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Graeme Obree's record attempt is coming up. There's a rather interesting article on BBC that goes into the design process he went through...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24015622
Is there a point where it becomes about mechanical innovation over human powered achievement?
The point when they invented gears is an obvious one (there's that famous quote about "the artifice of the derailleur) although IMO as soon as you put pneumatic tyres on something it's not really about human power any more.
Running is the only thing which is biologically honest, if you're a purist (waits for the shoe argument to begin)
Is there a point where it becomes about mechanical innovation over human powered achievement?
What Obree is doing with "Beastie" is all about innovation.
My feeling is that, as long as it's human powered and everyone is using similar kit, then it's about human performance.
I think the HPV speed record stuff is fascinating partly because it neatly mixes human perfomance and technical wizardry. I'm amazed that anyone can put out a consistently huge amount of power whilst encased in a tiny, stifling carbon fibre torpedo. I also love the staggering efficiency of the designs. Seems to be a nice 50/50 mix of the two facets, whilst also managing to be a sport where someone can knock up something that is globally competitive in their shed.
In one of the interview segments on Humans Invent I'm sure he briefly mentioned something about briefly considering body heat capture when talking about harnessing all available body power, but when there's plenty of room to accelerate and the legs can be worked sufficiently hard to exhaust the body it might be worth investigating would be the concurrent use of the arms in order to help out or slightly relieve the legs.
Having the body sideways and entirely behind the front wheel (with a bilaterally asymmetric shell) to reduce the frontal cross-section a little further would probably result in balance problems. Wonder if the potential reduction in drag would be cancelled by having an additional third stabilising wheel.
I think the issue with using arm power as well is that since well developed legs are already capable of using all of the energy that the body can supply, including the arms in the system won't result in the body generating more power. Muscle recovery might be aided, but has a trade-off in mechanical complexity. The closest is probably Derk Thijs and his lowracer rowbike.
Meanwhile in Nevada:
. by Jeff Wills Wheels, on Flickr
and Obree has qualified too:
I wonder how many of the local rednecks will be reporting abduction by aliens.
The local rednecks have already learned to stay away because they can't understand Mr Larrington's remarkable turns of phrase. :)
Obree referred to it variously as the "pregnant dolphin" and "pregnant guppy" when asked about it at his talk. I think marine animals are where he may have drawn quite a bit of inspiration. It's a bit like a fin-less Skipjack or Albacore.
@Arellcat - Graeme Obree is listed as DNS on that sheet, however he did record a speed later of >45mph.
Robert
Source website for the above, including some pictures:
Beastie looks...low tech.
And the aforementioned Larrington blog.
Fascinating variety of designs. Mr Larrington reckons that many were on limit of getting launched legally as help to get balanced can only go so far (well once they're moving at over 20mph it's not possible and some wipe out at this point).
The Beastie is getting fitted with a bigger chainring* according to Graeme Obree. Let's hope for low sidewinds and some good times. The Vortex and Bluenose look a smooth act and one of these did a warm up at 65mph.
*We have a 70T here courtesy of Dave!
My word, Mr Larrington! His musings, about a decade ago, were part* of what prompted me to turn to the dark side.
I still find, even after all these years, that getting started on the SMGT, especially uphill, can give me some issues. With USS, I can sit up and use body English at low speed, but starting can be problematical, and I have an 19ish" granny gear - those enclosed faired creations must need exquisite balance at (relatively) low speed
I'll keep my fingers crossed for Graeme (the weather in the general area is not bad,but at 4500' anything can happen) - a complete legend in my book.
*...and Brainstorm
The beastie is much higher than the other vehicles. I fear the side winds out on the highway may be a significant factor?
New prone world record, but Obree seems to be more realistic in his expectations now.
Can imagine him being in his element though, wouldn't be surprised if he was there next year with Beastie2...
Bad crash for the Glowworm tandem apparently. Skidded into some crash barriers protecting a bridge. Both riders seem to be OK according to Dave Larrington.
More on the bike:
Love him!
yes, headwinds are illegal in HPV racing.
They need to be made illegal full stop!
There's a new interview with Obree on Humans Invent.
I think he's been slightly humbled by the breadth and detail of knowledge of more seasoned Battle Mountaineers, but at the same time, everyone wants everyone else to do well. The odds on Obree going back next year are probably about 1 in 1.
"I think he's been slightly humbled"
And honest/modest -
"
And these are the people I am competing against! I think ‘oh my goodness’! What I have realised is actually how little I know. You can only know so much from first principles and what you think is right. When I built the Beastie I thought, ‘that’s a great bit of engineering, it must be quick.’ But in the real world there are other issues, and these guys have garnered 5 years of knowledge some of them, so it is a bit of a head start. If I’m being honest I could have done with more testing, but really you don’t get to the bottom line until you speak to these guys and actually come out here. They are proper enthusiasts, and they really want to help you get the best out of your machine. It’s more of a club, a collaborative approach to engineering! And you cannot access that body of knowledge anywhere else in the world apart from here.
"
liked his quote about the fish and chip papers still blowing about saltcoats
Obree did really well if you consider his effort was self contained without collaboration. This was what he wanted and the fact he cooked up the whole thing himself and 'just did it'. Of course when he originally set a target of 100mph this did cause some amazement amongst the veterans of this event.
Since then he seems to have accepted that a 'step change' in human powered speed is going to take a bit longer.
I'm sure he'll keep going at it for 2014.
Well done to him for entering the world of HPVs.
Ever fancied giving this sort of thing a go LB? :-)
I'm a bit too lazy to do this. Not good for sightseeing either as window is a bit small and scenery goes blurry!
I did try to contact Graeme to see if he wanted to borrow a bike for training. Then of course it turned out he was going head first.
That's true. I can't really see them catching on as leisure bikes right enough..
That's true. I can't really see them catching on as leisure bikes right enough..
Am I right in guessing the periscope there houses a camera? Doesn't seem to be a front window.
Yes.... Graeme did his ride with real view of road rather than a video link. They should have a category for that!
Team Delft though are now the record holders at 133.78kmph . VeloX3 has video.
New thread...
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11137
it occurs to me that the prone position might make rather a good recumbent for extreme gradient climbing
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