The Awesome Engineering Of Land Speed Record Bikes!
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- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2024
- The faired recumbent bicycles used in land speed record attempts are extraordinary pieces of engineering. Ollie visited the Aim93 team at London South Bank University who have been building their own machine to try to break the world record in order to find out more about the work that goes into making the fastest human powered vehicles in the world!
00:00 Intro
00:43 What is a Faired Recumbent?
01:26 How Fast Can They Go?
03:00 Aiming for 93 MPH
04:57 A Novel Drive System
07:30 Training for a World Record
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What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone on two wheels? 🚴💨 Let us know in the comments below! 👇
Around 85 km/h, downhill of course
80/85kph once on a Bad local road and vowed never to do it again….. it’s not worth it!! But my head thinks 60kph on a downhill is ok regularly 🤷🏼♂️
89km/h. And it was beautiful. It was however on a closed road, good road surface, ideal conditions. It's not something I'd like to do on a normal road.
50 mph alone, 55 mph in a pack. Downhill, of course, on California coast with side winds from the Pacific.
around 55km/h with a blast of wind in the back, flat ground
Thanks to GCN for the video, and good to meet Ollie on the day of filming.
A few spec details for my streamliner seventyseven (the blue bike in the film).
Target speed: 77mph (hence the name)
Actual speed achieved: 73.79mph (twice!)
Weight: 35kgs (the lightest BM bikes are down at 21kgs)
Gearing - primary drive: 85T chainring to 12-32T ultegra 11 speed stripped down to 9speed (still 12-32T)
Gearing - secondary drive: 34T to 17T
Wheels: custom made SMC carbon tri spoke, disc-brake wheels, 406
Tyres: Michelin Blue 406x44mm (actually measure at 41mm) - these tyres were initially made for the shell mileage marathon. Crrr somewhere between 0.0021 and 0.0030 depending upon the surface
Monocoque shell: carbon fibre / carbon kevlar composite with hex core interlayer
Cda: 0.0195 (approx 1/8th of the best TT position)
Brake: Front wheel only - TRP dual piston mechanical on 180mm rotor
Steering: limited to 5 degrees in each direction
Navigation: 2x micro Foxeer 1500TVL drone cameras (90 degree FOV) with a 10” primary screen (with DVR) and 5” backup screen
Data: Garmin 520 with speed sensor on rear wheel (gps won’t work through the carbon shell)
Bike cost: approx £6k build cost, and £4k in shipping to and from USA
Definitely room for improvement, but it was a good privateer entry if I do say so myself. Huge thanks to all of my team for their superhuman efforts to get the bike out there and for support through the week…
Happy to answer questions below.
It’d be great to get GCN out to BM to cover the event properly…the French team (UIT) stand a really good chance of breaking the world record (89.5mph) this year (‘23) with Francois Pervis riding
Thanks for posting the details.
Dude that's awesome!!! Amazing work. I never realized how interesting recumbent bikes could be.
Thanks for letting Ollie sit in the bike Russel! So cool to see all the details laid out like this 👀... We wonder what the GCN community would make of this speed weapon! It's crying out to be in the bike vault 👉gcn.eu/app
so cool!
Hey Russell, why don't you use the legendary michelin radial 45/75R16 tire? Is the blue flange 44-406 better suited for high speeds? What inner tube do you use?
Finally! A bike that won't ruin Ollie's hair.
😂😂
Don’t worry, the silca wax keeps everything in place 😅
Classic!!!😅😅😅
Actually it will. He will be so scared at those speeds, his hair will be sticking up like a hedgehog.
I’d love to see a full GCN+ documentary on how they get on at battle mountain. Such an insane event.
Very awesome thank you GCN and Ollie for covering this niche very high end pinnacle of speed event for our sport. I’ve volunteered and competed at Battle Mountain over the past 20 plus years of this events existence. The sharing of information between teams and pushing each other to succeed and break records is awesome during this week long event. By the way it’s University of Toronto’s Excel spreadsheet and some of my footage used in this!
Thanks a lot Mike, glad you enjoyed it!
