The Fastest Bike in the World

Subscribe to Motherboard Radio today! http://apple.co/1DWdc9d When the bicycle became popular in the beginning of the 19th century in southern Germany, England, and France, it was the first machine that championed private transportation. Almost 200 years after the invention of the vélocipède and Drais’ dandy horse, personal mobility is one of the highest imperatives in a globalized world. Today, our streets are filled with fixed-gears, roadsters, rickshas, BMX, and electric bikes. The ​Human Power Team has demonstrated just how fast you can go with pure muscle power. The third model of the Dutch team’s high-tech recumbent bicycle, the VeloX 3, reached a speed of 133.78 km/h, setting a new world record for the fastest pedal-powered vehicle. We visited the Human Power Team in their workshop in Delft, where lead engineer Dennis Berckmoes, although still in the middle of making the final preparations for their next record attempt, walked us through the details of the engineering process, that he and his colleagues from the student team go through every year, designing a new highs-peed prototype. All of the components of the VeloX4, from the chassis made of extremely hard but super light carbon, to the aerodynamics that are tested in the wind tunnel of a space center, to the special gear system, to the 3D-printed special parts, are individually designed and produced. “This is Formula 1 for bicycles,” as Dennis put it. Read more on MOTHERBOARD: http://bit.ly/1zR7a9K Check out The 20-Year Old With a Plan to Rid the Sea of Plastic: http://bit.ly/Ocean-Clean-Up-Kid Subscribe to MOTHERBOARD: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-To-MOTHERBOARD Follow MOTHERBOARD Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/motherboardtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/motherboard Tumblr: http://motherboardtv.tumblr.com/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/motherboardtv

Comments

1. shit I always wanted to make one like this as a kid
2. Great design. We can only imagine how fast it would go, if there was an electric motor inside.
   
   I think this design shape could be used for the train, motorcycle or bus too. It's a very useful experiment / competition.
3. What if you used this system to make more efficient electric motors? Wouldn't that work?
4. This is a Great invention.
5. Look, people are so fat you can hardly get them to walk let alone try to stuff themselves into a bike like this. These are one offs for the mechanically inclined TEAM, where most team members are fit, smart and dedicated. Great work.
6. it will be cool if this will become commercial and easy to use for everyone :)
7. what if you're going up hill?
8. Make the worlds fastestest longboard/Skateboard
9. What about when you want to get groceries or transport anything hefty?
10. SPEAK FUCKING ENGLISH OR DUTCH WHEN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A DUTCH PRODUCT NOT GERMAN
11. The Dutch 👍
12. Ever see britek ERW 700c? Composite Hoops Sprung From Wheel. High Speed Stable....Have to be important for Velo's. A flat...Bad.
13. yea but we need a 4 seater normal lightweight cheap pedalcar pedal and charge
14. noch so stützräder dran die bei fahrt einklappen dann würd ich eins kaufen
15. Bike meaning short for Bicycle Which means two wheels.
    What we have here is the worlds fastest "Tricycle"
16. how much???? 20,000 dollars, yeah nope fuck that!
17. and if you crash........... your in pieces
18. The key to human powered bicycle speed is multiple layers of gears, not just front to back but several intermediate layers. Design that, and you'll have a bicycle that can not only climb hills reasonably well but can attain extremely high speeds.
    Gearing will be most important. I've designed a few models myself that can do a sustained 45 mph for several hours with the same effort as doing 5 mph. Speed takes time to build and hills are always a factor. On a flat surface, as in many parts of Florida, this is totally achievable. Most of all they can be very fun and safe in traffic.
19. didnt show the planetary in the animation :)