The Hottest Recumbent Bicycle Tech!

Recumbent bicycles are some of the fastest bikes around, and a lot of tech goes into making them as aerodynamic and efficient as possible. Hank takes a look at some of the competition at the recumbent race he took part in.
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[@gcntech]

Which recumbent was your favourite?

[@jonabub]

Most definitely mine, although hocus pocus definitely makes up with the better name. I'm glad you finally overcome your UCI-fixation and start reporting on the hpv-side of things, although i kind a wished you'd keep it a secret a bit longer so that i could continue enjoying the stunned faces of lycracyclists when i overtake them in casual shorts and a leasure paste :D.

[@matthiaswuest7271]

the hand cycle kitted out with SRAM etap, an SRM crankset and full carbon wheels definitely caught the eye!

[@taufikabidin412]

The Nocom

[@jonabub]

I think Johns Milan has a beautiful paintjob, but over all it's just the fact that people build machines on their own and can get way faster than pro cyclists on them. Please make a piece with Mike Burrows were he teaches you to make cheap and easy recumbents from stuff you have in your shed. You could saw the orbea time trial bike in half and add it to the front of the tandem for instance ;). Althogh the tandems are really lovely and i wouldn't want to see them damaged.

[@jonabub]

@@taufikabidin412 Definitely a cool name.

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

I feature several times, and 3 of my bikes. Shame Barney didn't talk to me, but then I don't like to be in videos. The Beano (Slasher) has carbon kevlar mix skins sandwiching eurethane foam, not Nomex. The steering is direct, same as my Notso and Hocus Pocus which is featured. Miles Kingsbury made it. Slasher works for him at Portaprompt, but the bikes are a sideline these days. Easier than the tiller on the Nocom. The Correx faired Festina bike is steel, not aluminium. My Velocino is made from Bickerton bits. It is based on a Victorian era design intended to be easy for women in long skirts. It's just fun, a sort of pit bike. Currently revising a bit to make easier for more people to ride. Hocus Pocus was probably nearer £2,000. I made all the metal parts. I made a plywood mockup and the carbon was done by HQ Fibre products in Norfolk, who do stuff for Mike Burrows. The carbon sides of the parts are held apart by resin impregnated paper honeycomb (Nomex), It isn't designed to be faired, though it might sprout a tail fairing one day and I might use the principle in a streamliner. It has engineering advantages. Barney isn't really right about steering, but it has enough lock for racing. The more you lean, the less you need. Shame Hank didn't try. It is easy. The leaning handcycle is based on the 2 wheel training bike for my 2 wheel handcycle which currently holds HPV world records at 4,000m, 10,000m and the hour with rider Kevin Doran. It was planned to have a fairing, but we had artistic differences. With the tilt locked it rides like a trike. Unlocked, it rides like a bike, but the steering is always in the usual place. Kevin could walk, with a stick. I thought someone who can't might find the trike an easier trainer. Many wheelchair users can balance on the back wheels of their chairs, which is much harder than riding a bike. Nobody featured is professional, though Miles did sell bikes at one time.

[@JanneRasanen2]

Interesting thank you for the details and keep on inventing!

[@andrebartels1690]

Thank you for all the information. This is great stuff 👍

[@DwayneBlew]

Thank you for taking the time to respond and provide some interesting details!

[@nicolasfischer8703]

Make ollie and hank to build a diy recumbent on a budget as a team. And race it as well!!! (Maybe a tandem😋😂)

[@apm9507]

A recumbent velomobile would be a rocket! It would go fast epically and/or crash epically.

[@NecksBacksAndRailwayTracks]

ooh a recumbent tandem - i like it!

[@19KingLloyd]

@@NecksBacksAndRailwayTracks kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX2zi3Z4jMdlis0 see if they can beat this record

[@JanneRasanen2]

@@NecksBacksAndRailwayTracks I have ridden a self built one on the back seat. Cool as beans but it was made for a taller person so I swayed constantly on my bum with one foot on the bike and the other just touching. Not too stable that way :-) A great core workout though.

[@SethJayson]

@@NecksBacksAndRailwayTracks recumbent tandems have existed for a long time, both commercially made and specialty home-builds for racing (like back-to-back models).

[@Jayneflakes]

It is great to see disabled cyclists getting some recognition, along with recumbent racing. When I first hurt my back, I looked into building my own recumbent and it is surprisingly good fun. My second prototype had a most alarming death wobble that made it horrifyingly dangerous at anything above walking pace. Since then, I have recovered enough that I am back on a conventional bike on the turbo trainer, but I would love a good quality recumbent bike for going outside on.

[@martylawson1638]

If you want to get back into recumbent riding, I'd watch the local classifieds. Recumbents tend to last forever and retain value well if you keep them maintained. (fyi, the bent rider online forums have a good classified section too)

[@AlanGoodman47]

If you want to have a go on a recumbent come along to any BHPC event next year or jump on to our forum or Facebook group. There’s bound to be someone near you.

[@bentrider1972]

You can always put a recumbent on a trainer as well..I ride my Catrike on my Wahoo Kickr on zwift every day..To cold in Iowa to ride outside now lol

[@StopaskingformynameYouTube]

The one with the lockable tilt.. That's some clever engineering! I would never have thought about such a simple sollution!

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

Not a completely original idea, but then nothing is. The Munzo trike by Bram Smit is what I stole it from. The inventor advised. That's the way we are. He died last year. The trike has a bit of suspension at the back as well as tilt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZarl56pqtmci7M

[@andrebartels1690]

I use a recumbent to commute. Very nice to see that there is so much life in the recumbent scene. I have mad respect for those hand cyclists. I had the opportunity to try a hand bike, and powering yourself with your arms is so hard. These people are bad-ass 👍

[@aamj50]

Thanks so much for the serious look at fast recumbents today!

[@fletcherriverwood8964]

This is much more interesting than car industry

[@bicyclist2]

This is Very cool. I once got to ride a friends RANS recumbent in northern Michigan. RANS recumbents are made in the US, and they also make small ultra light aircraft that don't require a pilots license. My friend rode it every day in the summer months. It had full suspension, 20 inch BMX wheels a Campagnolo crank and grip shift. It took a minute to get acclimated, as your center of gravity is much lower. I'd love to see more of this kind of thing. Please keep up the good work. Thank you.

[@MetalMachineShop]

Nice! Good timing as I’ve just got my own tilting recumbent prototype rolling! Some vids of it on my YT channel.

[@Rognivald]

Awesome, more recumbent stuff plz :)

[@demacherius1]

The Tilt Lock-disc brake is genius!

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

Bram Smit invented it.

[@hawk4015]

Damn, when I watched this vid I want a recumbent bike so bad😂

[@4nz-nl]

Go get one! You won't regret it :-)

[@GavTatu]

make one, you won't regret it ! my last build, a no weld bolt together had been going about 5 years now, cost me about £30 to get up and running.

[@olsonspeed]

Thanks for featuring the recumbent bikes, there it a lot of innovation and craftsmanship in these unique racers. Please include the recumbent scene in your rotation of program subjects.

[@reistje]

Even though I'm not really interested into getting into recumbent's, these videos are very interesting!

[@casualguy393]

There is a huge world of recumbents. Bikes, trikes, quads, velomobiles (+100kph possible), streamliners (+144kph possible), rear wheel drive, front wheel drive, high racers, medium racers, low racers, faired, partially faired and more. I am 55 years old and reached 69.1kph on my highracer with a tailwind today. And my high racer wasn't even set up as fast as it could be. It costs me about 211 watts to do 40kph on my high racer when it has my racing wheels on it,, and it costs me about 286 watts to do the same 40kph with my triathlon bike with the same wheels. Pro racers are worried about 2 watts here, 4 watts there... my high racer costs 75 watts less than my triathlon bike because it is way more aero. I can hold 285 watts on my Triathlon bike for about 20-30 minutes and then I need to yack up my lunch after a crane gets me off that contraption. But I can hold 210 watts for 4 hours relatively easy on my super comfy recumbent. To close this reply out, I haven't ridden my triathlon bike for almost 2 years because it is slow, and very uncomfortable.

[@alex_n8863]

I liked it interested in constructing my own. I'm thinking of a trike 'tadpole' design. Possibly putting an electric rear wheel on it for towing a bike trailer for shopping/ possible touring with a large solar panel to recharge the batteries...

[@robbchastain3036]

That first bike looks like a mid-century barn find, like something abandoned for a mighty long time. Yet still really cool.

[@8paolo96]

that's becouse of how kevlar ages in composite material due to light exposure/degradation.

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

It has been around quite a while. Longer than said in the video. Nobody near to beating Slasher, though he is 65. It would be great if someone would spend the time and money to compete. My little white streamlined bike the Leaper Notso Low came second over the year with Liam Goodman piloting.

[@JanneRasanen2]

@@jonathanwoolrich1610 Incorrect. The organizers at Amsterdam worlds released power data of two of the best riders and Slasher had given up chasing Tero Haapanen (FIN) on a DF XL. But Tero rode so hard on the technical parcour that he wore one of the tires to the fibers showing with no rubber on top. Velomobile tire changes are slow so it took 10 minutes and Slasher passed Tero. Tero took silver nevertheless. Afterwards at the Nordic championships 2016 at Nokia tyres test track Tero destroyed another tire so that it missed about half a pinky sized bit of rubber completely. That track is basically an oval with one hill so not too technical. In 200 m with flying start race Tero averaged 82.3 KPH into a minimal right head wind. I competed there too so this is a first hand account.

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

@@JanneRasanen2 I just meant in our racing. He has been beaten elsewhere and Chlarles Henry beat him in the UK in 2018.

[@4nz-nl]

​@@JanneRasanen2 Velomobile tire changes are slow? Huh... how? If he tore one of his fronts, he could have replaced the whole wheel with one bolt, literally, in less than a minute. Even on a race, on the flats it's worth it to bring an extra front wheel if you're riding hard. If it was the rear... Unless it's tubeless and/or really wide I can do it in 3 minutes. The only problem probably would've been taping back wheelpants - an After 7/Alpha 9 is a winner there (similar to my Milan, although you can't take out the wheel changing a tire is easy and quick).

[@JonathanPeterssonPiano]

Wonder when they will launch RBN

[@daniele_go]

Great report, thanks! My preferred is the first one, fully faired recumbent bike !

[@TimTam770]

We need more of this!

[@alexwilsonpottery3733]

Nice to see GCN dragging themselves into covering HPV/recumbent racing. If you could get away from approaching anything that isn’t an arse-in-the-air, designed solely for racing, UCI approved bicycle, as quirky garden-shed oddities - that would be something.. I’ve been riding commercially produced two and three-wheel recumbents for thirty years, and here in middle-America they’re about as strange as any other bicycle in daily traffic.

[@alex_n8863]

Don't envy you riding in the States. Attitudes towards cyclists aren't great in the UK... Stay safe bro!

[@jonabub]

@Maciej Jan Długosz I think you wanted to say "some beautiful exception that would give any UCI bike a run for their lives"?

[@jonabub]

@Maciej Jan Długosz Well i'd have to disagree about most of what you said. I grew up in a hilly region and i had the same reflections as you just postulated for a long time. But i have to say i completely regret not having been a bit more curious earlier on as i missed out on the most interesting kind of bike as of right now. MTBs, Gravel Bikes etc. all have their merrits and i do own one for almost every kind of cycling there is, but recumbents are the most underestimated group of them all. The blood circulation is a lesser problem than you think. And small powerlosses are far overcompensated by better air resistance and most of all comfort over long rides. Although it is true that many recumbents perform worse in hilly terrain than in flats or on descents recumbents are a vastly varried form of bicycles and there is many that come to mind that perform quite well in hilly terrain too. Maybe search for hp Speedmachine, streetmachine, bachetta, Cruz bikes, big foot recumbent, RANS, or many others for that matter. And development and innovation are far from coming to a halt in the recumbent world. But all this aside: What matters still is not the performance over a certain terrain but over all. Then about the UCI: First of all UCI gave a Fuck, as they prohibited recumbents after they performed better than uprights. Second of all UCI started with TDF and there it's not about a certain terrain but about the performance over all. In some years with many climbs uprights might have had the upper hand but over all that would've been different. And who knows where such developments would have broght us? hybrid bikes maybe? Your argument about the UCI "needing" anything ... Well UCI is currently undergoing a crisis and since doping became the only relevant performance advantage for winning teams as technical innovation came to a halt within UCI regulations public attention plummetted. If they'd open up the regulations most certainly the races would become more interesting, not less.

[@jonabub]

@Maciej Jan Długosz Well curbs always suck and maybe a bit less in uprights but I never felt they were as much of a pain as you described. My speed machine has very good suspension though. If UCI were to regulate other types of bikes the same way it wouldn't be good results indeed but my point was that regulations in general is bad for innovation of the industry especially as we need the sports to make us innovate more. I also often choose upright bikes for commuting but that's due to the bad infrastructure, not to the bikes themselves. I don't really get your communism point. Are you trying to say that communism makes everything the same? You realise we have all the same bikes to look at in most racings thanks to UCI? I don't recall when France has ever been communist ...

