best bike for 100m sprint
Discussion
A (hopefully) enjoyably pointless question,
Alittle bit of google fails to come up with any answer as to how quickly a top cyclist could manage 100m (for the obvious reason that it's a bit pointless over that short a distance). What I was thinking of was, what would the best bike for the job look like?
rules:
100m standing start (like a sprint) - no push start
complete freedom to design a bike, as long as it's human powered and has 2 wheels it's good.
my thoughts:
probably something like a trials bike/bmx. No need for a saddle, you'll be standing throughout. Light weight is good, but so is stability - it needs to the allow the rider to spend as little time as possible balancing at low speeds, and as much time stamping on the pedals. Aerodynamics probably not that important either. Very light wheels important, probably very slim front tyre and wider rear.
Anyone else feel like having a go?
Alittle bit of google fails to come up with any answer as to how quickly a top cyclist could manage 100m (for the obvious reason that it's a bit pointless over that short a distance). What I was thinking of was, what would the best bike for the job look like?
rules:
100m standing start (like a sprint) - no push start
complete freedom to design a bike, as long as it's human powered and has 2 wheels it's good.
my thoughts:
probably something like a trials bike/bmx. No need for a saddle, you'll be standing throughout. Light weight is good, but so is stability - it needs to the allow the rider to spend as little time as possible balancing at low speeds, and as much time stamping on the pedals. Aerodynamics probably not that important either. Very light wheels important, probably very slim front tyre and wider rear.
Anyone else feel like having a go?
Probably something like a low profile TT bike with just the cowhorn bars, five speed with carefully selected gear ratios. A single downshift lever/button located within the handlebars where no release of grip is required.
This could actually be a good use for electric gears - of they could be programmed to shift automatically when a certain cadence is reached.
Frame would need to be the most rigid yet lightweight construction possible - likewise the wheels.
This could actually be a good use for electric gears - of they could be programmed to shift automatically when a certain cadence is reached.
Frame would need to be the most rigid yet lightweight construction possible - likewise the wheels.
pablo said:
bmx would be useless after 50m as you will reach max speed by then
this is kinda the interesting point... i'll try and find the relevant link but apparently a sprinter reaches vmax at 40m, then decelerates gradually. My initial reaction against traditional track bikes is they'd still be accelerating at 100m, probably still 200m, as even a light 700c wheel will have a fair amount more inertia than a good 20" or 24" wheel. Track bikes generally seem to start very slowly (mainly gearing I guess, but disc wheels can't help). Guess I'll never get to see unless someone is stupid enough to create a 100m standing start sprint event though (damn)paranoid airbag said:
pablo said:
bmx would be useless after 50m as you will reach max speed by then
this is kinda the interesting point... i'll try and find the relevant link but apparently a sprinter reaches vmax at 40m, then decelerates gradually. My initial reaction against traditional track bikes is they'd still be accelerating at 100m, probably still 200m, as even a light 700c wheel will have a fair amount more inertia than a good 20" or 24" wheel. Track bikes generally seem to start very slowly (mainly gearing I guess, but disc wheels can't help). Guess I'll never get to see unless someone is stupid enough to create a 100m standing start sprint event though (damn)i'm up for it, all we need is some rudimentary timing gear, and a big car park!....
Redbull organised a race like this but up a hill. I think that was over a 100m, pitching BMXers, racers, fixies all against one another. I think the BMXers done alright upto about the 50m mark.
More info here
http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Articl...
More info here
http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Articl...
awesome link, cheersDid MARIO Cippolini ever race against the horse over 1 km?
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/oct02...
I remember talk of him racing a top 100m runner though it seemed to be merely talk in the Cippo publicity way.
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/oct02...
I remember talk of him racing a top 100m runner though it seemed to be merely talk in the Cippo publicity way.
JuniorD said:
Did MARIO Cippolini ever race against the horse over 1 km?
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/oct02...
I remember talk of him racing a top 100m runner though it seemed to be merely talk in the Cippo publicity way.
The cycling world was certainly a brighter place with Super Mario around. http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/oct02...
I remember talk of him racing a top 100m runner though it seemed to be merely talk in the Cippo publicity way.
I think you'd only want one gear over that distance. Start standing then end seated spinning like hell. Relatively wide bars would be good for to get a bit of leverage at the start. It would want to be stiff and have a long rear end so you can get the power down and then just make it as light as possible. Maybe go with small wheels as they spin up more quickly.
Furberger said:
I think you'd only want one gear over that distance. Start standing then end seated spinning like hell. Relatively wide bars would be good for to get a bit of leverage at the start. It would want to be stiff and have a long rear end so you can get the power down and then just make it as light as possible. Maybe go with small wheels as they spin up more quickly.
Wouldn't the initial effort produce too much lactic acid to end up spinning efficiently at the end? I'd go with a few gears, but they'd have to be very closely spaced for full on shifts.BB areas would need to be something along the lines of the Cervelo S3/P4 design where there's literally no give or flex at all. Trying to push off that quick, serious power will be put through that area so it'd need to be strong and not give anything away in losses.
I'd have thought a seat would be required as you'll get faster cadence and lose less power through bobbing rather than pulling the pedal through a smooth stroke to get as much power as possible in to the drivetrain rather than lose it.
I'd have thought a seat would be required as you'll get faster cadence and lose less power through bobbing rather than pulling the pedal through a smooth stroke to get as much power as possible in to the drivetrain rather than lose it.
HundredthIdiot said:
So much wrong with that clip.The dude in leather trousers, metal toe-capped cowboy boots, a waistcoat and long overcoat W.T.F...??
The bird in the silver dress and turn-down wellies? WTF?
I like this idea! Think it would be interesting to give it a go on an "amateur" level... Bournemouth seafront after hours would be good for this too 
And on a flat too - can't be done with any hills like the Red Bull one...
ETA:
To give my opinion on the OP, I'm inclined to think a correctly-geared fixie would be the way to go too - I think you'd lose momentum attempting to shift gears over that short a distance. 26" slick-shod wheels which would spin up quicker than 700C's, and a very stiff frame would also be my choices.
And on a flat too - can't be done with any hills like the Red Bull one...
ETA:
To give my opinion on the OP, I'm inclined to think a correctly-geared fixie would be the way to go too - I think you'd lose momentum attempting to shift gears over that short a distance. 26" slick-shod wheels which would spin up quicker than 700C's, and a very stiff frame would also be my choices.
Edited by ccr32 on Friday 18th February 13:41
I'm thinking no gears too - for city riding I'm quicker off the lights stamping on the pedals on a high gear than shifting, but spending most of the time going easy on the gears. Might be different with a £2k gearset that can take some abuse though. 'Fraid I'm nowhere near bournemouth, might take my bikes (cheap mtb, half decent roadie) down to the nearest speed camera markings though 
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff