The Bike That Changed Everything | The Lotus 110 Superbike: So Fast They Banned It
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 22 июн 2019
- The Lotus 110, a bike so fast that the UCI banned it. Ahead of it's time the super bike became an icon after it was ridden to Olympic Gold and Tour de France stage victories by Chris Boardman in the 90's. Jon explains all...
Subscribe: gcntech.co/subscribetogcntech
The GCN Shop: gcntech.co/hC
GCN Tech Uploader: gcntech.co/upload
What do you think of the Lotus sport bike? Is it hot or not? 🔥
Special thanks to Paul Greasley, Simon Freebrey, Mark Boyles, Golden Age Cycles, Lotus Silverstone, Bicester Heritage and the Lotus 110 Owners Club
Photographer credits:
Graham Watson
Bettini
Mavic
Wiki commons:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_1...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_E...
If you enjoyed this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends. 👍
If you'd like to contribute captions and video info in your language, here's the link - gcntech.co/hB
Watch more on GCN Tech...
📹 Rob Hayles Custom Carbon | gcntech.co/robhayles
Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound:
Once Upon - Hushed
Nickel - Farrell Wooten
Photos: © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Bettiniphoto / www.bettiniphoto.net/
Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Tech goes deeper into the bikes, kit and technology stories that matter.
GCN Tech is utterly obsessed with seeking out and showcasing the best in bikes, tech, products and upgrades. Everywhere. Every week. From news and rumours, first ride exclusives, how-tos, the weekly GCN Tech Show, pro bikes, set-up tips and more, we geek out over the tiny details that can make the big differences to you.
With years of racing and industry expertise, we also bring you instructive maintenance videos to hone your mechanical skills, as well as behind the scenes factory tours and in-depth analysis of kit chosen by the pro peloton to keep your finger on the pulse of cycling’s latest technological innovations.
Engage with us every week on the channel and across social media - we’re here to answer every question you’ve got on cycling tech.
GCN Japan: gcn.eu/subscribe-gcn-japan
GCN Italia: gcn.eu/GCN-Italia
Suscribirse a GCN en Español: gcn.eu/Suscribirse
Facebook - gcntech.co/gcntechfb
Instagram - gcntech.co/gcntechinsta
Twitter - gcntech.co/gcntechtweet 
Спорт
Can you imagine showing up to your Saturday group ride on one of these. That'd be so sick.
imagine flexing with your bicycle XDDDD
Did that with my Ridley Dean 2009 model. ;)
Can you imagine showing up on Sunday with this video on your recommended
and then getting laughed at for not even knowing how to mount your brake pads...
Lotus engineers missed the clear opportunity to introduce the Esprit 007 road bike, which could also go underwater. That’s what people in the 90s were really waiting for.
oxygen tank in the thick tubing, rocket lounger in the time-trial bars....... I think it's already there ;)
They could call it the AmphibiLotus
I'm still waiting!
Imagine the Triathlon potential of riding the swim stage and emerging all ready on your bike!! Missed opportunity indeed
I don't know what you're talking about, I see them every day, amphi-shopping carts too, what else are they doing at the bottom of London's canals?
Imagine if not for regulations we would all be riding bikes like this design now......... that does make me a bit sad to be honest, love those bikes!
Yeah these regulations is just limiting engineering progress...
Cost might be an issue
I can remember test riding, back in the mid 90's, a Specialized road bike with a "Y" shape carbon fibre frame. I believe it's name came from the frame shape. The bikes are still out there if you can find one.
I honestly think that if it weren't for regulations, recumbent bikes would have taken over the road racing scene.
Someone develop a well engineered machine eventually people discuss about it and put new rules. In the first why we develop newer machine if we're just going to banned it
I have one of those Mavic 3G front wheels. I bought it from a guy in Australia a long time ago (late 90's/early 2000's), he shipped it to me in North Carolina and it is currently in my bedroom. I love looking at it, I've never had the appropriate bike to put it on. I just wanted that wheel. I polish it once in a while just to make it shiny and look at the carbon.
Do you know if it would be possible to machine a hub with disc brake mounts for the 3g wheels
@@olimast9893 Probably but the engineering involved would be trial & error. I'm not aware of anyone who does this or has done this. You might be the first!
