fUCI
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You are currently reading a thread in /n/ - Transportation
You are currently reading a thread in /n/ - Transportation
your thoughts?
http://www.outsideonline.com/2053331/your-bike-should-be-better
>>975127
A recumbent would be faster and F the UCI twice as much, considering the UCI started regulating what counted as a bicycle were because of recumbents.
>>975130
>recumbents.
but they're ugly
>>975134
>>975127
OFN
they should just drum up the money to sell them
kick starter or something
could start a new alt bike industry
Stupid, tryhard, hipster shit.
>>975130
Actually the UCI rules of what makes a bike was due to the aerodynamic positions made by Graeme Obree ... any of you bent fags actually looked at the history of this sport?
It's more rtsy than anything. Typical child mentality that bicycles=motorless motorcycle. In real life they operate very, very diifferently.
This bike won't look nearly as cool when
a:theres a rider (artist?) on it
b. he's getting smoked by cyclists AND motorcycles
>>975130
>A recumbent would be faster
If they are then where are the recumbent races or at least recumbent time trial competitions on the race calendar? *looking looking looking* there aren't any, that's because recumbents are used primarily by people with physical infirmities that don't allow them to ride a normal bicycle, also they're unstable and difficult to maneuver therefore really not very safe at all and probably should be outlawed completely. Just because you're stuck with one for whatever reason doesn't mean they're good, stop deluding yourself and just accept that you're a cripple (or a sucker) and move on.
>>975138
>solar panels with the size of an ant
>not following the sun constantly
>able to charge 24 volts +
>on the go
>in few hours
Oh god please god just put an end to our existance we are not worth it there is no hope in this world.
>>975210
Or wait is it an e-bike? because if it isn't then charging your phone of a small solar power would still take a few days of constant sun.
Anyway it doesn't even matter this thread is clearly marketing of yet another snake oil normie magnet trash. Just move along.
>>975127
2edgy4me
Style over substance. The only goal with this piece was to create something with a striking appearance that will still appear to Freds who wish they had the same public perception as a motorbike rider.
>>975152
>There were no rules on position before Obree came along
Your jibe could not be more ironic.
>>975153
>Gets around quickly without an external power source
>None of the advantages of a safety bicycle
Right…
>>975183
>If guns are better than the bow how come there are no shooting competitions on the archery calendar. Checkmate atheists.
The problem with the fUCI is that nobody wants it... it's trade show glam and nothing more.
You could have a custom frame-builder make you a pursuit-type funny bike with gears and brakes if you wanted.
Most of the comfort and safety issues with upright bikes is due to the hunched-over-forward riding position, and pursuit bikes are leaned over even further than normal.
NOBODY wants this shit.
>>975153
>A recumbent also nullifies all advantages you gain from a bicycle and has the disadvantages of a cage - an invisible deathcage without the safety features of a car.
Nah, not really.
There are some built really low to the ground, but a lot of recumbent bikes have your eyes only 4~6 inches lower than they would be on an upright bike, riding the drops. You are about level with car drivers' eyes.
If you don't know:
1. The main advantage of a recumbent is riding comfort. Most of the pain you get from riding an upright, doesn't really happen on a recumbent bike. (this is only useful on longer 3-4-5+ hour rides tho,,,if you never take long rides, the main advantage is wasted)
2. *Some* recumbents are considerably faster than an upright, for the same pedaling effort. The best ones will give you 3-4 mph.
3. They are heavier and slower up hills, but the faster down-hill and flats speeds more than make up for that.
There's not a lot of recumbent organized racing, at least in the USA--but unlike UCI races, recumbent races/TTs (even BIG ones like Battle Mountain) are usually "run whatever you want", with different classes for faired and unfaired. There is no rule against upright bikes; you can bring your TT bike or your pursuit bike or whatever else you got. Not a lot of those guise seem to ever show up tho?
>>975273
>The only goal with this piece was to create something with a striking appearance that will still appear to Freds who wish they had the same public perception as a motorbike rider.
please tell us more
>>975322
If they were genuinely designing something with the aim of 'the fastest possible human-powered land vehicle without regard for sporting rules' they would have produced a faired recumbent. They already exist though, and have an established image which is very unsexy, so Specialized can't make any image gains by releasing one of those. They're complaining about the UCI stifling innovation by imposing irrelevant rules but they've done the exact same thing by subjecting their design to their own arbitrary rules of cool.
