Are there many different categories of cycle racing going on?

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Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
By that I don't just mean other categories of uci road racing but in a lower formula (if you will excuse the analogy) but people racing say Sturmey Archer 3 gear bikes or recumbents or whatever.

I've often thought it would be great to have a class of competition open to absolutely anything which is human powered and even vaguely like a bike to encourage innovation and design. Road bikes already represent what we think of as being the best design but it could be that uci regulations are actually stifling progress.
 
Sturmey Archer 3-speed is hardly the pinnacle of innovation & design..?? Nothing to stop you racing one now though, although there's a reason why most people don't..

You could argue that UCI regs stifle progress - although you could also argue that they provide an affordable, level playing field for both amateurs and pro teams alike...
 

lejogger

Guru
Location
Wirral
I know a chap who still holds a Land's End to John O'Groats record, but on a windcheetah recumbant, and it's faster than the proper bike record - something silly like 41 hours. You can get some serious speed up in those bad boys, but I'm not sure how suitable they are for racing unless on a closed circuit.
 

Teuchter

Über Member
Sturmey Archer 3-speed is hardly the pinnacle of innovation & design..?? Nothing to stop you racing one now though, although there's a reason why most people don't..
Having vainly tried and totally failed to keep pace with a roadbike on my commute home on Tuesday while riding my Raleigh 3 speed, I concur.

As much as I hate to admit it, my derailleur geared bikes (80s 12 speed and modern tiagra 18 speed) are so much nicer for going fast mainly thanks to always being able to select an ideal gear. Still something about Sturmey Archer gears that I love but they do really require a "chill out and enjoy the scenery" mindset to be adopted before setting off.
 
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Cyclopathic

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
?? Nothing to stop you racing one now though, although there's a reason why most people don't..

You could argue that UCI regs stifle progress - although you could also argue that they provide an affordable, level playing field for both amateurs and pro teams alike...
I know. I have been quite sloppy here and mixed up two different points in the same thread.
I wondered what if any existing groups might be around that raced or even just clubbed together for rides on machines other than the standard road bike model.
Then I got distracted and went off on a tangent about having a competitive category that was unrestricted in which absolutely anything could be ridden.
 
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Cyclopathic

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
Having vainly tried and totally failed to keep pace with a roadbike on my commute home on Tuesday while riding my Raleigh 3 speed, I concur.

As much as I hate to admit it, my derailleur geared bikes (80s 12 speed and modern tiagra 18 speed) are so much nicer for going fast mainly thanks to always being able to select an ideal gear. Still something about Sturmey Archer gears that I love but they do really require a "chill out and enjoy the scenery" mindset to be adopted before setting off.
They have a fond place in my affections too but I don't want to get too caught up with this specifically, I was just interested to know if anyone out there raced or had clubs specific to bikes other than the conventional road bikes. Or for that matter conventional mtbs or bmx. I could quite easily see there being some fun to be had out of racing folding bikes for example.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
And there's the BHPC, I will go and watch one of their events this year.
 
I know. I have been quite sloppy here and mixed up two different points in the same thread.
I wondered what if any existing groups might be around that raced or even just clubbed together for rides on machines other than the standard road bike model.
Then I got distracted and went off on a tangent about having a competitive category that was unrestricted in which absolutely anything could be ridden.

as mentioned earlier, the brompton races always get a good crowd, as does some of the HPV stuff. Trouble is, most of the crowds are there for 'novelty' value as opposed to any real sporting interest... ;)
 
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Cyclopathic

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
And there's the BHPC, I will go and watch one of their events this year.
This is the very thing I was thinking of. I think it's a bit of a loss that this sort of thing isn't more widely known so that it might attract commercial sponsorship and thus advance the cause of more efficient ways of getting about under our own steam as it were. That said i do very much enjoy using the conventional configuration of the bicycle and would't want it to be replaced, just to have other things along side it.
Thanks for the link. I will investigate them more and who knows perhaps get to one of their events myself.
:smile:
 
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