As a kid, [Tom] followed all the automotive land speed record attempts on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The cars used in these attempts were all built by guys in their garages, and as a bicycle frame builder, [Tom] is keenly aware of the land speed record for bikes. One thought leads to another, and [Tom] decided he would see how fast one of his frames could go.
Aside from a gigantic gear for his custom bike, [Tom] also needed a little help from a friend. The current land speed record on a bicycle was done by drafting behind a drag racer. [Tom] doesn’t have a drag racer, or a wide expanse of flat open ground in his native England, so he did the next best thing: drafting behind a Ford Zephyr on an abandoned WWII airstrip.
On the runway, [Tom] was able to get his bike up to 80 miles an hour. Wanting to see how fast he could go in ideal conditions, the bike was taken to the garage, put on a pair of rollers, and measured as it was brought up to speed. With a lot of effort, [Tom] was able to get up to 102 miles per hour, incredibly fast for something powered by human muscle.
Wha??? This truly is a hack, as in HAXX!!!
Using the vacuum of a vehicle’s draft imposes force as surely as being towed behind it. Another way: I can easily break the sound barrier by changing the medium!
Unseen behind the fairing, the bicyclist is actually pushing the Zephyr up to 80 mph…
I hope it was calm. One side gust and …
You can also “run” 100 mph. All you need is either a car with a special fairing to block the wind and a platform to stand on, or you can just use a car with a back seat. Voila! you’re “running” at 100mph (or faster).
I call shenanigans! Drafting is cheating as far as “speed records” go…
Drafted speed runs are a special category. It is a perfectly valid attempt at beating that category
It is a cheated, it’s the same that someone grabs a bike, and runs over a road hill, obviously will get a high velocity even without pedaling, nice hun? though it is descending, not horizontal road, you can’t compare with other experiences, here it’s the same thing.
Besides, for many years ago, i’ve seen some downhiller guy in america, doing a wheelie with it’s downhill bike, on a horizontal road for a lots of meters, i think the record e blasts was 1 kilometer, and i remember the top speed he got was around 60mph, on a flat horizontal road, with a mercedes vito with back door open to create “vacum” to pull the pilot.
I love how all you fools think there is a “vacuum” behind a car.
There is none, please learn what you people are talking about before opening your moths and sounding like fools. Lower pressure area? yes, Vacuum? not a chance.
PARTIAL vacuum then, Jeebus! What sort of fools do you think we all are? Oh wait, you said. It must be nice to be the only intelligent person in a world full of brain-damaged toddlers. Unfortunately thinking that’s the case in the actual real world makes you a giant dick.
Note, sir, that in our society, large dicks are actually highly valued
Fail fellow commenters. This was to test the frame, not the aerodynamics. No point in doing a full speed challenge if the frame can’t handle the vibrations from going at speed.