Inventors

MAYBE IT LOOKS FUNNY, BUT

CHESTER KYLE'S NEW OLYMPIC BIKE
COULD TURN OUT A WINNER

"It's the greatest thing since the invention of
the wheel," exults U.S. Olympic bike racer
Roy Knickman, 19. "No other country will have
anything to compete with it." The U.S. team
calls it the "funny bike," but the new ma-
chine's performance is no joke. Pared to
streamlined perfection the U.S. team's super-
cycle may well help it ride off with a clutch of
medals in the team and individual pursuit and
100-km team time trials at the L.A. Games. If it
does, it will be partly with thanks to the aero-
dynamic wizardry of Chester Kyle, 55, the en-
gineer and inventor who oversaw the bike's
bizarre design. Deadpans Kyle, "So far
CONTINUED

R a c e r S t e v e H e g g , in t h e U.S. t e a m ' s n e w a e r o d y n a m i c g e t u p , t e s t s t h e n e w b i k e w i t h a K e v l a r d i s k f r o n t w h e e l .

65

In his w o r k s h o p Kyle tinkers w i t h a p r o t o t y p e of t h e R a l e i g h s u p e r - b i k e .
"T^^t
it hasn't slowed them down any."
A professor of biomechanical engi-
neering at Cal State Long Beach, Kyle
has been pushing the speed limit for bi-
cycles since 1973, when he first dem-
onstrated that some 80 percent of a
rider's energy goes into fighting wind
resistance. His present generation of
bikes, costing up to $20,000 apiece,
were created by his six-man design
team to weigh as little as 11 pounds.
The frame tubing is made from a su-
per-light alloy, cast teardrop-shaped
with blunt end forward to slip through
the air. All holes, which create drag by
stirring up turbulence, were plugged or
smoothed over. Spoked wheels can be
replaced with plastic Kevlar disks.
Racers will wear Kyle's skintight suit,
and the whole rig will be topped off
with a swept-back helmet that makes
the rider look—and fly—"like a mis-
sile," says Kyle. "Theoretically in a
four-and-a-half-minute race," he adds,
"the bicycle with the helmet, shoes
and suit could save 11 or 12 seconds."
In races where fractions of a second
usually determine victory, that's a big
margin.
The bike's unusually small, 24-
inch diameter wheels also help. For
example, in the team pursuit (a high-
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speed chase around the cycling track
in which opposing four-man teams
race over 4,000 meters) the tighter
wheels allow riders to stay closer to
one another and better use the lead-
er's slipstream. "I don't think the bikes
are intrinsically faster," says racer
Brent Emery, 26, "but they allow you
to sit closer and recuperate faster.
The faster you recuperate, the faster
you ride when you lead the pace line
again." Steve Hegg, 21, a dark horse in
the 4,000-meter individual pursuit, is
more enthusiastic. "The bike's a
big improvement," he says, "and
Kyle's skintight suit is great."
A cyclist himself, Kyle founded the
International Human Powered Vehicle
Association, which sponsors an HPV
race each year at the Indianapolis Mo- Staccy Sheridan. Nebraska Chapte
Phoio l>y Doug Taylor
tor Speedway. "At first it was a joke,"
he says. "Now, with the energy short-
age and the Olympics, people aren't
laughing anymore." Indeed the speedi- This
est HPVs—low-riding, three-wheeled,
streamlined pods called Vectors—
little old lady
have exceeded 60 mph on sheer pedal
power. But the technological edge
has arthritis.
alone won't win races. Says Steve For more information. M^
Hegg, "It's still the team riders that contact your local ^~^k
count in winning medals." Arthritis Foundation
rU:tr.for ARTHRITIS
MONTY BROWER
cnapier. FOUNDATION