This is kinda stretching the meaning of “bicycle” a bit…
The Swiss “Rocket Man” François Gissy has set a new bicycle speed record of 333 km/h (207 mph) on the rocket-propelled bicycle at Circuit Paul Ricard located in the South of France. The “bicycle” was designed by Gissy’s friend, Arnold Neracher.
Looks like just the thing to make me competitive at the local time trial again.
Updated: November 21, 2014. The Epo Bicycle designer, Bob Schiller, wrote in to clarify that the bicycle is still in the conceptual phase, and that the retail price has not been determined. If it comes to market Bob estimates the price will be around $1,500. Bob’s goal is to design a bike that can be produced in the Netherlands for a similar price to producing a bike in China or Taiwan. The article below has been updated to reflect these points.
Here’s an interesting new bicycle, the Epo, from Dutch designer Bob Schiller.
Why another bicycle design?
Every single person in the Netherlands cycles; even our prime minister uses his bike to get to work. Cycling is part of our culture and it has been for centuries. However, an affordable, contemporary Dutch bicycle disappeared from our streets.
A bicycle is a labour intensive product. For this reason, almost all bicycle manufactures moved their production to China or Taiwan. Epo revives the local industry and brings production back to the Netherlands.
-Bob Schiller, www.epobicycles.com
Bob Schiller’s goal is to produce a bicycle in the Netherlands for a similar price of producing a bike in China or Taiwan. The bike is still in the conceptual phase, but if and when it comes to market it will be in the region of $1,500.
The bike has a pressed metal frame made from aluminum. Two molded sheets are spot welded together.
There is a single fork leg on the front, and a single stay for the rear wheel. The single stay and fork allow the tires to be changed without the wheel being removed from the bike. The Epo also has disk brakes and is a belt drive.
Learn more about the Epo: http://www.epobicycles.com
While researching the best indoor cycling trainers for our new cycling gear store, I came across the 1upPOWERbahn from 1UPUSA, makers of the innovative 1upUSA trainer that uses a centrifugal clutch system. The POWERbahn trainer is still in development, and unfortunately it did not reach its fundraising goal on Kickstarter, but here’s a brief overview of what it offers.
The makers claim that it realistically mimics the outdoor ride indoors, that it closely simulates the experience of grade and motion changes that you feel on the road. It even simulates momentum, and it does it differently based on the rider’s weight.
Learn more about the 1upPOWERbahn.
This new bicycle wheel turns your normal bicycle into an electric bike.
The interesting thing about this wheel is that it is “intelligent”, it learns your pedaling technique and turns itself on and off when needed, and recharges itself. So there is no need to turn it on or off. For example, if you’re riding along and encounter a hill, the wheel will kick in and give you a little boost up the hill.
Some technical specifications for the Copenhagen Wheel:
It’s important to remember that this is not meant as your primary motor, you are the primary motor, this assists you when you need it, and is intended to complement your cycling, integrate with it and enhance it, rather than replace it.
Learn more about the Copenhagen Wheel at SuperPedestrian.com
Check it out! Velo Logic now has a store where you can buy a selection of indoor trainers, cycling movies and DVDs and books about cycling.
We’re starting small but will grow with time, for now you can browse:
Summer’s not over, head on over to the store and grab a few good books or movies to tide you through the summer.
How about Wheelmen, New York Times bestseller on Lance Armstrong’s massive deception and the greatest sports conspiracy ever. And here’s a great read for the ladies, Every Woman’s Guide to Cycling, Selene Yeager covers everything women need to know about cycling, from the basics like buying the right bicycle, to developing fitness, effective training, and finally how to race successfully and win.
On the movie front we have the classic Breaking Away in HD – if you haven’t seen it then you need to get it now, definitely one for the collection.
Heck, if you’re like me and like to ride indoors, you might even like to get a trainer (and in my humble but insightful opinion, you can’t beat the Kurt Kinetic!).
Editor: Newly crowned SC State Road Race Champion Bruce Humphries of the Hincapie / Green Creation Elite Cycling Team shares his thoughts on the Quarq Cinqo power meter.
I have had the fortune this year to be able to train and race on what I feel may be one of the single most important pieces of equipment that a racing cyclist could use, and that is my Quarq Cinqo power meter and Garmin head unit.
I placed my order for the Quarq and waited in anticipation for the package to arrive. I was told there would be a small wait period, but it should not be too long. The customer service up to this point was great, a real person on the other end of the line taking order information from me. Very pleasant. When I received the package, to say I was excited would be an understatement. I had been working last season with FasCat Coaching out of Colorado, and had set it up again for this season, knowing that I would have the power meter. We did not have our team bikes at this time, but I was not wasting anytime getting my numbers started. I had the local shop install the crank on my older steel bike.
The only issue we ran into was that the old bottom bracket did not want to come out easily, but a little elbow grease and the new crank was on. Installation was a breeze, since this is a crank based power meter, the only really thing that I needed to make sure to do was have the Quarq provided magnet in the right location relative to the marked sensor area. Quarq made this easy, since this was a standard frame, the magnet ring went right behind the bottom bracket cup on the drive side, and voila it was in perfect position. Upon getting home with my new toy, I pulled the Garmin out of the box, and a few simple steps had me reading power. I am not sure if this could have been easier.
I trained all through the winter with the older bike and the Quarq. Some rough winter weather on many rides never gave any trouble, the unit is sealed tight, so I had no problems with rain or snow. Once we received our new frames, I pulled the cranks from the old bike and installed them on my new frame, same ease of installation. This frame is a full carbon TREK Madone with the BB90 bottom bracket, so the magnet ring would not work on this frame. No problem there, Quarq also provided loose magnets with a two part epoxy for installation. I deviated a little on the installation here, knowing that this was a team bike, and knowing that I could not pull the magnet off at the end of the season, I took advice form a friend who also has the Quarq and bought some 3m mounting putty. This is a strong putty which allowed me to install the magnet, but would also allow me the ability to pull the magnet off at the end of the season.
Everything is working great with the power meter, and I have already seen the improvements that training and racing with a power meter offer. Quarq made it simple to get into the power reading way of training with simple installation, affordable pricing, and tremendous customer service. What more can you ask for from a company?
— Bruce Humphries
Thanks to Bruce and to Hincapie / Green Creation Elite Cycling Team for their review of the Quarq Cinqo power meter.
