The 'banana' bike that could reach 90mph: Researchers reveal curved ‘bulletbike’ to try and break human powered speed record
- Canadian inventors claim it can reach over 87mp/h - with just a single rider
- Built of carbon fibre and designed to cut through the air
It looks more like a rocket than a bicycle.
However, this amazing machine aims to become the fastest human powered vehicle in the world.
Its Canadian inventors claim it can reach over 87mp/h - with just a single rider.
Called Eta, it is being created by a team of students.
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The final design for the bike, which will race in September. Its Canadian inventors claim it can reach over 87mp/h - with just a single rider.
The rider is reclined inside the vehicle, which has a complex series of gears to reach maximum speed
HOW IT WORKS
The shell is made of carbon fibre
Standard bike wheels and tyres are used.
The rider will also rely on a video camera to see, as the cockpit is entirely enclosed.
'Our mission at AeroVelo is to inspire creativity in the public and challenge the norms of conventional design by doing more with less,' the team, led by Cameron Robertson & Todd Reichert, said.
It has previously created human powered helicopters and planes.
'Each year we recruit a student-based team to tackle a high-profile, thought-provoking engineering project.
'This year we will break the human-powered speed record at 133.8 km/h (83.1mph) by building the world's most efficient bike, Eta.'
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The bike will, they claim reach speeds similar to a car.
'For perspective, our human-engine will produce at maximum 1 HP, 100 times less than the average car, but innovative engineering will allow our bike to achieve a car’s highway speeds.
Bluenose, an early version of the design, at Battle Mountain, Nevada, where it reached speeds of 78MPH (125 Km/h).
'It all comes down to efficiency, which is actually the reason that the bike is called Eta.
'Eta is the Greek letter often used in engineering as the symbol for efficiency.'
The team have spends months on the design, reducing or eliminating the forces that are resisting our forward motion.
'By streamlining the body (ie. making a smooth contour with no massively separating turbulent vortices) we can reduce the aerodynamic forces by about 20 times,' they say.
'Our team is deep into detailed design and prototyping, and will have the vehicle ready for the World Human-Powered Speed Challenge (WHPSC) in Battle Mountain, Nevada this September,' they say.
'Beyond challenging the world record, we calculate that our incremental improvements in aerodynamics, mechanical efficiency, and rolling resistance will make it possible to achieve speeds in excess of 140 km/h (87 mph).'
The firm is using off the shelf components where possible.
'Wherever possible we've prioritized mature technologies and used novel design and better optimization/analysis to achieve the desired performance gains.
'We have budgeted an extensive portion of our timeline for testing - to shake down the design, work out the bugs, and be ready to break the world record.'
Backers can go to Kickstarter to help fund the project, which is aiming to raise $30,000.
The team has undertaken hundreds of computer simulations to ensure the vehicle is as aerodynamic as possible
A rendering of Eta showing the internal configuration, structure, and preliminary mechanical design - including the giant gear wheel
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