[@jonabub]

@Maciej Jan Długosz Well, i still don't get your point with the communism/socialism thing. Seems way to political for this debate anyway. central authorities in France are elected and most policies are formed in public discourse. It's far from perfect but it's still better than you make believe, if i understand you correctly. But now to the actual debate, and i'd rather focus on that: I don't know why Giant wouldn't want to work with Mike Burrows, as far as i am informed they did so for long time until he retired? You say recumbents would win with no technical restraints. But that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Why not let the basis of cycling, the combination of human power with the possibilities of tech grow out it's full potential? Why limit it to a 200 year old design? That's practically making cycling obsolete and deciding that the most gains can be achieved with doping. i.e. you raise the motivation of any professional to try to get doping. Although there certainly are recumbents that have issues with mountains and curbs, the same can be said for certain uprights AND there is also recumbents that were specially built for mountains and curbs. So why judge all recumbents on the basis of the worst performing while you pick mountainbikes, the best performing of their class, as a reference for all uprights? I can imagine that curbs and roads and lots of obstacles make the choice against recumbents. But a specific cause doesn't decide what class is best over all. I am pretty sure that you might find that in most cases a RANS bike, or BigFoot or some of the fourwheelers might have similar performance. In terms of climbing abilities some of the four-wheelers eben outperform uprights completely. The real issue is that these are all just small number productions and way to expensive as of now to find a good choice for each situation. But that, again, is due to UCI erasing any other option than uprights from the public perception.

[@hectorlucianodellavitta2612]

Saludos desde Argentina, soy un fans más de las recumbent , ahora mismo estoy creando una para mí

[@Alvio64]

"The steering system is actually attached to the front wheel, which would take some getting used to". You're right Hank, all those other bikes you've been riding with rear wheel steering 😂

[@timwood70]

I loved both videos

[@Pillokun]

Nom nom nom nom. Awesome.

[@RodrigoPerez79]

GCN should definetely show us more about the world of para-cycling.

[@larrylem3582]

Hank!!!! Get these folks to build you a streamliner to compete at the World Human Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA in September 2022. Most of them know all about it. Russell mentioned it in his interview.

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

Which folks? There is no financial body, though the knowledge is available free. Russ is building a Battle Mountain machine. He was riding the works of it with a steel rig chassis at the event.

[@larrylem3582]

Which folks? Any folks. It doesn't have to be expensive. Overseas travel would cost a lot but hopefully at that point, the GCN folks would be kicking in for that. I hope the tremendous opportunity of getting GCN folks involved in a serious streamliner effort is not lost.

[@AlanGoodman47]

@@larrylem3582 Expect to see a GCN rider in Soup Dragon soon although I think it’s more likely to be an hour run rather than a sprint to start with at least.

[@4nz-nl]

@@larrylem3582 Maybe velomobile world might be interested in doing it but I don't think they have something that's close enough to their own builds that can be reasonable competition to what's riding on Battle Mountain. They build every day use machines (that are fast, no doubt about that - I ride UCI top competition averages in one of their products... to work, with clean clothes and a laptop behind me, every day of the week), not record breaking space ships.

[@larrylem3582]

@@4nz-nl A few folks bring their velomobiles to Battle Mountain. Not ideal but they've managed to break 60 mph. That might be a good way to start since Manon has spent some time in one and showed pretty good power. If I lived in the UK, I would absolutely be trying to convince her to ride in a streamliner that I'd build for her to go after the women's record. I hope the Soup Dragon experiment mentioned by Alan goes well.

[@wladpolyanzew6141]

Very interesting!

[@gregknipe8772]

best of your concept shows. very best.

[@gregknipe8772]

lets see some action on the track next time.

[@LuLu-sf5cg]

Awesome innovation on wheels.

[@iansmith6728]

Knock, knock, it's UCI calling. You're in trouble.

