Going 52 mph on a bike is fast, but not fast enough for Western’s SpeedBike team.
The team is modifying a bike it used in competition last year to improve the top speed and test run it at the Oregon Human
Powered Vehicles competition at Portland International Raceway on May 24-25.
Riding the bike is almost like sitting in a chair, Western junior Kevin Schoenmakers said. The streamlined design gives the rider increased power output, which is why it has been banned from racing events such as the Tour de France.
An aerodynamic carbon fiber shell covers the rider to reduce drag. Since the rider is enclosed, the bike has to be caught before stopping or it will tip over on its side.
The SpeedBike team’s ultimate goal is to beat the collegiate record of 58.5 mph and challenge the world record for the fastest human powered vehicle in October 2009 at the World Human Land Speed Challenge in Nevada, Schoenmakers said.
The athletic talent from the bicycle team combined with engineering talent from the Vehicle Research Institute gives Western an advantage, said Jason Morris, assistant professor of Industrial Design and team advisor.
“There is no reason why we couldn’t be the best,” Morris said. “We just have to convince one of those cyclists to get into our bike.”
The world record for the fastest bicycle is just over 80 mph. It was set on the same long, flat stretch of Highway 305 in Nevada that the team hopes to bring their new bike to in 2009. The record-breaking bike has a similar design to Western’s speed bike and also weighs about 60 pounds, Schoenmakers said.
When they competed with last fall, the SpeedBike team got the bike up to 52 mph, and it was finished only the night before, Morris said.
In competition the rider pedaled down four miles of straight, level road and the top speed was recorded in a speed trap in the last 200 meters.
Although the event is more than a year away, the team’s three members are testing their engineering talent on a bike designed by last year’s team.
The bike has a lot more potential, and the team needs to squeeze every mile per hour out of it before starting a new one to use in 2009, Schoenmakers said.
After following the advice of Morris, the team has found several areas that can change to improve the bike’s performance, Schoenmakers said.
The bike will use BMX wheels retrofitted with mountain bike gears to give it more power. Removing unnecessary adjustable parts will reduce the bike’s weight, Schoenmakers said.
“The bike weighed 80 pounds last year,” Schoenmakers said. “After we make our changes we hope it will be less than 60 [pounds].”
The team is also working to create a more comfortable seat that is made of carbon fiber before going to Portland, Western junior Ryan Nyberg said.
The rider back and head supports are uncomfortable and need to be redesigned to get increased performance from the biker, Schoenmakers said.
“It’s going to be tight,” Nyberg said. “We’re probably going to pull a couple of all-nighters to finish [the seat] in time.”
After returning from Portland, the team plans to start advertising and recruiting members for next year, Schoenmakers said.
“We’re looking for all kinds of students,” he said. “We could use art students to design the bikes, business students to work with AS to get funding or even people that just want to ride the bike and be a part of the team.”
Next year the team wants to look into different designs such as a similar one to this year, tricycles or even a bike where the rider lays on his/her stomach and pedals facing the ground, Western junior Joey Miura said.
The students learn a lot through the process of designing and building a bike, Morris said. Next year they will be able to choose their own goal and research what kind of bike can best work to achieve it, he said.
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