Could you do more on recumbents/velomobiles? They are interesting bikes 🤔
Indeed they are! For some more innovative tech, why not check out our film we made on 3D printed bikes on GCN+! 👉 gcn.eu/3Dprinted
+ one to that. And good job GCN :)
No, UCI banned this type of bike, and this channel is the peppy of big brands and UCI. No one paid them for the recumbent contains.
@@user-zu4nl7bm9e uci will have to retink the dcision of banning recumbents, I say its the next bike you need to have after the gravel and electric bike craze.
@@fiix7026UCI works hand in hand with the automotive industry. Had the UCI not banned recumbents, then recumbents would have been made mainstream and mass produced to the consumer which consequently would have led to velomobiles becoming mainstream. We could have had “motorways” just full of human powered velomobiles going at comfortable speeds of 50mph-60mph. I know the idea sounds ridiculous but that’s only because we live in car centric cultures.
Love this! This is a great companion to the HPA (human powered aircraft) piece.
Would you consider going to Battle Mountain and doing a presentation as its going on?
Great video - as an Engineer in a space agency and a very amateur but enthusiastic cyclist, this was super cool. Also enjoyed the friendly dig at Ken Buckley - I used to sit next to him in physics class :)
I'm glad to see you guys cover some recumbent content. Great video. Please produce more featuring bent bikes.
What should we do on recumbents next? 👀
@@gcntech Maybe how the drivechain is a bit different on velomobiles than on roadbikes. (I'm intrested in those differences) And there is a difference with backwheel sizes. From 20 inch to 28 inch.
And in fact velomobiles can replace a car when you open minded for them. So for a cycling fan it can be a cheap car. (That is why I ride my velomobile.)
Do some videos with recumbents drafting in a group ride.
Brilliant stuff. I'm busy building a velomobile to my own design in my garage which is very soon to be released on the unsuspecting public roads and hopefully take on Ollie on my local 10 mile TT before the season is out. Small problem of collapsed front suspension requiring a redesign at present!
Ollie is shaking in his boots 😬
Imagine a Grand tour with these bikes. The peloton would look like a bunch of bullets racing
Problem is the weight of these bikes, they are heavier than normal roadbikes and not that easy to pedal up a hill. But putting them on an oval racetrack would be interesting 🤔
I'd imagine the riders wouldn't be too keen 😂
There is an HPV racing series Down Under. By coincidence, a day ago I just watched a few of their race videos. No scripts, just video. They are three wheeled, larger aero bodies, different classes, and run on closed auto course. Was an interesting short-hour’s studying/entertainment.
This kind of bike is a KOM hunter...😅
Time trialling would be really cool on these. But the riders would absolutely hate mountain stages on that.
Brilliant video Ollie. Bonkers speed from a human machine, truly amazing.
This is SICK 🤯🤯🤯 Guy Martin eat your heart out!!
Would love to see more coverage of their progress
All kudos to Chester Kyle.
I am really enjoying the video's about recumbent cycle machines, super interesting. Thanks very much GCN.
so cool. would love a GCN+ film on this
I subbed to Russell Bridges channel about a week ago after coming across his 77 build and riding videos. It's 77 as in 77mph.
Would you like to see more of Russell on our channel? 👀
@@gcntech . Yes I'd love to see more. Watched most of his videos on his channel. Love seeing the recumbent bikes appearing on GCN. RIP Mike Burrows who was working on building his own land speed bike at the time of his death.
Interesting video, love the technology and engineering aspects, great to see more of this mixed in with the regular bike vids.
Fascinating stuff. I am glad that there is still enough interest to pursue mechanical engineering problems too there limits. I love this stuff. Thanks Ollie 👍✌
People always push the limits of a machine 🙌
Really enjoyed that guys! Cheers
Great video! I love it. Wish all the best to riders in the upcomong montain event.
I love this so much !
When I was in school I had the chance to participate with a teacher in the Shell (boo!) Eco Marathon. It was the same type of vehicles but powered by tiny lawn mower engines.
I've been fascinated by tear shape vehicles and the aerodynamics of it all ever since.
They made a mobile game out of that, called Shell Eco Marathon. You drive electric cars in it.
Imagine if the UCI didn’t exist and major bike brands can optimise recumbents in terms of power delivery, comfort and handling, could’ve really revolutionised manpowered human transport if some roads are built around those
They should have a tour de France race with no rules except no motors and no uci rules
Fast bikes are a threat to car manufacturers.