[@JanneRasanen2]

Bah humbug recumbents have more than one governing body not limiting invention that much which is part of the reason recumbents have been faster than diamond frames since about 1870s. And banned from UCI racing for being too superior since 1932 when they did race and crush regular bikes. Bike manufacturers lobbied (grr) UCI to save their R&D costs and dug their heels in look this the end of invention. Cough despite every bike being fastest ever in regular bikes each year. Marketing... There are races where regular bikes and velomobiles are allowed to compete against each other and recumbents fare well. Although in Paris-Brest-Paris they are in a different division to not make regular bike riders cry :-) I am not sure about the regulations at The Race Across America if DFs are separated from recumbents but I think they may race each other. A recumbent velomobile rider told me of a 24 h track event in Finland where an upright cyclist during the night said the trailing velomobile in the corners made a: "Soul destroyingly long rattle from the freewheel when he had to pedal".

[@EdouardTavinor]

the hand-cycles are a wonderful democratization of transport :) a great argument for good cycling infrastructure :)

[@casakaiser]

Next time Si on a handbike against the lady at the end of the film

[@AlanGoodman47]

I was a bit disappointed they didn’t allow Claire to speak to be honest. She is an amazing athlete with an awesome, inspirational story.

[@TheNeelonRokk]

@GCN Tech . Hill Climb, recumbent tandem, you know you want to. 😎

[@etiennelouw9244]

I am planning to build a recumbent trike over here in Cape Town, South Africa. First a heavy one, then a light recumbent bike.

[@leebridgwater]

Lol, can't help but think of the film Sightseers. Great film

[@alex_n8863]

I know what you mean. There's a couple of people on KZbin making there own bike caravans. Some interesting designs. Very good film!

[@WeMakeLaw]

Recumbent bikes are awesome!

[@Normalhowaboutyou]

Thanks mate. I’ve got five recumbents If I had room I would buy five more

[@recumbent]

I am Japanese, and there is almost no media in Japan to introduce recumbents.

[@craigfirman1809]

I was hoping for an i depth look to one of trisleds velomobiles, you do a quick look at one in the main video but I was hoping for a bit more in depth.

[@lichtundliebe999]

Many thanks for the video! What is the recumbent bike with the black shell made of? I didn't understand this word.

[@pedroclaro7822]

More Hank recumbent videos? You guys read my mind

[@AndrewJackson-rr9jk]

lovely, next time show the high racers some love.

[@JanneRasanen2]

Frankly a high racer would suit a new rider better because they do not tilt so quickly and are easier to control.

[@bentBuilder]

"built by a professional recumbent builder" 😂

[@michaeldesilvio221]

I'd like to see these vehicles become more practical so that people could use them for everyday transportation.

[@dopeytripod]

ATOMIC ZOMBIE - Brad Graham is the KING of this stuff - WHY DIDNT YOU INTERVIEW HIM

[@Volkmannx]

👍

[@paulatwood5356]

Well I'm grateful that you finally discovered human powered vehicles. I've been involved since the 1980s. Maybe next you can do I human powered airplane or submarine or hydrofoil or helicopter.

[@stevek8829]

A bicycle is human powered and a vehicle! If you want to see human power flight the Gossamer Albatross did that some forty years ago. They were amazing.

[@edwardnowill4408]

@@stevek8829 Indeed & much work done since Gossamer Albatross.I understand that Lasham airfield has annual competitions for human powerd aircraft.Sandiego University for human powered submarines [Hunley in the American Civil War was human powered-first submarine ever to sink a ship].Human powered hydrofoils demonstrated in Europe relatively recently.R101 hanger housed a working human powered helicopter [no annual competitions here though]-In parts of the world not on electricity grids human powerd wood working machinery makes the best of an average human's 60 watt continuous power output [hour after hour]......A horse can do 750 watts hour by hour hence their use for agricultural/other purposes where conventional fossil fuel powered alternatives are not available

[@stevek8829]

@@edwardnowill4408 interesting, haven't followed the flight thing. I first watched Albatross on TV in a room of commercial pilots. Everyone watched entranced. Until then human power flight was considered impossible. The Hunley convinced me not to mess with human power submarines. They were heroes, not I. She was raised a few years ago. Maybe ready for display by now.

[@JanneRasanen2]

@@edwardnowill4408 Peak power of a large horse is actually a few horse power go figure. I was in a carriage with 9 people two horses kept up nicely with city traffic and when they accelerated the yank was hard.

[@JanneRasanen2]

GCN has made earlier recumbent videos look them up.

[@jonabub]

Maybe make the thumbnail "what's really the fastest bikes" :D

[@georgegriffith1695]

check out trump trikes, in south australia. they make the fastest trikes around

[@GregCantori]

A fast cycle for everyone!

