Funky (pedal) bike

[guest7]

This is the bike that Blue Peter's Helen Skelton intends riding in Antarctica:



It may look just like a balloon tyred MTB, but a lot of thought and effort went into it. Full story HERE

[SteveC#222]

Hmmm, I can see why they're there, but those big fat wheels are going to take some pedling!

Matt Baker stopped about 50yds from my house on his Rickshaw challenge for Children in Need and he was really struggling too. Congrats to the bloke for finishing cos it was one mighty heavy beast he was pedling and must have been a killer on the flat open fen roads.

[guest7]

Apparently the wheels are custom built and they got the weight down to 1lb each, although the tyres weigh a fair bit. If you read the article you will see that an earlier version has already been ridden in Antarctica. I'm guessing, given the unforgiving nature of Antarctica, if it didn't work, it wouldn't be used. We'll see how she does, she sets off today.

GC

[SteveC#222]

She'll have thighs big enough to kickstart a Panther when she gets back!! 

[guest7]

She'll have thighs big enough to kickstart a Panther when she gets back!! 

LOL. Although if you read the accounts of other Antarctic trekkers you will see that they nearly all struggle to keep body weight (including muscle) at a healthy level. I remember watching a documentary in which Dr Mike Stroud (who walked across the continent with Ranulph Fiennes) prepared a meal with sufficient fat and carbohydrate content. He started off with a WHOLE block of butter  (and even that wasn't enough to counter the calorie loss incurred on their trek).

[Andy M]

He started off with a WHOLE block of butter  (and even that wasn't enough to counter the calorie loss incurred on their trek).

Mmmm Pemican (not) 

Andy

[Steffan]

Give it a miss, saw a lovely 1960s moped the other day though

[Mark]

Give it a miss, saw a lovely 1960s moped the other day though

50 years ago.

[guest18]

"saw a lovely 1960s moped the other day though"

Got a Trojan Mini-motor in the shed... just need a frame mounting U-tube, a suitable bike, and time.... lots of time... 

[Steve Lake]

Well, good luck to her, but i fear it's bluddy night on impossible
and as for being aerodynamic.... nooooo... with those wheels.... never, and the frame is just tubing
i can see a use for the much maligned and long forgotten shimano 'biopace' chainrings...

at the sort of speeds she'll be doing... aerodynamics (even with the winds she'll be pushing into) are not an issue.....
as its mainly uphill, into a very strong headwind (at least until she reaches the inner plateau), and pulling her own body weight on a sled, well.... its such a tall order


and.. in case you wonder if i'm talking my usual b*llocks.... i did spend 7 months on the british antarctic survey (ok, I was only there to ensure the twin engined otter plane was airworthy) and did experience the incredible extremes of weather that happen at the bottom of the world.

luck will be the deciding factor on this enterprise.

[SteveC#222]

I know they always use to say that an ounce off the wheels was worth 1lb off the frame....those wheels weigh about 8lb each with tyres....

[guest7]

From the Sport Relief web page:

"Starting off on her specially-designed snow-bike, in temperatures of -26c, Helen managed fifteen exhausting miles before camping for the night. Only a mere 485 miles to go then...."

GC

[guest7]

Well, she made it:

"Skelton became the first person to use a bike - with specially adapted wide tyres - as part of an expedition to the Pole.

She covered 329 miles by kite ski, 103 by bike, and 68 by cross-country ski.

She pulled a sledge containing her supplies that weighed a total of 82kg (13 stone)."

Story HERE

GC

[Steve Lake]

like Ran fiennes I'm amazed and in awe of her achievement.... bloody well done.... it takes incredible self belief and a lot of bottle to even attempt what she did.. and the record for kite/ski ... sensational... in fact the distance covered on the kite/ski leg was the foundation for eventual success.... superb effort... and in no way overshadowed by the 16 year old who has just completed a single handed circumnavigation... only to be told it won't go in the Guiness book of records ('cos it might encourage others to do it.... yeah... so what!) ... another wonderful effort.

[guest868]

Cracking stuff. That denial by the Guinness book gets me mad though. Grr.