I don't think one can really do pack road racing on recumbent bicycles, I think the handling is too compromised for that. But I can easily imagine a time trial cup with F1-style competition between manufacturers.
The UCI has no jurisdiction on non competition bikes.
That's what I've been lamenting on, for years.
UCI is ruining it for decades.
Very cool video thank you.
Thank you GCN!!! The USA based Bicycling Magazine has not and will not do a single story (been over 30 years) on Velomobiles much less the human power speed challenge
This was awesome.
Thanks Doc and crew
You're welcome!
You're welcome!
Best of luck to all the team at LSBU! Hope they smash it! 8:38
'THE' ken!
I got a velomobile just a few month ago and it is amazing how fast you can get with it. I can get up to 50km/h on flat roads without any problems and keep them for a longer time.
Nice! Do you live in a particularly flat area?
@@gcntech No, I live in the middle of upper Austria and ob my way to work I have 120m of elevation to climb on the 20km (and 50m more on my way home) That‘s the reason why I put an electric assist in my velomobile which works like an ebike. I get assisted up to 25km/h which is great on uphills.
I noted that Son-of-Hank's-Dad was shown as if 'in training' for an event...could it be that GCN is planning to attempt to kill him again with another speed challenge?? I really lived seeing that machine in motion. This was a really cool vid Dr. Bridgewood thanks!!!
We can't kill off everyone 😉 someone has to make the videos!
Can you do a documentary on these guys journey to Battle Mountain and the results
How about our film on the Word's rarest bikes?! 👉 gcn.eu/wrb
Very interesting. Those speeds are insane
They certainly are! We couldn't imagine doing that on a normal road bike! 😳
You should revisit recuitment bicycles more often as they are usually overlooked and people only pay attention to what they see in the big races where these bikes are banned
We'd be glad to, we find them very interesting!
Great content for bike enthusiasts...thanks for that...Speedish representation of possibilities ❤ ( only 40mph downhill to answer the question)
Having ridden a recumbent for many many kilometers up and down mountains... I can confirm that riding those things it is so difficult to put down the power! But boy are they fast!
They make it seem very easy! 🙌 Do you prefer to ride a push bike or recumbent?
@@gcntech that's a good question... When it is flat those things are unstoppable - even with a trailer and 30kg of baggage I was flying past the roadies... But as soon as I hit an incline... I just wanted to cry. So on average, my roadie background favours a traditional race bike. But they certainly have their place in the right conditions.
I want to see British strongman Eddie "The Beast" in one of those giving his best effort! :D
Could you please do some videos on upright faired bicycles?
I find it bizarre that this technology is even more obscure than recumbents. Of course, recumbents are extraordinary technology. But up right bicycles that have fairings or are completely encased could allow both incredible speed and allow cycling uphill, which recumbents, to my knowledge, cannot do easily.
The only thing wider than the gulf between 89 to 93 mph, is this video's aspect ratio.
Need to get Top Ganna in one of these 😂.
I came here to post exactly that. 👍
Aww the graphics at 1:00 have a little Hank in there!
really a great expose on the strange world of aerodynamics and the recumbent position. really excited to see where this all goes. human power is amazing. was a bit shocked to see the broccoli headed fellow with a strange glottal stop saying he's going to represent britain. is anybody british now? it's happening here in the US as well.
I see the D.TEK recumbents Uk "big blue " optima is going strong as a warm up recumbent for the team 😂
We are super grateful to D.Tek for their support with the beloved Baron - this bike is our essential training tool for our riders - Mozes has been riding it at BHPC races this year
This is amazing and looks super-scary. But how do they stop at the end? Is there a team to catch them?
Yes. Thereis a team to launch and team to catch at the start and the end
Now imagine taking these concepts and applying them to a bike that can be used on a daily basis. Aerodynamic advantages, but in an usable form. Protection from the soggy English weather. Something you can ride in comfort year-round. That’s a velomobile. Buying one was one of the best investments I’ve ever made.
A great bit of geekery. More please.
What about recumbents for ordinary riding?
