OBREE

PocketRocket42

I read in Cycling Weekly that Graeme Obree has abandoned his attempt to break the hour record.

:arrow: I have to say this is a great shame but hope that his health improves rapidly.

I also look forward to reading his new book when it is released, which I have a feeling will be more important than beating the Hour.

andyp

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe his decision to abandon his attempt was health related. Rather the bike he'd built to ride the attempt on was fine when ridden on the road, but virtually unrideable when ridden on a banked velodrome.

PocketRocket42

well yes your right but the depression set in and you can't over come the difficulties if that happens --- you just have to spend time under the duvet.

But I stand corrected (somewhat) as the reason for abandoning stems from the fact that he couldn't cycle with stretched out arms on the banking.

Back to the drawing board --- :arrow: I basically started the thread to wish him well.

andyp

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was being critical of you or Obree in anyway. Like you I wish him well with his health.

It's a shame he won't be attempting the hour record again as it could do with some of the prestige it once had being restored. The period in the 1990 when Obree, Boardman, Rominger and Indurain were all breaking it was great for the sport.

fjellrunner

It really was, the mid '90s was great from that point of view. I still have the clippings of Obree and Boardman swapping records.

All the best to you Obree. You're a god amongst men! Who else can say they've coached themselves to multiple world titles and single-handedly revolutionised aerodynamics?

nmcgann

It's a real shame, it would have been great to see him have a go.

The Boardman "final hour" documentary and Hutch's book both mention the difficulty of maintaining position on an old skool bike design with no aerobars.

johny c

there was more to it than that,

I attended a talk by Graeme at the tramway theatre in Glasgow, earlier this year. He brought along the bike he'd developed for the attempt, which carried a huge gear. This required a totally different riding technique, using leverage from the arms through the body, which Graeme attempted to explain and I found difficult to grasp. I'm sorry it didn't work out as planned for him, here's a glimpse of the bike and what might have been:

top_bhoy

He probably thought that if he found a new technique to use the huge gear, the UCI would simply create a rule to make it illegal. Obree is a great rider which history will show has been a cyclist who has been one of the most shabbily treated by the UCI, a treatment implicitly endorsed by the UK cycling authorities at the time. His only 'crime' was to have an alternative thinking which defeated the establishment favourites while staying within the rules. Great rider, one of the best, another legend!!!

dave_1

I reckon the only way the absolute hour record will be broken is by using Obree's innovation-Obree's superman position-or the Obree tuck? Which is faster? cancellera will not get to 56km on standar tri-bars. Obree's designs will need to be used