[@JanneRasanen2]

You can say that again because recumbents are faster than time trial bikes by a good margin in general. Only touring bikes and the most upright seat urban recumbents are so slow that they are not a lot faster than TT bikes.

[@andy-the-gardener]

i love my catrike 700 racing trike. its heavy at 34lb but alot more aero than a road cyclist on the hoods due to the 25 degree recline. and thats just wearing ordinary clothes. only cyclists with that bent over aero position and special cycling clothes can get close to it aerodynamically. the big difference is racing trikes are fast and comfy, and you have a great view. its ironic they call recumbents 'bents' as racing cyclists are much more bent over :)

[@TreyGruel]

".. and it reminds me of a penny-farthing.." And they managed to get you to ride it? 🤯

[@davidbierbaum4881]

_I had posted this in the comments of the actual recumbent race video, but it's probably a better fit here in the tech video:_ I wonder if anyone has designed, or even thought of designing, a recumbent where one is lying forward instead of on one's back? The advantages would be that your pedals would be closer to where you are transfering the power, and your steering hands will be closer to your center of steering (whatever one actually calls that). The steering especially, really throws me off when I try riding one of my cousin's recumbents. The challenge would be to design something that gives proper clearance for one's knees while pedaling, and proper support for one's body while lying in a forward-facing position, so that every pothole or speedbump doesn't punch one in the gut or whack one in the elbows...

[@russellbridge2721]

Look up Grahame Obree’s Wee Beastie - his battle mountain bike

[@stephanieparker1090]

These exist. There's 2 I can think of. One was the BHPC in the 80s, and none seem to be in circulation any more. The current one is called the Bird of Prey; it's a prone recumbent from America. Big leather pads holding up your hips and shoulders. There was also a world record attempt bike from Graeme Obree that was prone and had long levers from his feet to a low central crank. From a pure aerodynamics point of view it was optimised into a smaller space than previously possible, but the engineering didn't quite bring the efficiency or reliability it needed.

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

@@stephanieparker1090 Bird of Prey appears to be defunct. At least they won't reply to me. A lot of lies in a video. I participated in the team with Graeme at Battle mountain. I made one myself. Very uncomfortanble.

[@JanneRasanen2]

I think without having ridden and having heard rumors of head first bikes that it is harder to breathe with them than it is on feet first recumbents. Crash worthiness of feet firsts are better than on regular bikes but would you like to crash head first?

[@velokernow3696]

You just can't beat a velomobile!

[@Metal-Possum]

Barney would make a good GRN presenter. (Global Recumbent Network)

[@sitoudien9816]

These are mostly DIY. Go to performer Taiwan to see commercial grade bents. They are probably the best value for performance.

[@AlanGoodman47]

😂😂😂

[@granthutchinson5937]

What sort of speeds can they maintain on the flat?

[@AlanGoodman47]

Which ones? The fully faired machines can easily hold 30+ mph. Slash averaged 32 at Hillingdon. On a velodrome he’ll average close to 40.

[@casualguy393]

I hold about 38-40kph on 210 watts (4 hours for me) depending on which wheel set up I am using that day. Dual discs are fast, but I have shallow wheels on now with slow rolling training tires so I am averaging around 35-37kph for my rides.

[@taufikabidin412]

You should've said the name of yhe builder, Miles Kingsbury, he is a very famous and made so many bents. The quattrovelo that you raced today was a design that he initiated, as he built Quattro for the Rolling across America (ROAM), which proved a 4 wheel velomobile was possible and not quite far behind the three wheelers

[@AlanGoodman47]

That Quattrovelo is nothing to do with the Quattro that Miles built...

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

Yes, he made the Beano the Slash rides. Stephen Slade (Slash) works with him.

[@andrewallen9918]

@@AlanGoodman47 Allert was partly inspired by Miles's Quattro which led to the Quattrovelo. I think that's the point Taufik was trying to get across.

[@pedroclaro7822]

Couldn't quite understand what composite materials the brown recumbent is made of. Carbon fiber sandwich of what? Thanks in advance

[@taufikabidin412]

Ask Miles Kingsbury, the maker

[@casualguy393]

Carbon fiber and I thought it was Kevlar, but appears to be Nomex.

[@macstmanj3]

I want to see Ollie and Si race a hand cycle

[@ResilientTim]

Agree,would be great to see if Hank and Si would be able to do a couple of laps on a hand cycle. If we go off of Si's quote of, "my arms," from the tandem ride with Hank, they might be out of their league.