One of the tires I know - the new Schwalbe Pro One TT tubeless that appeared at Eurobike last year. The other appears to be a Michelin…. something. Not sure why no mention was made, after saying how important the tire choice is…
Probably Michelin Power Competition.
Michelin Blue Flange
Not GCN sponsors...
You should try shapping the outside like a golf ball to reduce drag
Never getting dropped when you ride this🎉
WOW
)) beautiful
I might be sensitive but I think the mob is howling for a GCN presenter at Battle Mountain. You can borrow my velomobile.
Silica wax AND a couple of Dura Ace chains? Marginal gains!
Hank needs to race in the Battle Mountain HPV
Pretty interesting they are using an alfine geared hub. I thought the efficiency wasn't good enough for racing
I saw that but I guess the trade off in efficiency is worth it for the advantages it brings?
Some teams used Rohloffs 10 years ago but now the top teams use cassettes that slide (rather than the derailleur moving sideways) to keep the chainline straight.
We are exploring both options - hub and derailleur. We acknowledge the geared hubs lose some efficiency, but when in optimal gear, not so much (which we can then use physical gears either side of to optimise for use in that one at the speeds we need). And that of them all, Rohloff appears to be the best (also most expensive). Shimano Alfine was a cost effective solution for prototype testing the setup. But all the data we have found only shows efficiency testing at road speeds; we are at least doubling those from design spec - possibly, up to a point, making the gears a bit more efficient - we have an efficency test rig set up based on the CeramicSpeed FTT model in which we will be testing this. And as per Tim's comment below, it brings a massive advantage in mechanical assembly / tuning, especially if we need a crossover drive axle anyway, in having a fully contained gear system contained within that, and machined to Shimano or Rohloff's tolerances and QA, which we probably can't achieve in-house. The rig visible in that video is a mock up to enable us to mount that hub onto last year's transmission chassis, so that we can get riding it soon, and tune the ergonomics of the rider position as well.
50+ km/h with a roadbike and a trailer downhill. 53Km/h on a roadbike on the flat no wind, 62km/h with a tailwind roadbike 1% or less downhill, and 82km/h on a mountain bike downhill.
This thing with a Bosch CX Performance motor and you could go over 100mph with around 1kW of power😍😍
Human power rules!! Motors are by definition inefficient compared to HPV!
I'm ptetty curious why they use a front drivetrain instead of one that is rerouted to the back of the bike since there are the presented issues with having it in the front.
I would love seeing ganna ride one of these😂😂😂
I've no doubt this has already been considered, but why not add a crank to contribute arm strength to the system? Steering could be automated adding a servo and electronics to keep bike centered on a line, which would add weight, but surely more than worth it to put the arms to work?
imagine Ganna driving that bike on a 4 min stretch
Wondering what the pavement surface is like on Battle Mountain? Are there marginal gains which could be realized if the resources existed to specially prepare the road way? Not sure what would be optimal (budget no object). Polished concrete?
The pavement is standard tarmac but kept smooth and well maintained because of this event.
Thanks. Wondered if they watched over this stretch of road in any special way or not. Good to know the kind of do.
@@Canuck38 It's been 10-15 years since the road was repaved. It was okay in 2019 (not great). There were no events in 2020-2021. The road was much worse in 2022. Riders rode in the left lane for most of their runs as it was a little smoother with fewer cracks than the right side. Rolling resistance has gone way up. But it's still fine for motor vehicles, thus there are no plans for repaving at this time.
best quote of all: "it's like getting into a toothpaste tube" 🤣🤣
6:44 It's not really a bigger problem finding fast tires for the small 20" wheel. Actually, the three best rolling tires ever made are 20" tires. Though some of the fastest road bike competition tires are creeping closer and closer to them.
I think rotating weight is still going to be unimportant. You're still storing energy in the peaks of power input, which will reduce losses in the troughs. Even if continuously accelerating, the heavier wheel will just accelerate more smoothly at the same overall rate instead of the rate surging and dipping with each stroke.
It'll still have the effect of its raw weight, but the rotational effects mostly cancel out.
I wanna know if they go out for recumbent training rides around the traps like upright cyclists
I believe some of them may go training around Richmond Park in London. I'm sure it turns a few heads!
I believe some of them may go training around Richmond Park in London. I'm sure it turns a few heads!