Great presentation of an iconic bike, thanks for all the details and the enthusiasm. Proud to own one of these and you've really done it justice. Amazing that they're 25 years old.
Jon is hands down the best presenter for a bike like this. His excitement really comes through. I can’t believe he got to ride it too!
It really is a beautiful bike.
Great to see Cannings with all the excitement and wonder of a wee boy on a school trip. JC is made for these films.
Cheers mate. It's something that means a lot to me right now.
More Jon and Olly on the tech show please! Love your banter together.
Always loved Lotus 110... Cool Kirk Precision @4:19 orange fade bike with structural frame.
Would love to see a GCN/GMBN Special Jon vs Doddy. Both have build up a bike on the same budget and afterwards the net votes who came up with the best build.
Best video ever!!!!!! I touched the lotus at the start of de timetrial between Huy and Seraing in the tour de France of 1995.Pure Magic!!! I started cycling and only 6 years later I was a pro cyclist myself! Great memories!
Great video John, I love these historical pieces about iconic bikes, do please make more of them?
I just love the old school track bikes.. with the fork
handle bars and everything.
Can we get a video of Jon's bike collection pls
You keep hinting at your garage being a right old treasure trove
I still use those Mavic pedals. Utterly superb. 25years old, replaced bearings about 10 years ago, smooth as butter, the float for someone like me with long standing knackered knees is absolutely brilliant.
I've been waiting for this for years. Such a wonderful treat! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you, Jon, for shining your light on this bike and I so admire all that Lotus did in motor car racing under the genius of Mr. Colin Chapman. I've been watching Lotus history vids here on RUclips, and in the comments under one of them, an insider shared that back in the day, they called Mr. Chapman "Chunky" because, as they were designing and fabricating parts, he was always imploring them to take another chunk off. And it certainly worked. And Mr. Chapman invented the monocoque race car chassis, even hanging rear suspension parts off the engine block in back. And one of his famous quotes is: "Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." And another: "Simplify, then add lightness."
Cheers
Back in the day the bike shop I worked at had one of these frame and fork sets in stock! IIrc the forks alone cost about £500! The shop was a Lotus dealer and we had all the mountain bikes in stock too. The alloy framed Lotus bikes were actually made by Merida.
In my opinion the Flite was one of the most uncomfortable saddles of the time. I found the Flite Carbon to be much better as the un-padded shell was much more flexible.
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that the bars were slightly off centre?
One question though: why did it take "hours" to route the cables? Just go down to your local toy shop and buy a magnet. Then you can use that to pull the inner wire through the frame, as it's a carbon frame, and non-magnetic. Either that or you could buy the Park Tools internal cable routing kit, if you want something that'll do any internal routing (it even does Di2). No, I'm not sponsored by Park, we just use these in the bike shop I work in and they've saved hours of hassle in the months that we've had them.
Vacuuming was a pretty good idea.
I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Jon even ride a bike.
Me too!
@@anonayhann and me!
I'm sure I remember him from doing Prems back in the day.
I tought he only ride tricycle
jon such a lovely history lesson, great effort. thanks
Great video Jon, you’ve done the Lotus 110 proud. Lovely to have met you. Simon
Cheers mate
Jon please do a video on Graeme Obree's Old Faithful
I second that!
More pioneering then people throwing millions into massively cpu engineered aerodynamics (for the time). Compared to someone who actually pioneered new positions and aerodynamic riders as well as the bike.
Yes please!
Exactly what I came to comment! Graeme is such a fascinating person and I’m sure he’d be up for helping with a video.
Endura clothing did a video with him, top prove what a genius he was. It's on RUclips
What a beautiful piece of design and engineering! Changeable wheel hubs. Brilliant! I was drooling through most of the video.
Beautiful! And Jon, I love your enthusiasm for the technical! I'm a total fan!
thanks mate. Jon
When I first started doing club TTs these monocoque style bikes were all the rage. The Corima carbon TT frame was popular and I still have my Giant MCR!
i am still in love with this bike. It is good to see such a bike nerd describe parts i have never noticed myself. best GCN video ever
I especially like Jon's fun and excitement when riding the bike.