>“I’ve never actually met anyone from the UCI, but…,” Robert Egger, creative director of Specialized Bicycles, pauses to consider the appropriate turn of phrase. “Then again, I’ve never met a Nazi. I just know I don’t like them.”
What an asshole.
>>975319
If I know about anything, 6 inches or below isn't too safe to be at, I feel confident knowing I'm rolling around 8"
>>975127
Nice playtoy, nothing more.
>>975153
>A recumbent also nullifies all advantages you gain from a bicycle and has the disadvantages of a cage - an invisible deathcage
Very wrong, recumbents and especially velomobiles are safer than upright bicycles
>>975319
Recumbents are faster mostly because they have a much lower drag than upright bicycles
>>975152
You're retarded and wrong.
>>975134
>ugly
But so is that thing
>>975127
>aerojokes
>stupid skinny tires
>can't adjust your position
>didn't go all the way and put a fairing over the fucking chain and rear derailer and the handlebars
>looks like shit
>designed by a retard who works for the worst company in the industry
if he were cool he would have just made a scraper bike
I liked the Cheetah better.
>>975127
I wish it wasn't so ugly and designed JUST to break all the rules. The fairing, the electric assist, the cellphone mount,.. lame
The time would have been better spent designing a bike that is actually faster and better, only breaking the dumb rules and not the ones that make the bike slower / lamer
>>975638
what in the fuck
I hate it when black people get into bikes and all of my egalitarian ideas about blacks being just as good as the rest of us fly right out the window
why can't she just get a nice brompton and wear adult clothes and pose for a picture in front of the beach or a coffee shop or something? I don't even need for her to use those chemical hair straighteners. black people should be allowed to have natural black people hair. just as long as they renounce whatever mental illness brought about stuff like that bike. and also the rap music. jazz is ok though.
>>975716
high test tho
>>975716
scraper bikes are the best shit tho
>When your friend forces you to be downtube
>>975153
Recumbents are comfort.
Falling with a bent isn't very scary because you're already so low on the ground.
First time riding one I fell in a ditch because I forgot how to steer, but it's something you learn within a hour.
And I didn't hurt a thing, being low to the ground has advantages if you fall.
FWD bents climb just as good as normal bikes, unless the road is slippery..
I live in the Netherlands so I don't have to worry about hills anyway.
Except sometimes a very steep bridge but those are very rare.
It's been a big speed increase for me, but I live in the Netherlands so we have great bike infrastructure and zero hills.
Out of the way recumbent shitters
>Special Ed making a messed up trade show bike for publicity's sake
#iamspecialized #fuci #bettershredthandead
>>976218
It's an obnoxious ploy for attention, but the simple truth is that the UCI needs to fuck off and die in a fire. Sooner rather than later.
This stands a much better chance of happening if manufacturers and consumers are on the same page. It's an obnoxious vanity/publicity piece that also serves a higher purpose.
Why do people dislike Specialized?
>>976223
Did you read the article? The bulk of it dealt with how Trek and Giant deal directly with the UCI.
Most brands make more than just racing bikes. Does the UCI really affect the consumer other than dumbass dentists who only buy what the pro teams are using?
>>976229
Why would I read the article when I can pull assumptions about it's content out of thin air?
Yes, the UCI really affects the consumer - even the ones that are just buying casual bikes.
>>976214
are we ever going to get the streamliner in our lifetime?
>>976441
>That ungodly neck pain
>>976234
Only in the US, though. In the rest of the world you can get cheapass functional city bikes in every department store.
>>976451
But think about muh speed, power output and aerodynamics. Worth it.
>>975585
pretty much this. the spesh is gay
>>976226
Because they are poor and Specialized is popular.
>Gyro Gearloose of cycling
>>976507
that looks really uncomfy and dangerou
>>976515
It was designed for a human powered speed record attempt (fairing not pictured). Unfortunately for Obree, the folks chasing that record had already been working under a 'there are no rules' regime for some time, so there was nothing to give him an edge.
>>975319
Interesting. Every time I've seen a recumbent bike in my country they have been very low and I always imagined getting run over by a cage would be much more likely while riding one. I think they have been three wheelers though but I can't remember.
The only thing that concerns me about that recumbent is that my head would be much lower than my body during steep climbs.
