Industrialized Cyclist Notepad

Flying Scotsman thinks he may have figured a few things out about building a world-record recumbent. Seriously looks like he may be on to something, again! This looks like the position he always wanted — not Superman but Human Missile.

“You just roll it and go up through the gears. If you get into the top gear you are already doing 80mph,” he said.

The wheels are home-made but are the same size as those used on BMX bicycles, and the gears are from a conventional bike.

While he is confident that “the engine remains in decent nick”, the bid will be as much a test of engineering as physical strength.

His riding position, which will have him lying horizontally on his front, pedalling head first just a few inches from the road, is completely unlike the design used by Whittingham to set the existing record. The Canadian, like other speed cyclists, rides in a reclining position, with his head at the back of the bike, and his legs turning pedals at the front.

To maximise aerodynamics, Obree will also be surrounded by what he calls “the skin”, a carbon shell that is reinforced with bullet-proof Kevlar so that it does not disintegrate if he crashes. “It’s basically a torpedo – a land based missile,” he said.

via The 100mph bike – designed in the bath and made from an old saucepan – Telegraph.