Lotus is back on track, and it's weird

[redir]

That's a nice sculpture there.

[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

These guys are touted as riding the new Zipp/Argon 18 Aussie track bikes, check the front forks.
Computer generated and wind tunnel testing is still a bit of black art, or we would have seen the perfect bike and F1 car long ago.

There was quite a cool clip about this in the latest f1 race. Well at least the swedish broadcast did a cool piece on it. Where something as basic as releasing paint (im gonna assume a special kind of paint) over the car and then see where this had spread after driving the car.

This seem pretty analogue and they explained it like they did this to see if the windtunnel testing result could be dublicated in the real world. Or thats how i understood it listening with one ear as i always do on the pre-race stuff..

This seemed to me indicate that windtunnel testing as you suggest is somewhat of a black art or they would not feel a need to dab some paint on the car to see where it would spread in the wind..

[Andy sti]

^Unsteady aerodynamics

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

These guys are touted as riding the new Zipp/Argon 18 Aussie track bikes, check the front forks.
Computer generated and wind tunnel testing is still a bit of black art, or we would have seen the perfect bike and F1 car long ago.

INTERESTING, those look like new Zipp discs too - maybe narrower? the hub and the disc surface seem to share a boundary. I'd imagine that's the first product of their partnership. I hope some pictures come outta Minsk this weekend.

[ultraman6970]

How long till trek makes a road bike like that lotus design???

[GonaSovereign]

Originally Posted by Bentley

Im assuming that this is the LOTUS car brand, they do design work on things like this, but that is just an assumption...

Yes, this is a bike from the car brand, not the steel bike brand. This is the car brand's second bike. Many will remember the first, from '92:

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

The new Lotus/Hope bike for the Brits on the track.

3D printed frame with ti bits. Wow.

You know what? I dig it. It's the result of a lot of work, it's under powerful athletes and it's in the environment it was designed for.

[mt2u77]

Imagine the conversion possibilities. Aero track thingy by day, 26” fat bike by night?

[FlashUNC]

That Ti seat lug gets me. Just looks so timeless.

[OldCrank]

That is wild looking.

Carbon fiber meets fried wonton.

Like it.

[Jef58]

This level of track bike, being designed for a specific purpose, does not have to be aesthetically pleasing by any means. All it has to do is give a top level athlete that extra nudge to medal. Even if I was able to buy one of these or a LOOK, I don't think I would like the price tag and ride qualities. I like how big R&D is put into this side of cycling.

[Ruimteaapje]

Nothing as drastic as the Lotus, but the Dutch will also ride a new bike in Tokyo: the Koga Kinsei will replace the Koga Kimara they developed for the 2012 olympics.

[cowgirl]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

I’m assuming someone bought the brand?

I’ll stick with mine:

Howdy!

Your Lotus is not the same brand as this Lotus. Your Lotus was an American market only entry level Japanese made ke that were built for a few big bike shops in the 1980s. My pal Johnny has one! They were cheap half way decent bikes- but not anywhere near the level of a real Lotus.

This Lotus is the descendent of the English car company Lotus that also made those super carbon bikes that Chris Boardman used to ride.

And no one would ever trade your Lotus for anything made by the real Lotus so y'all needn't worry your pretty little head off!

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by Ruimteaapje

Nothing as drastic as the Lotus, but the Dutch will also ride a new bike in Tokyo: the Koga Kinsei will replace the Koga Kimara they developed for the 2012 olympics.

The new frame witch has been out for an excess of a year has not been well received by most of the sprinters. I am not aware of what the problems are with the Kinsei, however, sprinters are a meticulous bunch and really don't like giving up there trusted equipment just for something new unless there are verified benefits. Watch the World Cup this weekend and see what people are using, likely the Kimara is still tops.

[Ruimteaapje]

What's your source? Apparently the team sprint guys were on two Kinei's and one Kimara and the two sprint finalists were both on Kinsei's two weeks ago in Apeldoorn...