https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/can-a-human-powere

Bigmal · Banned Joined: 27 Jun 2013 Karma :

Obree is a hero - he designs and builds all his record-beating bikes in the best "garden shed" tradition of British inventors. His famous Hour Record bike, Old Faithful, had wheels spinning on washing machine bearings because he saw a washing a machine spinning at a much higher rpm than a bike wheel and reasoned that they must be better quality bearings. He also invented a new position on the bike called "preying mantis" - and it apparently worked, because he broke the record in July 1993 and then again less than a year later; but he wished he hadn't told anyone about the bearings because journalists became obsessed with it and wrote articles about "the bike made of old washing machine parts," completely ignoring the other innovations and his achievements on it. He thought up his new prone bike - the one in the article - while having a bath one day; the arm rests are made from old saucepans.

His own story is interesting too - he'd had a rough life and has suffered from serious depression for many years, leading him to attempt suicide three times, and became addicted to sniffing welding gas for a while (which may be why during his very short career as a professional rider, he was completely opposed to doping). Last year, he came out as gay and remains one of the very few famous athletes to have had the bollocks to do so. With a bit of luck, coming out will help him deal with his illness because the man is a total sporting hero and should be a household name.

Bonus fact: the first ever Hour Record was set by American Frank Dodds on a penny-farthing at the Cambridge University Sports Ground in 1876. He covered 26.508km. Obree did 52.713km for his second record, after which the rules were changed to make an Official Record (bikes judged not radically dissimilar to the one Eddy Merckx used to set his own Hour Record in 1972), a Best Human Effort Record (very specialised bikes, like Old Faithful and an "anything goes except engines" Human-Powered Vehicle Record. The Official Record is currently 49.7km (and if any car drivers are thinking "that's not that fast!" get a bike and try to maintain an average speed of 49.7kph for an hour), the BHE Record is 56.375km (and has been since 1996, when Chris Boardman set it) and the HPV record is 91.556km - the "bike" used for the latter is here: https://www.russo-speedbike.com/eiviestretto.html
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Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do about it.

Bigmal · Banned Joined: 27 Jun 2013 Karma :

And theres more

https://deafpigeon.co.uk/blog/2012/11/obree-tests-beastie/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+deafpigeon+%28Deaf+Pigeon%29

and more

https://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/graeme-obree-chasing-new-human-powered-bike-speed-record-38373/
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Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do about it.

CaNsA · Super Spammer Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Karma :

Try not putting a long url as a title....

chris-red · Have you considered a TDM? Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Karma :

There is a pretty good film about him with Johnny Lee Miller Thumbs Up

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