Wouldn't one of these speedy machines be a great alternative to motorized vehicles for commuting or other kinds of going somewhere? (not inside the city of course…) Maybe even traveling fast and far?
Commuter bike steered through a camera and video screen. What could possibly go wrong? 😉 Seriously though, it does offer some advantages in terms of weather and distance.
I want to see one of these with a 2kW high end electric scooter motor.
What are the requirements/rules of this challenge...can you use custom components with everything or do you need to use any particular parts as stock (yea I know this is not UCI regulated, luckily, but...are there any constraints)
The only real constraint is safety features such as helmet, safety harness, possible roll bar. Other than that if you pass the initial safety inspection and can get anything you down the road on the two and a half mile qualifying run, you can use ay thing you want to build the bike. Some of the shift mechanisms actually move the cassette rather than the chain so the chain is always in a straight line for better drive train efficiency. there has been more than one rider that rode head first lying on his back using a mirror to look down the road to see where to ride. This contest is about improving the technology(and riders) to make the bikes go faster.
Aerovelo's Eta (current record holder) might have reached a hundred miles an hour with a longer run-up.
So, how do they solve the rolling resistance / rotating weight issues?
Or is it all secret?
Rotating weight is not really an issue. I don't know why that was brought up. Teams look for the lowest RR tires that are available in the size of wheel that they plan on running. (Sometimes, available tires dictate the wheel size) The fastest tires are in 700c but they require really long legs to straddle the wheel. There are some uncommon tires in size 406 with low RR, Blue Flange Michelin solar car tires, Schwalbe or Conti will make a special run of low RR tires. The current record was set on special 650c Conti 4000 S2. I think they left out the puncture resistance belt.
Ellen Vugt was one of the fastest women in this field for years, bought my recumbent bikes (non-faired, I'm just a tourist ;) ) in her / her husbands shop. Lovely small world, and going over 60MPH on human power only without even someone in front keeping one out of the wind[1] must be AWESOME and SCARY as hell. Crashes happen and at that speed and only having the thin epoxy skin of the bike preventing from ones body scraping on the ground, brrrr...
[1] In some class of upright records there is a car in front that pulls what is essentially a wall in front of the rider, that of course also goes really fast but the horse power involved in the car is far from nothing.
I want one to drive to work. Where can I get one?
What the F!! That green thing there is Soup Dragon by THE (late) Mike Burrows, and not a single word about it aside from the inboard camera mention.
Yes correct. In 2019 it was brought to the speed challenge by London Southbank university and ridden by Russell. However it was a nearly unrideable machine with Burrows original setup. Over the course of just 4 sleepless days and nights the team transformed the inards of the machine from Burrows front wheel drive hub center steering with very limited steering, to a much more controllable rear wheel drive machine with conventional front fork steering. They drove 200 miles to the nearest department store to buy a kids and adult bikes to cut up and use parts. They also borrowed from other teams, bonding and creating stuff. Less than a month before Burrows passed away this year Barney Townsend in this video visited with him and received the latest build from Burrows. The teams all wanted to run tests for him before he passed away.
It feels like the drive system could be smarter than two chains and stuff. And suspension would help too.
More fairings(!) and more UCI-alternatives on this channel please. So instead of arguing about sock length we could actually push our human abilities forward.
I wonder if the tires were metal and the road was a train track that would make things faster?
In the pursuit of speed I think anything is fair game, including the material of the road.
I wanted to see Ollie getting OUT of that blue bike again.
I'm not sure anyone wants to see that 😳
Traditionally the British recumbents have not competed for the world speed records successfully. In credit for the bike that Ollie sat in the real is more scientific than the previous generation presented here. But what do I know as a Nordic champion, who adviced the fellow countrywoman engineeress on the record holding Dutch bike. The seat responsible engineeress is Finnish like me.
Very interesting content! How much money is involved to realise this project?
We didn't ask but probably quite a bit! 😳
@@gcntech 😅👍
See Russell's comment (description of his vehicle)
Completely ignoring costs of bike development, design and build in both human hours, space and manufacturing resources, and materials, it costs something around £20k to take a team of 8-10 people including rider to WHPSC in Nevada, when you factor in flights, motels, shipping of bike, food, vehicle rental and fuel. London South Bank University have been incredibly generous in supporting this in our trips so far, but the pot is not bottomless, and we of course welcome any further financial support from sponsors to help with this and the general longevity of this project.