First Poland, now Lotus.. really interesting historical content and a nod to Boardman The Great! Wicked JC
cheers, Jon
I would be a beast doing deliveroo with this bike. LMAO
Fastest deliveryman ever
Until there is a hill!
One question tho, how'd you not spill the curries? I imagine the box wouldn't stay upright
@@lenahygiena simple .. put a pannier rack on it.
@@mididoctors aerodynamics ruined. Still cool bike tho
6:09 the brake pad shoes are the wrong way around 😱
more clearly at 13:43
Jon absolutely killing it again! Cracking bike and great video mate!
Thanks
The GCN greatest bike check ever
thanks! Jon
Outstanding, fallen off time bike, the lotus sport.
Would you make a video about the zipp beam-bikes, too? Or the cheetah?^^ Or the softride? I ride the roadwing team version, and its comfort is incomparable. Thank you GCN for making videos about retro bikes and tech. I got a heart for you ❤
Old specialized tri spokes were also front and rear compatible. Love the bike! Also those mavic bars were always one piece and mavic/ Boardman cut his into 2 separate extensions.
It was and still is the most identifiable bike ever created since the big wheel of the 1800's . I share that amazed childlike enthusiasm over this bike with You Sir ! Thanks for the great video ! Bon travail !!!!
I seem to recall that the Zap system is powered by a small dynamo in the upper jockey wheel... That's why you have to pedal to make it work
Was it IR signal back then? Radio signal? How did the button communicate with the derailure
@@ting280 the original Zap system was wired. The later Mekatronic was wireless and was more temperamental, picking up interference from other sources like police radar guns
@@TMGE1967 thank you
Wouldn’t a dynamo take away a fraction of power otherwise used to go faster
It doesn’t have a dynamo. The changer switch controls a battery-powered solenoid which engages the jockey wheel, then the rider’s pedalling action changes the gear. The battery is tiny and goes inside the bar end.
Great presentation by JC of an incredible bike
That Lotus bike is so super duper hyper ultra nice!
I love it!
Jon: "I've never noticed that on these Mavic bars before."
Ollie: "Imagine racing your mates to the coffee shop on this aero bike."
Awesome story. This bike is the kind of things James Bond would use in a movie
Great video Jon and that bike is out of this world.
Had a couple of the lotus bikes at Derby velodrome earlier this year. Great to see them and race around the track with them at the same time .
I can remember the days when a 42x21 was the smallest we had. We just ground our way up hills. Suntour brought out a 23 in around 1986 or 87 & we thought we were in heaven 12-23 7 speed. Those were the days.
#gcntech I watched this 3 times! This was really ahead of it's time for sure!
Another Lotus in the background “a S2”. The Lotus S1 (shown) was such a good car, it is still sort after as a track car today, as it is super light, and fitted with a Type R Honda supercharged engine is incredible quick putting out 400BHP in a 700kg car!
Would love one of this Lotus bikes to match my Lotus Exige. I also have a Australian AIS RMIT made “Superbike” which has a similar frame. It also was banned by the UCI as was the Lotus bike in the mid to late 90s
Great job on this one! This bike really opened my eyes to cycling beyond the BMX racing I was doing here in the states. I now live on Boulder Colorado and there is a Lotus at Pro's Closet I will go stare at! Thanks for the great content! BTW cant wait for my GCN water bottle I won with the Coppi!
Thanks!
Beautiful Bike. Great video, more like this!
Great video Jon!
This project and the records broken on it got me hooked into bikes and engineering.
Has the cycling tech world even caught up with some of the features on this bike?
didnt you see Si's hyper bike vid?
The Lotus is about 5w slower than a modern top of the range tt bike
I don’t say it often, but this one was a great video, great side details and I haven’t spotted any factual error.
Pls continue the fixie project i really want to See more of the fixie 😐👍🏻
I agree... I'd love to see more fixed/SS videos from the channel!!!
John, Please, please, please do a tech review of Lemond's 89 tour time trial bike. He had a lot of that same Mavic gear including those TT bars. Most importantly, can you look into the exact technical specs on the shims that Otto Jacome built that kept the aero extensions from slipping?
This is not a bike, it's a piece of history! Awesome video
Absolutely fantastic bike !
