Lotus is back on track, and it's weird

[FlashUNC]

Still less crazy than Felts bikes that had the cranks on the wrong side.

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

I’m assuming someone bought the brand?

I’ll stick with mine:

man I lusted for one of these back in the day. Sweet cherry pie oh yeah, this was my countach on the wall poster.

[ultraman6970]

If they meet the specs I do not see why they couldn't use the bikes. Interesting shapes for sure! Like the bike...

BTW havent read the rules but i do not remember in the past that the rules say something about how the seat stays shape and angles, same with the forks.

I want to ride one

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Still less crazy than Felts bikes that had the cranks on the wrong side.

I was at the debut presser when USA Cycling announced those. There was all kinds of testing data an numerical gobbledygook that showed that those bikes would be faster than bullets.

Except they weren't.

[Bentley]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

I’m assuming someone bought the brand?

I’ll stick with mine:

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

[jpritchet74]

This bike is horrible looking and I (and I can't believe that I am saying this) hope that the UCI puts a stop to it.

I can't believe that it actually has the little UCI sticker on the frame......

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

I was at the debut presser when USA Cycling announced those. There was all kinds of testing data an numerical gobbledygook that showed that those bikes would be faster than bullets.

Except they weren't.

Team USA did set a world record on them though.

[m_sasso]

Originally Posted by nooneline

GB has experimented with wide forks before on their UKSI/Katsanis bikes (and, interestingly enough there seem to be some design elements from the Katsanis bikes that GB has been using for, what, 15-20 years, that have made their way into these bikes.

Given the failure of the Cervelos that they used for the Rio 2016 Olympics (they were delivered on the eve of the Olympics, several broke, widespread frustrations apparently), I'm not surprised that these bikes are coming out for the World Cup season prior to the Olympics. Especially with some interesting, delicate-looking, and very custom parts - they want to race test them before taking them to Tokyo.

UCI mandates that to be eligible for the Olympics, equipment must be used in a number of World Cup events before the Olympics and also available to the public. No mention of pricing! Equipment being released now with less time to copy and reproduce before the Olympics however still time to race and qualify for the Olympics by racing at Belarus (1-3 November) and in Glasgow (8-10 November) World Cups.

[David Kirk]

The wind tunnel data I've seen over the years shows that the areas of high drag are the fork crown area where the tire is spinning forward through a tight space while the air is rushing backward....and....the same area where the rear wheel passes forward through the seat stays. The attached flow of air "stuck" to the rim/tire combo gets stuffed through and into the air rushing rearward.

It looks as if Lotus is working hard to allow for room for the air attached to the rim/tire to pass with less restriction through the crown and stays.

Knowing Lotus the way I do I'd be shocked if it isn't lower drag and faster. It's going to be interesting to watch.

dave

[weisan]

I know what my next aero gravel bike is gonna be...

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

UCI mandates that to be eligible for the Olympics, equipment must be used in a number of World Cup events before the Olympics and also available to the public. No mention of pricing! Equipment being released now with less time to copy and reproduce before the Olympics however still time to race and qualify for the Olympics by racing at Belarus (1-3 November) and in Glasgow (8-10 November) World Cups.

yeah. it'll be interesting to see if these bikes actually become available to the public. I doubt it - Cervelo never actually sold the T5GB and British Cycling never actually sold its UKSI bikes. They pretended to, with a page on their website that basically said that you could try to buy one but they would never get around to making it for you.

I struggle to think if any federation flouts this rule in any similar way. Maybe FES - their track bikes are made by Germany's federation but I think I've seen one or two secondhand ones in the wild. Argon18s were developed for (I think) Denmark but pretty quickly made public. Other popular ultra-high end bikes from Cervelo, BT, LOOK, Avanti - all publicly purchasable.

[Aaron O]

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...

That was my first thought...but look at the Lotus script.

[martl]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

I take it that's more aero and has been wind tunnel tested. But I also assume that a computer came up with that idea, because I would be really impressed if a person came up with that idea

the idea surely was to reduce the influence of the turbulence caused by the fork blades/seat stays to the airflow along the wheels. Have thought of that in the past, wouldn't have thought the notoriously strict reglement would allow that tbh. And then there's the question of aesthetics...

[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.

[charliedid]

I'm guess/assuming all that space translates into less turbulence all around?

Far out design