From the Bacerlona Olympics…now 15 years old…I take it that the helmets back then were simply fairings.
The cool thing is that he looks like he could actually ride this position reasonably safely on the road and it looks like it is also UCI legal using today’s rules (5 cm behind BB)
Always loved that frame, it’s timeless.
For anyone in the know - how does the Lotus compare in the wind tunnel with any bike, new or old?
The cool thing is that he looks like he could actually ride this position reasonably safely on the road and it looks like it is also UCI legal using today’s rules (5 cm behind BB)
The saddle set-back might have been within UCI limits, but Boardman has a long torso, so you can bet that the reach to the handlebars exceeded the 75 cm (80 cm if you can avail yourself of the anatomical exception) limit. (Cycling Weekly in the UK published all the relevant dimensions of Boardnan’s hour record Lotus if anyone is dying to know.)
I believe Superdave from Felt has said it and the Zipp were one and two in their testing.
Always loved that frame, it’s timeless.
For anyone in the know - how does the Lotus compare in the wind tunnel with any bike, new or old?
Most tests have found the Lotus to be one of the most aero, if not these most aero, frames ever designed. To be specific, the value that is usually quoted for the Lotus is ~0.9 lbs of drag at 30 mph (0 deg of yaw, frame/fork/wheels), vs. ~1.1 lbs for something like the Hooker and >2 lbs for a standard round-tubed frame (and wheels). Interestingly, however, it did not fair well in the testing done for Project 96, a fact that Jim Martin blames on the bike in question being handicapped by bad handlebars.
that frame looks a lot like the cheetah frame
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Shouldn’t that be that the Cheetah frame looks a lot like that ?
One of the guys at the local bike cafe bought Chris’ Lotus road bike off him. Its a work of beauty, but you have to be a great rider to do it justice. I’d just hang it on the wall.
That’s very cool. Everytime I think about the next bike I’ll get (many years in the future), I think, “Why wouldn’t I consider a Cheetah?” Silly fast, unique, and about the same price as the other top-of-the-line aero bikes.
-C
Most tests have found the Lotus to be one of the most aero, if not these most aero, frames ever designed.
Those tests were typically done on v2 of the Lotus frame, weren’t they? The Barcelona track frame was beautiful though, with the single sided fork and chainstays, and those really cool bars integrated into the fork crown.
The cool thing is that he looks like he could actually ride this position reasonably safely on the road.
Actually, he did ride this position on the road, reasonably safely except for one particulary nasty crash in the prologue of the 94 (I think) Tour.
Check out his hour record position on the corima.
Youtube is a mine of interesting stuff.
Documentary Prt1
This is a five part documentary, I just can’t be bothered adding all the links.
And yes - that’s a fairing he’s wearing.
The original Burrows bike that the Lotus was moddelled on is hanging in Manchester Velodrome
it’s a 45% mark-up on a P3C! otherwise i’d want one too…
I’ve also read that the Lotus and Zipp were number 1 and 2, respectively. I think the Zipp may have tested faster had the body of the frame, been more aero shaped (more pointed toward the rear). The beams had this shape, yet the frame did not.