Great presentation.
Finally a video on this awesome bike ! 😀
I'm lucky enough to have a Mavic 3g with a cassette hub and the opportunity to swap between my old 8sp Peugeot and my 10sp specialized is really just bonkers
Antoine Molinatti use and Edco cassette and you are also able to use it for 11s with your 9-10 speed free hub body
I had Mavic brakehandles on my first bike. They where great. Better to hold on to than any modern ones !
I remember Boardman catching Luc Leblanc for 1 min on a 6 k course!
so do i
In a 7.8km course.....unheard of and indicative of just what an advantage the Lotus bike was.....ironically, Luc had publicly said any member of the peloton could break the 1 hour record on a Lotus bike earlier 😂
@@TheFreebrey 7.8k I stand corrected... Legay leaning out the car window mocking LeBlanc's DS in his following car was pretty funny too. That said few could match Boardman's position to take advantage of the bike never mind put out the Watts
That would have happened anyway.
I still use a Mavic MTB rear mech which frankly was and is excellent and is totally serviceable, Mavic gear levers and the same Flite titanium saddle.
My motto always was 'buy well, buy once'.
So amazing. I’m so glad that these bikes have been preserved. So few were ever made in the first place. Cycling history.
Great video but Jon you didn’t do a free hub sound test and I was also curious of its weight.
Mike Burrows is a fantastic engineer and innovater. He still designs bikes, mostly recumbents these days. What is even more special is that he also still races them. Last year I got to race him and was actually exstatic that I overtook a 75 year old man (I'm 47). There was also a celebration with a parade of Mike Burrows designs and an interview : ruclips.net/video/OgQ-e2lBIug/видео.html
Mike Burrows also attended a reunion of Sport 110s at the Lotus factory last September and got chatting to the new Lotus CEO, who is a keen cyclist. We crossed our fingers for the re-kindling of a collaboration!
He is currently focusing on helping out Team GB with their Paralympic wheelchairs. I wonder how long it is until his designs get banned 😉
Thanks for the 14 minutes of pure bike porn. I love it.I just wish they made a few more of them as they are so iconic.
Raced my first triathlon in 95 and a new Zealand athlete had one, ( a pro) . What a bike
A true work of art! Beautiful!
Lotus had it on display at the Farnborough airshow. Such a cool piece of design.
love the presenters geniune enthusiasm here. nice vid!
I went to a talk about the bike by the designer years ago. The thing that I found funny was the helmet design, racing rules stated that you had to were a helmet but not that it had to be safe. So they made a highly aerodynamic helmet that offered little saftey benefit but helped improve performance.
John be like, "I'd probably get killed by the owner, as well as the fact that I could never afford to replace it....."
Ride it at the end of the video anyway
Yeah that was about two different things, taking the RD apart and riding the bike.
Inorite? ...and wobbling around on tiny clipless pedals in regular sneakers to boot.
Gears were grinding like crazy
extraordinary video. well played.
I've always been the one to say that bikes are made to be ridden, but I'd keep this one in a glass case and just stare at it all day. Simply beautiful and what an incredible level of technology on it...
I would LOVE to see you review a Dursley Pederson. I only found out about them a couple years ago.
good idea. I saw a guy riding one not to long ago! Cheers, Jon
Great vid!
Love the lotus but Jon did you notice that those rear brake blocks were in backwards, one good stop and they’ll be ripped right out of there. OMG I hope they notice actually
huh, good catch! At least it's the bolt-on block variety.
Rod Diaz it’s a bolt on yes but cartridge style, didn’t you notice the set screw and open back cartridge block
You should do a follow on about how this bike was the inspiration for the Giant MCR. I worked on the inspiration for the MCR with Mike Burrows.
I still have a Giant MCR. The only thing I changed is swapping out the original drop bars for HED aero bars.
I used to ride 13-18 and 42/52 back in the day lol
awesome bike in an awesome place!! I love to visit Bicester Heritage anytime.. meke some more videos there please.. they have quite a collection of bikes there
it was great to go, it was the first time I'd been. Being a lover of vintage cars too, I will be returning! Jon
@@gcntech Drop me a line if you do, I have 'back stage' privileges...!
