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Had a few FB posts pop up about the passing of Mike Burrows. Truly a pioneer of bike design, RIP.....
....This morning at 7.30 Mike Burrows Bike Designer/engineer/cycling game changer passed away peacefully in his sleep. His Wife Tuula and Son Paul are very private people so I kindly ask you no phone calls please...Thankyou...
An inspirational man, who will leave behind a legacy.
🙁
Sad news if it's true,a very interesting person.
Met him a few times at Eastway HPV events.
I also had the loan of a Windcheetah for a while,it was a hoot.
That is very sad.
Has been inspiring my bike dabblings since the early 90s and I had the pleasure of attending an IMechE lecture he did at the local University.
Sad day - the Burrows/Lotus bike is justifiably legendary.
Just came across this really good Burrows article which I think is a worthy obituary:
https://theradavist.com/britains-fastest-self-powered-human-mike-burrows/
Ah bugger. I typed that I was wondering how he was in another thread only a week or two ago.
A real legend in the mad as a box of frogs but not kind of way. The world needs more Mike Burrows.
🙁
RIP Mike. Wasn't just aero fast things, he also designed the Giant Halfway folding bike and their Revive semi-recumbent when he went to them as designer.
And of course if you ride a Giant TCR, well there's a little bit of him in there too, since he designed that as well to avoid the need for many frame sizes.
https://inrng.com/2012/05/the-ancestor-of-your-bike/
And of course if you ride a Giant TCR, well there’s a little bit of him in there too, since he designed that as well to avoid the need for many frame sizes
Until about 6 weeks ago I owned the first one in the UK. It did the rounds of the mags and had a 6 page review in cycling weekly starting the sloping top tube compact frame as a mainstream concept. I then bought it from giant as I worked for a shop that sold Giant bikes at the time. The odd stem, steatpost and crazy wheels, all with mike's signature on them. Held on to the frame for sentimental reasons long long after I stopped riding it. My friend bought another one directly from Mike. It was an unused TdeF special for Laurent Jalabert to use on hill stages with acid etched tubes so thin you could squeeze them in with your finger tips.
From what I've seen on TV/internet I think he was a typical British bloke genius in a shed type of person and I think the world of cycling is really worse off with his loss.
From what I’ve seen on TV/internet I think he was a typical British bloke genius in a shed type of person and I think the world of cycling is really worse off with his loss.
Certainly the impression I had of him from friends in the HPV world
I met him once, genuine eccentric genius. He was right about so many things and was a visionary when it came to two wheeled transport.
A sad day RIP.
I had a windcheetah until recently,a great piece of engineering.
Designed the ultimate cargo bike as well. His go to bike.
RIP.
Designed the Jason Miles / Guy Martin 24 hour tandem too. Came across as a top bloke on the accompanying TV show.
Before Mike’s compact frame designs road bikes had been broadly the same design for decades. It’s him we have to thank for no longer clanking our knackers on the top tube.
One of the few people I could actually list as a 'hero'. He looked at bicycle design, which was almost stagnant to true innovation, with a real open mind.
I don't think he would have always been an easy person to work with, but he was a one-man power house of innovation. That he achieved so much at corporate giant Giant is amazing, but it was maybe a fraction of his potential.
This is a nice video summary of his recent book, giving a bit of an idea of his back catalogue:>
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Peter Eland has put up this article on a visit to Mike's workshop:
There is a great documentary on him on GCN, I once was commuting home from work and had bike upside down on verge in Norwich, he pulled up on the very cargo bike above and offered me tools and a track pump and chatted about road singlespeed ratios and had i considered Tannus solid tyres for commuting
Lovely, genuine man, who was often see at Norfolk cycle cafes chatting
It’s him we have to thank for no longer clanking our knackers on the top tube.
More Paul Brodie IMHO.
Just listened to a really good tribute to Mike on Radio 4 Last Word.
I'll look out for that
What A shame.
RIP Mike.
This came up on the mint sauce FB fan page..... Was found in Mike's workshop, Apparently Jo Burt never got his spacers.....
