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Could I race one of these? |
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Dave S 
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Joined: 14 October 2024 Status: Offline Points: 4 |
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 Topic: Could I race one of these?Posted: 14 October 2024 at 5:32am |
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I brought my daughter to watch you all racing at Darley Moor on Saturday. We appreciated the warm welcome and the chance to see you in action in person rather than on Youtube.
I learnt that recumbent racing boils down to one main question: How to beat Slash? Russell's very close but - in spite of being able to ride over 70mph in Nevada - goes into each race as the underdog. I did have one question. Damjan Zabovnik's Metastretto looks really interesting. I know camera bikes have been forbidden in circuit racing for a long while as their visibility, and the risk of cameras failing means they represent too much of a risk to themselves and everyone else on the track. Your regulations therefore say that the bike must have sufficient direct visibility to race safely. Metastretto travels with the rider facing backwards, looking forwards via a mirror. Is this forbidden on principle? It seems to place all of the elements in the right place (rear drive, short chainline, front steer, low drag) and one might suggest that with a sufficiently large mirror as well as side windows etc, you could achieve good forward, side and rearwards visibility. And the mirror should be reliable in a way that a camera array might not be. I appreciate that there's a certain arrogance in talking about going faster than everyone else while riding backwards, at a time when I'm not especially fit and most of my recumbent experience is on a fairly slow trike, but I hope you'll overlook that!
Edited by Dave S - 14 October 2024 at 10:10am |
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AlanGoodman
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Club Chairman Joined: 04 March 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 8036 |
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Posted: 14 October 2024 at 9:15pm |
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Hi Dave!
That would be a no on safety grounds I’m afraid Dave. It’s scary enough being a slow rider and having streamliners coming past at 40mph now… 🙂 |
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Dave S
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Posted: 14 October 2024 at 9:48pm |
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Aww, that's a shame! Will keep thinking. It's easier than training.
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AlanGoodman
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Posted: 14 October 2024 at 9:51pm |
 *** He said the “T” Word!!!! |
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Dave S
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Posted: 15 October 2024 at 10:24pm |
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As a follow-up question, if I may - why is there such a difference in design between hour-record streamliners and their track-racing brethren? To ride 50 miles around a track in an hour needs something incredibly low and eight or ten feet long. To win in a one-hour race around a track needs something with slightly greater height but much less length, averaging somewhere in the 30s while navigating tight bends and traffic.
What's the difference in requirements? Is it that you don't try for an hour record when the wind gets up, so their greater sail area isn't an issue? That those bikes only race on big, big ovals and so don't need much steering lock? Or is there something more fundamental?
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AlanGoodman
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Posted: 15 October 2024 at 10:29pm |
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Corners change the game entirely. You lose speed going around a corner then have to use a lower gear getting back up to speed.
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legs_larry
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Joined: 09 March 2005 Location: London Town Devine Status: Offline Points: 1554 |
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Posted: 16 October 2024 at 8:04am |
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Plus Damjan's bikes work if the only view of the outside world is via the mirror. If you can see anything not via the mirror your head-branez get confused and you steer the wrong way and usually crash and it hurts. Even a walking-pace lap of a motel car park on Gardner Martin's experimental unfaired trike proved impossible without frequent impacts with the kerb and/or emergency stops to avoid riding into a parked car.
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a bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds |
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JDub
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Joined: 01 November 2005 Location: Egham Status: Offline Points: 480 |
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Posted: 19 May 2025 at 1:43pm |
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You're pretty much right on the differences. Record attempts up to the hour are run alone and in still conditions. The circuit racers are much shorter and need to lean hard in corners in windy conditions. They need to be more compact. Records have been set with camera and mirror vision bikes. We don't allow camera bikes in mass start races. Sean Costin did himself some damage in one on an oval. Not had anyone try to ride with a mirror, but would have to ask questions.
For longer records, there is some tendency to trikes, at least in part because stops and starts are easier. |
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jdub... Got the T-shirt
http://protobikes.org.uk/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/150386999@N02/ |
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Dave S wrote: