Graeme Obree record attempt

Paul 8v

Not really sure where to post this as it doesn't really fit in any of the categories on here but I thought this might be close!

Looks like Graeme Obree's record attempt will be some time next week, been hard to try and find information about this apart from the usual fascination from the media of "This bike is made from a washing machine or an old bath" Could be quite interesting though. Looks like a bloomin scary thing to ride at that sort of speed!

http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc20 ... llenge.htm

graeme_s-2

I thought he was going to have it fully faired for the attempt, but the latest photo I've seen of him testing it he was wearing an aero helmet and still no sign of a fairing. Surely to break the record it will need a fairing?

LangerDan

On the event forum, there is mention that the bodywork is being shipped so from that, I'd assume there is at least some fairing.. There was some talk that it might be a tail-faired recumbent - where the riders upper body is on the outside.

Its a scary-looking bike. If anything goes wrong, I'd say it's even money whether he grinds a groove his own face with the front wheel or chainsaws off his own genitals with the drive train.

graeme_s-2

Rider protection would be one of the advantages of a fairing. At least you're most likely to just topple sideways and slide along to a stop then.

LangerDan

Graeme_S wrote:

Rider protection would be one of the advantages of a fairing. At least you're most likely to just topple sideways and slide along to a stop then.

At 80 mph and a paper-thin fairing, its quite likely to have been ground away before you come to a stop.

graeme_s-2

I thought they were usually kevlar reinforced to resist this

ocdupalais

LangerDan wrote:

Its a scary-looking bike. If anything goes wrong, I'd say it's even money whether he grinds a groove his own face with the front wheel or chainsaws off his own genitals with the drive train.

Graeme_S wrote:

I thought they were usually kevlar reinforced to resist this

Naw... but Dan said there'd be grooves in face and chainsawed genitals!

graeme_s-2

OCDuPalais wrote:

Naw... but Dan said there'd be grooves in face and chainsawed genitals!

I wouldn't be willing to put my own face or genitals on the line to prove there wouldn't be, but I think they're generally constructed so the rider can survive a sideways fall and slide to a halt from 80mph relatively intact.

LangerDan

Perhaps there's a special requirement for "armoured" body work for land-speed record attempts, but several of the HPVs are clad in polypropylene panels like Coroplast - some even go for a heat-shrunk plastic film.

graeme_s-2

LangerDan wrote:

Perhaps there's a special requirement for "armoured" body work for land-speed record attempts, but several of the HPVs are clad in polypropylene panels like Coroplast - some even go for a heat-shrunk plastic film.

Or I could be full of shit/misremembering something I thought I'd seen a long time ago.

edhornby

I wonder if the fairing will be worn like an armadillo shell or attached to the bike? also I've not noticed any braking systems in the build video's so far, he will have brakes on it yes ???

I'm genuinely fascinated

LangerDan

edhornby wrote:

I wonder if the fairing will be worn like an armadillo shell or attached to the bike? also I've not noticed any braking systems in the build video's so far, he will have brakes on it yes ???

I'm genuinely fascinated

I think I can make them out in the photos - there are two hydraulic caliper brakes (Magura ?) - one down low on the back wheel near where there would be a bottom bracket on a "normal" bike, the other behind the fork crown. I may be mistaken.

Richrd2205

There's normally quite good coverage of the Battle Mountain event on various fora after the event.
LangerDan is correct that most of the machines are not re-inforced & many home-made ones are coroplast. I think that GRP & carbon fibre are preferred for more up-market machines...
There's almost nothing that's going to protect you in a fall at 80 mph, so carrying extra weight for no benefit is of little use.
The shell is part of the machine, normally, and forms a structural component, but Obree is taking an unconventional approach. He should wants a near perfect teardrop, so it'll be attached to the bike, rather than the rider. Sam Whittingham's machine (Diablo, I think) always used to be head first to reduce frontal area, which would be properly scary at 80+mph.
Research from the Netherlands suggests that the biggest element of drag at those speeds is the turbulence from rapidly rotating wheels & I'm led to believe that Obree's machine has quite a lot of wheel exposed, so might not be as fast as expected.

Paul 8v

I'm sure I've seen some brake levers in one of the films but as above no sign of the fairing unless he's trying to keep it secret before the start. I'd like to think if anyone is able to pull this off it will be Obree, especially since I'm guessing his mates at the UCI won't be there to try and scuppor him every step of the way!

