

The Toughest Test in Cycling - MaxQuentero
http://www.wsj.com/articles/cyclings-bradley-wiggins-to-make-attempt-at-one-hour-record-1429114606?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

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lavamantis
Right at the beginning of my obsession with cycling, I read about this record
and it's most fascinating challenger: Graeme Obree.

Nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman", he made his own bicycles out of washing
machine parts and invented a few new riding positions before being banned by
the UCI.

Pretty interesting cat.
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0037/index.shtml)

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eng_monkey
> he made his own bicycles out of washing machine parts

Wasn't it just the bottom bracket that he reused from a washing machine?

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lavamantis
Nice:

'Obree himself said: "My biggest regret of my career is mentioning to a
journalist that there was a bit from a washing machine in my bike.

"Now forever I will be remembered as the washing machine guy."'

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KerrickStaley
The fastest bikes in the world aren't uprights, they're recumbents with
streamlined fairings. The world-record holder is this one (although for a
distance of 200 meters rather than a time of 1 hour):
[http://www.gizmag.com/human-powered-speed-
record-2013/29103/](http://www.gizmag.com/human-powered-speed-
record-2013/29103/)

The UCI bans recumbents in all racing competitions however:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle)

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paulgerhardt
I suppose that really depends on what your definition of "fastest bike" is.

Recumbents have gotten to 80mph - maybe topping out at 100mph.

Eric Barone took his mountain bike to 130 by riding down a mountain.

Matt Hoffman got a bit faster than that by jumping out of an airplane with
his.

François Gissy got a bit faster than that by strapping a few rockets on –
207mph.

The UCI didn't bother to recognize this records either.

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teslaberry
i applaud you for your open mindedness.

as a lover of bikes, and of recumbents, i kind of get annoyed at the very
predictable 'recumbents are the fastest most aerodynamic bikes' thing that you
get alot from folks.

there might be many reasons the uci banned recumbents. but there is one
primary reason recumbents never have and never will sell well; they are
invisible in urban riding environment due to low seat height.

that and their problems with long chains, heavier weights, and poor climbing
are all very good reasons to accept the generic superiority of the 20th
century generic bicycle.

some things are so perfect, they cannot really be improved upon.

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mrob
If that's the case then why don't we see more faired uprights? It should be
possible to greatly improve aerodynamics without much harm to weight or
safety. I think it's because most R&D is spent on bikes at the top end of the
market, where most customers are pros or want the same bikes as the pros. Even
partial fairings could make a big difference, but we don't see them because
they're banned by the UCI.

~~~
fian
Generally, adding fairings and other modifications to improve aerodynamics
also increases the side-on area susceptible to crosswinds.

For uprights the rider is seated such that the centre or mass is relatively
high compared to the faired/aerodynamic frame/wheels. If the bike has fairings
or wheels covers that increase the side-on profile then a strong wind gust can
push the bike out from under the rider. For this reason front wheel disks are
banned from time trials and triathlons. There is too much risk that a
crosswind gust can destablise the bike and rider.

For recumbents the rider's mass sits much lower to the ground, more centrally
within this faired frame/wheels, so they are inherently more stable to the
effect of crosswinds.

While I don't agree with all the UCI rulings, some of them regarding
aerodynamic modifications are made with safety in mind. For example, triathlon
style aerobars are banned from the peleton. This is primarily because the
rider has less control over the steering and braking performance while in the
aero position.

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dodders
Here's the short video of Merckx's record breaking attempt:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqjEvDlFqdM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqjEvDlFqdM)

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caseyf7
For me, any record will need Fabian Cancellara's participation to be legit.

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TheCondor
Wiggo's not legit? Big Swiss, especially a couple seasons back, seemed well
designed for this record but he's not the time trialist he used to be. Wiggo
won the world championship last year over a fiendish Tony Martin. Wiggins will
set the record and then in a year or a few Martin, on a track bike fitted with
a 58x11, will crush it.

