Specter Trike recumbent racer

James Schroeder pedals the Specter recumbent trike to over 50 miles per hour at the World Human Powered Speed Championships in Battle Mountain NV September 2008

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Battle Mountain
• Nevada
• recumbent bicycle racing
• human
• powered
• vehicles World
• Human
• Powered
• Speed
• Championships
• in
• Battle
• Mountain
• NV
• September
• 200

[GuyFawkes40]

Terribly inefficient drivetrain. Complex, lots of joints and moving parts, indirect chain line passing under the rider. You should have asked me first. You would have gone over 65 easily.

[BikerCK]

@GuyFawkes40 We'll look forward to your record-setting run! :-) What's your best result so far?

[1stPlaceDirector]

Is like Track and Field rules, where the tailwind has to be below a certain speed for a speed record to qualify as an official standard?

[BikerCK]

@1stPlaceDirector

You are right, wind speed is a factor in determining whether a run is a record. The wind (in any direction) cannot exceed 6 (six) kilometers per hour (1.67 meters per second). If you're interested in reading the complete rules you can visit the International Human Powered Vehicle Association website (IHPVA)

[BikerCK]

I assume you're just teasing, but just in case, here's the applicable rule from the IHPVA

3.0 LAND VEHICLE COMPETITIONS

3.1 Vehicle Requirements

3.1.1 Power: Vehicles must be driven solely by human power. Non-human power sources (batteries, solar cells, etc.) are permitted only for powering sensors, displays, communication equipment and lights. Control devices, cooling fans, powered aerodynamic devices, etc., may not be powered from non-human sources.

[BikerCK]

A few have a retractable outrigger with a small skateboard wheel to hold them upright until they're going fast enough to be stable on two wheels (usually about ten metres or so), and the helpers aren't allowed to give the bike a push when they start, all they do is keep the bike upright until it's going fast enough to stay up. They can't do that for more than 10 metres if I recall the rules correctly.

[polishranger]

i'm fascinated by the design of this trike. i saw a think about battle mountain with all these bikes. they looked akward launching and when they crashed at the end. i was wandering if you could compete with a trike. i thought the drag with a trike would be too much but the idea of having areodynamic wheel outside the cockpit is brilliant. also why can't they build a ramp to help them launch? they don't start from a stand still any way. somebody helps them launch.

[TheSunergizer]

@GuyFawkes40 I was wondering why they had wooden boards instead of some aluminum tubing on the pedal assembly.

Kudos to the builders. BUT, there IS room for improvement. Some of our constructive criticism might be correct.

[DanFrederiksen]

you can try to measure the efficiency of the drivetrain. for instance how much it takes just to spin the wheel without load. maybe attach a motor to the pedals.

it might be better to use an electric transmission from pedal to wheel.

make sure bearings run perfect.

and maybe laquer and polish the hull

[GuyFawkes40]

@ClownFight ..I think either I or youtube got this comment confused with another video. I just watched it again and I can't even see a chain line. Although I can say one thing...If a person is trying to make the most efficient chainline possible, you would certainly eliminate as many changes in chain line as possible. I do agree with your comment concerning the diameter of cogs, the larger they are, the more efficient they are.

[GuyFawkes40]

@BikerCK ..I don't understand...I think either I or Youtube got this comment mixed up with another video. I can't even see the chain line in this video. I think it was meant for another video.

[ClownFight]

@GuyFawkes40 Your claims are not supported by the latest data acquisition equipment (PowerTap etc).The friction losses of indirect chain lines have recently been shown to be far less significant than previously assumed. Running a chain around a smaller sprocket set (say 39/11) creates far greater friction losses than a cross chain line across 53/15. The chain-line friction losses here would be so small as to be insignificant. BikerCK, did the hub have a few thousand run-in miles to loosen it up?

[xparade0de]

@jalit if you use 3 times the same tire yes, but who says you need to ? - use 1 big tire and 2 small ones and than the problem is away and you can use solar cells on your trike !