It would be hard for me to find a recumbent.
I wish the uci didn't fuck this all up. Up right bikes could have so many different shapes and features too. Really so much has stagnated, it sucks.
>>975716
>what in the fuck
>I hate it when hipster people get into bikes and all of my egalitarian ideas about hipsters being just as good as the rest of us fly right out the window
>why can't he just get a nice trek and wear adult clothes and pose for a picture in front of the workplace or a path or something? I don't even need for him to use those messy beards. hipster people should be allowed to have natural shaved face. just as long as they renounce whatever mental illness brought about stuff like that bike. and also the indie music.
>>976520
>Unfortunately for Obree, the folks chasing that record had already been working under a 'there are no rules' regime for some time, so there was nothing to give him an edge.
Obree had a crap bike on his first attempt.
At least two of the old-timers of IHPVA tried to politely email him and tell him that he was trying to use ideas that had already been discarded decades ago--but he ignored them and went on his way anyway.
And he ate shit.
He's definitely a strong rider, but even at that you can't win IHPVA with a lousy bike. People kinda hoped he'd either hook up with a good team, or buy a recent modern bike to try with, so they'd get to see what he could really do,,,,, but he did neither last I heard (I think his attempt with the prone bike was 2 or 3 years ago now?).
Pic related: a not-lousy IHPVA bike (tho a few years outdated now)
The Versatron Vector was an IHPVA bike from back in the 1980's that got a lot of media attention at the time. A lot of later entrants said they were inspired by it to get involved in IHPVA racing.
It still looks nifty today but it is totally uncompetitive (it has way higher drag than what's out there now).
And it's not really good for general riding since the front wheels only turn about 5° lock-to-lock, and the front wheels are built for a size of tubular tires that aren't even made anymore (22", IIRC).
>>976546
Hipsters have abandoned beards though
Beards are fully normie now, you can see the most corporate dressed dweebs sporting a full beard on their LinkedIn these days
>>976507
is like the motorcycle in teh dark knight
>>975127
Looks heavy. desu
>>976546
>What Battle Mountain machine would be good for general riding anyway?
Welp, many people would say NONE of them, since the fastest ones now are all video bikes.
That is--to reduce the frontal area as much as possible, the rider is reclined so much that they cannot see out any windshield at all. So there isn't one. There is just a little video camera sticking up, and a TFT screen inside for the rider to see where they are going.
the pics are from the page below-
http://road.cc/content/news/94198-sebastien-bowier-sets-new-human-powered-vehicle-record-nevada
I asked on a recumbent forum when people would bet that the first videobikes would be used on public roads, and everybody said I was nuts....
*I* am not feeling adventurous enough to do it, but I think it's only a matter of time. The camera setups are certainly cheap enough.
Also We Note: that page above notes that Obree did set a new prone record on his goofy bike, but he was still way slower than the fastest recumbent bikes.
...continued....
>>977054
...continued...
Before the video bikes took over around 2010 (there is about three or four teams running them now, that they built themselves) probably the fastest bike was the Varna Diablos. These were built by a guy who raced and sold them, there was three slightly-different versions over about 5 years I think. I dunno how many were sold, but I doubt it was more than 10 or so.
It's enclosed and has a normal windshield, but it's still very cramped. Since you can't even get in and out of it without help, it's not really good for normal riding. (the tops are taped on for racing, usually)
So then, what is the fastest street-capable bicycle you can buy? At the current time, that would probably be the Peregrin-on-Birk.
http://speedbikes.ch/en/peregrin-on-a-birk/
Cost with everything is about $35K US. A lot of money but it's built very well.
Flat cruising speeds is ~35 mph, sprinting to over 50 mph is possible.
There was a guy on recumbents.com who bought one.
There is a number of other companies that offer streamliner *trikes*, but these always have more surface area and more weight and rolling resistance, having 3 wheels. The Peregrin-on-Birk is faster than they are.
Most people who have anything like this, built it themselves.
They report a common problem: if you use a normal bicycle gear set (just front chainrings and rear sprockets) then you kinda bump into the range limit of what a normal bicycle gear set is capable of. You have to resort to building some kind of compound gear setup to get the full speed range desired.
The Peregrin-on-Birk has the ability to run compound gears but apparently the first versions were just running front+rear sprockets.
>>976226
Ultimate Fred brand