Paul 8v

Richard, let me know if you see any coverage of it on the forums, should be quite interesting to watch!

Daz555

Richrd2205 wrote:

Research from the Netherlands suggests that the biggest element of drag at those speeds is the turbulence from rapidly rotating wheels & I'm led to believe that Obree's machine has quite a lot of wheel exposed, so might not be as fast as expected.

His shell/fairing is still a mystery so we can't say how much wheel is exposed yet.

johny c

Paul,

Following your link, there's a 16 page thread on Graeme's attempt:
http://www.recumbents.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4322
where the latest talk is of the fairing and what it might be made from, how it's to be mounted, what protection it might offer, etc.
I couldn't see a link there, or here, to the test ride of the bike. Perhaps I missed it, but just incase:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIwB3iFmLe4

I hope he has a good go at it, the chaps on the recumbent forum said he should also have a go at the unfaired record anyway.

ps. back in 1948, Rollie Free was trying to crack 150mph on an unfaired Vincent Black Lightning, but couldn't quite make 149. So for a final go he stripped down to shorts and sannies and took the record to 150.313mph

clanton

johny c wrote:

Paul,

Following your link, there's a 16 page thread on Graeme's attempt:
http://www.recumbents.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4322
where the latest talk is of the fairing and what it might be made from, how it's to be mounted, what protection it might offer, etc.
I couldn't see a link there, or here, to the test ride of the bike. Perhaps I missed it, but just incase:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIwB3iFmLe4

I hope he has a good go at it, the chaps on the recumbent forum said he should also have a go at the unfaired record anyway.

ps. back in 1948, Rollie Free was trying to crack 150mph on an unfaired Vincent Black Lightning, but couldn't quite make 149. So for a final go he stripped down to shorts and sannies and took the record to 150.313mph

I'm surprised he can manage that position - thought his huge balls would get in the way!
Crazy.

big_p

just found this..........

http://www.humansinvent.com/#!/8856/obr ... t-britain/


sorry if it's a re post.

big_p

graeme_s-2

Certainly does look like it covers enough of the wheels.

I've been a bit suspicious that things weren't right given we'd seen no sign of the fairing up until this point. Real shame that he's not going to Battle Mountain though

apreading

Really sorry Mr O'Bree, but I dont think this project will be as successful as earlier things you have done...

The video where is is riding the 'bike' makes it look so wobbly, unstable and awkward to pedal that I cant see him overcoming those issues without a major redesign, no matter how skilful he is. OK, it might be more stable at higher speeds than in those low speed runs but I really feel that its more likely to be all over the shop.

That fairing looks very flimsy - will it not deform at speed and mess up the aerodynamics? Looks like a condom... Also, great that the fairing covers just about all of the wheels, but again given the wobbling that the bike seems to do, the fairing will scrape the floor with the slightest deviation from upgright because it runs too close to the ground.

He obviously couldnt get any sponsorship as the cover would have logos or colour panels for his sponsors otherwise - so either he didnt want sponsorship or couldnt get anyone to believe in him enough...

Would love to be wrong, but I think his earlier successes in proving people wrong have lulled him into continuing to flog a dead horse in this case.

cougie

Or maybe the fairings not been stickered up yet ?

I'd really not bet against him, he's done massive improvements twice before (at least) so I think he stands a good chance. I'm sure speed will stabilise the bike.

IanLD

Presume there is some way that air gets in for Graeme. Looks like it will be very hot inside too, so maybe a cool day in the UK rather than the heat in the US will actually be a benefit.

Still looks very unstable, but I'd love to see Graeme achieve it.

mfin

IanLD wrote:

Presume there is some way that air gets in for Graeme. Looks like it will be very hot inside too, so maybe a cool day in the UK rather than the heat in the US will actually be a benefit.

Still looks very unstable, but I'd love to see Graeme achieve it.

It looked to me like he might have a pipe in his mouth in that photo?? ...if it is, lets hope its designed to snap off if needed and not made out of a bit of Reynolds tubing!

I hope he's been making a documentary about this as he goes along, he's a really interesting and nice bloke to listen to.

ocdupalais

apreading wrote:

Really sorry Mr O'Bree, but I dont think this project will be as successful as earlier things you have done...

The video where is is riding the 'bike' makes it look so wobbly, unstable and awkward to pedal that I cant see him overcoming those issues without a major redesign, no matter how skilful he is. OK, it might be more stable at higher speeds than in those low speed runs but I really feel that its more likely to be all over the shop.

