d want something more than an inch of air between my chin and the tyre!

And twixt fingers and spokes!!!

Own up, who else has a kitchen like this?

I cant believe he is using a QR on it. If I were planning on riding at 100mph I would be going for the most secure method possible.

I really hope he didn’t just realise he wasn’t going to get close.
Fingers crossed.

What’s insecure about QRs?

I didn’t think he had a chance, until I saw a cross-sectional picture of the thing – it’s tiny! He may well be on to something…

ooh – an update!
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/535644/graeme-obree-gets-ready-for-speed-record-attempt.html

Looks like he’s now aiming for Nevada again, but next Sept.
No mention (afaics) of what speed he managed.

does he have a project funding donation page?