[@4nz-nl]

I think they'll both lose if the novice cyclist they're training joins in - that guy has some big arms for a cyclist!

[@drewc8497]

Whatever you do ... don't let the UCI see whats going on here !!!!! #nomorefun

[@JanneRasanen2]

No worries there are I think 3 organizations for recumbents none of which are development curtailing like the UCI.

[@johnsuarez1404]

RECUMBENT IS THE FUTURE

[@apm9507]

A velomobile too small for Hank the Hobbit? 😳

[@4nz-nl]

Hahaha :-) The trick with a velomobile is to make it as small as possible. There's a continuous contest between smallest frontal surface area, smallest wetted surface and smallest Cd. After that's optimised, the trick is to keep the drivetrain as efficient as possible.

[@Tattersail]

can you submit all of these to hack/botch?

[@JanneRasanen2]

Easy hacks all round :-D

[@8807smoore]

No Mike Burrows?

[@AlanGoodman47]

Mike has retired from racing but is still playing with bikes.

[@mrichards55]

Amazing that the fastest cyclists in the world include a 55 year old bloke from Lincolnshire and are not Kenny, Roglic, Alaphillipe etc.

[@jonabub]

It's not the fastest cyclist in the world, that wasn't the world champion ship. I think current world record is at 139, something kph and owned by a canadian. But it is amazing that the "elite sporty" cyclists are still stuck on UCI leaving us oldsters with the higher speeds thanks to technical innovation of shedproductions. :) Let's hope they don't spread the word :D.

[@mrichards55]

@@jonabub I can imagine you recumbent guys have broken every rule in the UCI rulebook 😀

[@jonabub]

@@mrichards55 I sure hope so. Although at the start of the UCI recumbents were allowed and only because of their success at the time were they forbidden to allow the uprights a chance. It's hard to imagine how the cycling world and the world of mobility would have developed if the decision had been made the other way around. An old Ford T would have had a few challenges with competing with velomobiles :D.

[@4nz-nl]

@@jonabub Basically we can conclude the UCI is crippling innovation to make sure not too much changes in the cycling sport ;-) It's okay on one end, the recumbent scene is really, really nice and to be honest, a well designed road bike is just beautiful to look at. On the other hand, if a lot of people start riding the way I use my bike, that could have a significant impact on the environment.

[@jonabub]

@@4nz-nl Well how do you ride your bike then? Or what impact do you mean?

[@robbchastain3036]

So if a recumbent has exposed cables under its fairing, is it fully aero or no?

[@iberiksoderblom]

Don't show this to UCI. Their brains will bleed...

[@JanneRasanen2]

They had an aneurysm in 1932 when their beloved safety bikes got destroyed in competition by a recumbent so it got banned after lobbying from regular bike manufacturers. Boo! People could have ridden faster non butt, wrist and neck hurting bikes for almost a century if it were for lobbyist doing the work of satan. Like usual...

[@4nz-nl]

@@JanneRasanen2 What's more: We probably would have needed less cars (and less pollution) with large scale innovation in (faired) recumbents.

[@JanneRasanen2]

@@4nz-nl I have been preaching that.

[@4nz-nl]

@@JanneRasanen2 And it's true! But we're working on it. Talk about it everywhere you can... convert people one by one ;)

[@freighttraindan]

I'm sorry... but those of us that actually live on a recumbent.... would get killed on the first bike!!!!!! And none of these would be practical. These are all weekend warior bikes!!!

[@kennyh5083]

Now that is the dumbest thing I've ever seen!

[@TommyRazzle69]

Absolutely no idea why people ride recumbents. They always look a bit silly. Sort of like pipe smokers. Smug?

[@jeffwilliams5355]

Years ago I had a 'bent. Yes, it looked a bit silly. But it was wonderfully comfortable and I was still able to go at least as fast as on a conventional bike. The only downside to mine was that it really wasn't possible to lock it to a bike stand or to carry cargo (e.g. groceries). There are better designs available today. When I get a bit older and my balance gets a bit worse, I'm seriously considering a 'bent trike (two wheels in front, please, for stability).

[@jonathanwoolrich1610]

Some people don't only care about appearances.

[@fourutubez7294]

Because they are loads of fun!

[@AlanGoodman47]

Try one. You will love it. Life is always better with an open mind…

[@JanneRasanen2]

@@jeffwilliams5355 There are bags for recumbents my first one could use regular upright bike bags.