How does ventilation work? Especially in the desert in Nevada, USA.
pre cooling and some ice and the race is over in 5 minutes
ventilation make you slow (they get a little bit of fresh air from the wheel well, mostly to breath)
It's different in each of the bikes. The fast folks shroud their wheels within the fairing and use the tires as pumps to direct air to either the rider's face or to a breathing mask. Or a rider will use a mask, breathe in cockpit ambient air and exhale out of the mask overboard. The difficulty is that the speeds reached at Battle Mountain are much higher than achieved during development testing at home. Thus, the fastest vehicles are usually the ones that only make minor changes each year rather than starting from scratch.
@@larrylem3582 Thanks
Why have the camera on a stalk? and are they going to use a textured finish at the back to keep the air flow attached, then there wouldn't be any rough air at the back for the camera to hide in.
Imagine using km/h instead of mi/h 😱😱 Rule24
If you were in tbe prone position instead of supine could you leversge your body weight for more power? It would be rear wheel drive too, which would solve the steering/chain problem
no, because body weight never helped anyone get more power down: what goes down must come up... plus, in the prone position you can't really breathe. Or hold your head up.
I had the same thought a couple of years ago and looked into it. A number of people tried it in the early years, and IIRC it turned out there was a greater aerodynamic penalty from the longer fairing (more surface area in turbulent flow) than there was power gain from the prone position. I think they said something about greater risk of catastrophic steering wobble because of the longer frame, too (lower overall frame stiffness).
Oh, and there was also the importance of shape. To get maximum laminar flow, which significantly reduces drag, you want the widest point of the fairing to be somewhere around 65-75% back. In a prone position you've got the widest part of your body, your shoulders, up front, so you either have to make the front wider and lose some laminar flow, or you've got to keep widening the fairing behind the shoulders, which makes the whole thing bigger and increases aerodynamic drag by increasing surface area.
@@clawsoon interesting, thanks!
@@shermer75 No problem, it's an interesting subject!
Window? Viewing port maybe?
Would an upright bike be faster if it has a streamlined body shell?
Of course, search Google for a graphic for an example. Of course, these bikes were not as fast as enclosed recumbent bikes, but the difference in favor of the fairing was still significant. It all comes down to how the fairing is made, not knowing what you're doing can worsen the aerodynamics. On Pintrest, after entering bicycle fairing, you also have a lot of interesting examples.
It's insane that we drive around in 1+ tons with 100+hp, when 5 are way more than enough to get 80mph.
2:02 what what what?
imagine a 2000w sprint in that thing
Awe. Some.
Someone get Wout Van Aert to these people.
I’m no engineer, but could you use a flywheel to store the energy and help to keep it more stable?
Great vid, really good that GCN don't take a UCI-esque view of recumbents!
😂😂
faired recruitment bicycles they schould make offroad version maby for some gravel racing
Imagine if they rode these at the tour😂
No mention of the late Mike Burrows???
There was plenty of mention of Mike Burrows in the discussion that day of filming; he was a massive influence and inspiration to us, and the green shell featured in the video was his latest revision of the Soup Dragon which he donated to our project before he passed away. His name obviously didn't make the cut in the GCN edit, but we fully recognise his impact and influence - and miss him greatly
When does Mozes train at regents? Would love to see him there
Sporadically, when we can get the kit there and the time available, but we are planning to be there more often this summer. Spectators / supporters / generally interested parties very welcome. We'll try to post on socials next time we intend to go
We'll have that new rig with the Alfine XO drive there next time hopefully too
Crazy to think that a motorcycle going these speeds is using about 15'000 Watts to do it!
Now you've got me wondering how insane a recumbent faired motorcycle would be.
At those speeds the rolling resistance of the wheels and mechanical losses become a much bigger percentage of the overall effort than at say 30mph on a normal bike. I believe it can ne up to 25%.
Tyre technology is a big factor as Ollie says. Getting the record to 93 might come down to tyre innovation rather than rider power.
Filippo Ganna + Recumbent = +100MPH