Great overview! So much better than seeing a static image. I think Campagnolo Delta brakes would fit the aerodynamic esthetic of the bike.
They don’t fit I’m afraid....the bulbous headltube mean you’re very restricted on brake calliper choice
Amazing bike. I didn’t know mavic used to do groupsets, looks like they were very much advanced, what a shame they stopped
Greg LeMond used a Mavic gruopset in 1989.
Fantastic. I wonder if mavic fancy making a come back? 💕
JC is absolutely going to explode, on camera, during one of these videos....a bit excited...
Those brakes are identical to Dia-Compe BRS 500. I had a set when I was a kid. Did Mavic create them or Dia Compe? (I think the brake levers were the same, too.) Thanks
Loved the beam bike wars of the early 90's. I still have 2 Zipp2001's that I ride on a regular basis.
Thank you so much for covering this bike, such a legendary machine!
A pleasure
Totally in love with the bike♥️
I remember the Mavic Zapp had reliability issues when riding in wet conditions.
Remember these frames were made down the road at Aerodyne.
In fact my LBS occasionally built the bikes up. Remember one afternoon with the first one (think it was a show bike) and discussing at length the benefits etc. of the bike.
Why did RUclips recommend this to me? I can't even ride a bike
And why am I so fascinated?
Better get those stabilisers on
Then learn. It's fun.
Superb bike presented superbly by the ever superb JC
UCI banned this unique design. The FIA acts the same way, getting into the way of any innovation: Brabham BT46 . It got phased out in 1976 due to the feelings of the competitors got hurt .
Trivia: Mike Burrows is also responsible for the original (and slightly controversial) sloping top tube, compact geometry Giant TCR.
Mike is a friend of mine.....the compact frame is a TT frame turned upside down. Seriously, his brain works in a completely different realm 😎👍
Surely the basic frame shape is more aero than any contemporary road bike. Amazing 👍🏻
Modern UCI-compliant designs have only just bettered the aerodynamics of the Lotus: ruclips.net/video/kvf61r2ZxTA/видео.html
I remember this bike when it came out. It was so radical it was shocking to people watching the TDF. Also remember Big Mig riding a super-aero Pinarello just smashing people in the TT stages. They banned them later on, which is a shame. The bikes were so cool and drew a lot of attention to cycling. I think maybe UCI should have allowed some of the radical aero stuff for TT stages just to keep that level of interest and excitement of the time.
Also, great vid, BTW!
That's the first time I've seen Jon on a bike.
Crank arm length? Hey have you done a review a review on the 78-79-ish Vitus 729 model 1 that Sean Kelly Rode in the tour de France? I just got one and Wow, what a Rocket!
I love the Lotus car brand in general, and this bike is pretty damn slick. The fact that the bike won competitions is just another mark of success for the company :]
just think that bike is an " old " bike and yet still in the 2019/20 era of cutting edge tech it still looks futuristic and out of this world!!
Wow talk about aero back in the day!
I remember when that bike was introduced, the price was insane. Nowadays that bike is priceless!...or at least unaffordable even by millionaire standards.
Amazing imfo thanx
While I'll likely never own such an incredible machine, I do consider myself lucky to own another Mike Burrows design - a Giant MCR. It's offers a unique riding experience.
Chris Boardman looks so fast amazing in that Lotus super bike.. 🤙🏼
The 108, and this bike, and Chris Boardman himself were my contemporaries, and are pretty much the reason I am a cyclist. God I love those bikes.
What a time to be a cyclist
The watered down version of the bike that eventually went on sale to the public after the initial track and road pro bikes I seem to remember were available in road and track versions are probably quite collectible these days.
I haven’t watched this all the way through yet but I hope Mike Burrows gets a mention, the Lotus bike was based on his prototypes for a monocoque frame.
I don’t know how well they sold or if they were any good but most of us turned our noses up at the time. Not a fan of carbon for everyday bikes despite it’s lightness, the stiff ride and brittleness turn me off.
Great bike. I couldn't help noticing the word Campanholo on the chain stays. All components were Mavic. What's the connection to Campanholo?
Last September I went to a lotus event with my uncle. I saw this bike at like a museum type thing. Now I realise it’s a famous bike.