That fairing looks very flimsy - will it not deform at speed and mess up the aerodynamics? Looks like a condom... Also, great that the fairing covers just about all of the wheels, but again given the wobbling that the bike seems to do, the fairing will scrape the floor with the slightest deviation from upgright because it runs too close to the ground.

He obviously couldnt get any sponsorship as the cover would have logos or colour panels for his sponsors otherwise - so either he didnt want sponsorship or couldnt get anyone to believe in him enough...

Would love to be wrong, but I think his earlier successes in proving people wrong have lulled him into continuing to flog a dead horse in this case.

You are Hein Verbruggen and I claim my bung.

big_p

apreading wrote:

Really sorry Mr O'Bree, but I dont think this project will be as successful as earlier things you have done...

The video where is is riding the 'bike' makes it look so wobbly, unstable and awkward to pedal that I cant see him overcoming those issues without a major redesign, no matter how skilful he is. OK, it might be more stable at higher speeds than in those low speed runs but I really feel that its more likely to be all over the shop.

That fairing looks very flimsy - will it not deform at speed and mess up the aerodynamics? Looks like a condom... Also, great that the fairing covers just about all of the wheels, but again given the wobbling that the bike seems to do, the fairing will scrape the floor with the slightest deviation from upgright because it runs too close to the ground.

He obviously couldnt get any sponsorship as the cover would have logos or colour panels for his sponsors otherwise - so either he didnt want sponsorship or couldnt get anyone to believe in him enough...

Would love to be wrong, but I think his earlier successes in proving people wrong have lulled him into continuing to flog a dead horse in this case.

WOW........so negative.

ocdupalais

big p wrote:

apreading wrote:

Really sorry Mr O'Bree, but I dont think this project will be as successful as earlier things you have done...

The video where is is riding the 'bike' makes it look so wobbly, unstable and awkward to pedal that I cant see him overcoming those issues without a major redesign, no matter how skilful he is. OK, it might be more stable at higher speeds than in those low speed runs but I really feel that its more likely to be all over the shop.

That fairing looks very flimsy - will it not deform at speed and mess up the aerodynamics? Looks like a condom... Also, great that the fairing covers just about all of the wheels, but again given the wobbling that the bike seems to do, the fairing will scrape the floor with the slightest deviation from upgright because it runs too close to the ground.

He obviously couldnt get any sponsorship as the cover would have logos or colour panels for his sponsors otherwise - so either he didnt want sponsorship or couldnt get anyone to believe in him enough...

Would love to be wrong, but I think his earlier successes in proving people wrong have lulled him into continuing to flog a dead horse in this case.

WOW........so negative.

Exactly.

Other than a bike shop business and a marriage, the only thing Obree has failed at once he's put his mind to something has been topping himself. Long may that continue.

mfin

apreading wrote:

The video where is is riding the 'bike' makes it look so wobbly, unstable and awkward to pedal that I cant see him overcoming those issues without a major redesign, no matter how skilful he is. OK, it might be more stable at higher speeds than in those low speed runs but I really feel that its more likely to be all over the shop.

That fairing looks very flimsy - will it not deform at speed and mess up the aerodynamics? Looks like a condom... Also, great that the fairing covers just about all of the wheels, but again given the wobbling that the bike seems to do, the fairing will scrape the floor with the slightest deviation from upgright because it runs too close to the ground.

You've obviously thought about this a lot more than Graeme, what do you think he'll hit then, 30mph??

My point is that he's probably thought this through in its entirety, so hopefully he'll do well, I mean, he'll know the physics behind it and the power needed to get it to work in ideal conditions, but god knows on the stability of it once he's really shifting.

Fingers crossed for him, and hopefully if he doesn't get the record he'll either sleep on it and go again in the morning, or go back to the drawing board with all the experience he will have gained.

donrhummy

Bike Radar has the update with more pics: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/arti ... ain-35187/

Apparently, he doesn't even have a venue anymore (since he won't make it to America and the bike's not ready), so saying it's happening soon is wishful thinking.

k-dog

clanton wrote:

johny c wrote:

ps. back in 1948, Rollie Free was trying to crack 150mph on an unfaired Vincent Black Lightning, but couldn't quite make 149. So for a final go he stripped down to shorts and sannies and took the record to 150.313mph

I'm surprised he can manage that position - thought his huge balls would get in the way!
Crazy.

I hate to think how much skin he would have lost had that gone a bit wrong.