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333 Km/h Rocket-Powered Bicycle Sets New Speed Record

Posted by timothy on from the hope-they-used-a-good-zamboni dept.

Dave Knott writes François Gissy of France has claimed a new bicycle speed record. As you might guess, he was not pedalling – he was seated atop a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket with three thrusters fastened to the frame of an elongated, but otherwise ordinary-looking bicycle. In a video posted on YouTube that announces the record, a Ferrari racing the bike is left far behind within seconds of leaving the starting line. The bike, designed by Gissy's friend, Arnold Neracher, reached its top speed of 333 km/h (207mph) in just 4.8 seconds and 250 metres. According to Guinness World Records, the fastest speed ever for a bicycle that wasn't rocket powered was 268.831 km/h by Fred Rompelberg of the Netherlands, riding behind a wind-shield fitted dragster in 1995 and assisted by the slipstream of the car. The current unassisted bicycle speed record is 133.8 km/h — a record that a team in Toronto is trying to break.

35 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. I think I remember this story... by apcullen · · Score: 2

    Doesn't it end with them picking his teeth out of the canyon wall??

    1. Re:I think I remember this story... by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Indeed, I thought broken record was going to be "people killed by rocket bicycles".

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    2. Re:I think I remember this story... by davester666 · · Score: 1

      he's just trying to tie the record...if he wanted to break it, he'd have built a tandem.

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    3. Re:I think I remember this story... by arielsom · · Score: 1

      This sounds like a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

  2. If I strap a rocket to my back by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 5, Insightful

    can I claim the fastest jogging speed? I'm sure I can break that 333km/h in 4.8 seconds. Just before getting smeared across the pavement, of course.

    --
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    1. Re:If I strap a rocket to my back by idji · · Score: 1

      then you wouldn't really be around anymore to claim anything, would you?

    2. Re:If I strap a rocket to my back by houghi · · Score: 2

      I think Neil, Buzz and Michael had the fastest La-Z-Boy.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    3. Re:If I strap a rocket to my back by BlackSabbath · · Score: 1

      No, but you might claim the fastest dying speed.

  3. bike? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How is this a bike and not a motorcycle?

    Powered. No pedaling...

    1. Re:bike? by MerlynEmrys67 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Have to agree with you on this one. It has an engine - it isn't a bicycle that is human powered. I hate these new "Eco-Electric" bikes... not sure they should count all though at least they do have pedals and you can power a crappy bike with human power.

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      I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
    2. Re:bike? by plover · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How is this a bike and not a motorcycle?

      It's neither. It is a rocket that happens to have two wheels hanging beneath it, and Wile E. Coyote hanging onto a crossbar above it.

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      John
    3. Re:bike? by msobkow · · Score: 1

      I think even Wile E. would give a second thought before climbing on it. :)

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      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    4. Re:bike? by alexander_686 · · Score: 1

      ...though at least they do have pedals and you can power a crappy bike with human power.

      This one too has pedals and looks like can move it along with human power. So by your definition, it is more like a "Eco-Electric" than a motorcycle. Can't wait for these things. I can lane split on the highways and still park in front of my downtown office without paying for parking.

    5. Re:bike? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I hate these new "Eco-Electric" bikes...

      WTF does that mean? Human hybrid? What do you have against them?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:bike? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      I hate these new "Eco-Electric" bikes...

      I only hate the Justin Bieber edition.

      Seriously, what the heck?

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      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    7. Re:bike? by rossdee · · Score: 1

      I don't know about Wile E Coyote, but didn't Will E Messershcmidt make a two wheeled thing with a rocket engine?
      I think it soon dropped the wheels though

    8. Re: bike? by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      Yea, this article is bogus. The land speed record for a motorized bicycle (a.k.a., motorcycle) is 376mph (606 km/h).

      Interestingly, a jet powered tricycle (not much different than a rocket powered bicycle) was not only not counted as a pedaled craft (like a bicycle) or a motorcycle when it smashed a record at 526 mph (847 km/h), but as a thrust powered car.

      I guess the point is that these definitions are kinda arbitrary, but I'd think a reasonable definition would be: two wheeled vehicles that roll and set their record on the ground and are human powered are bicycles... if they are propelled by something other than the human, they are motorcycles.

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      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    9. Re:bike? by ILongForDarkness · · Score: 1

      Maybe if you powered an electrolysis system with your pedaling and then released all the power at once closer to being a bicycle. That would actually be funny to see going down the street: dude biking along side road then takes a turn onto an onramp. Drivers thinking he missed a turn or something only for the guy to start flying :)

    10. Re:bike? by budgenator · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes indeed, Craig Breadlove's "Spirit of America" a tricycle set an average speed of over 400 mph (640 km/h), and still holds the World record for making the longest skid mark.
      Fred Rompelberg from Maastricht, the Netherlands is the holder of the motor paced speed world record cycling with 268.831 km/h (166.9 mph) and was oldest professional cyclist in the world at the time.

      36-year-old Austrian Markus Stöckl, director and owner of the MS Evil Racing Team, set a new world speed record for serial mountain bikes on gravel on a volcano in Nicaragua when he hit 164.95 kph. By doing so, he eclipsed the record which the Frenchman Eric Barone set nine years ago. Downhill moutainbiker Markus Stöckl sets new world speed record

      Gissy's feat just seems lame.

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    11. Re:bike? by khallow · · Score: 2

      For your edification, a rocket motor is usually a rocket engine with solid propellant as part of the rocket. For example, fireworks rockets would be rocket motors due to their solid propellants as would the hybrid rocket of Scaled Composites's SpaceShipTwo (which has a rubber or plaster solid fuel reacting with nitrous oxide gas). Another example are the Solid Rocket Boosters of the Space Shuttle. OTOH, the Space Shuttle's central rockets burn liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and would be rocket engines (which goes into their name, Space Shuttle Main Engine).

      In this case, apparently the rocket engine uses concentrated hydrogen peroxide in a monopropellant (propellant composed of single liquid or gaseous substance which generates thrust via exothermic decomposition) design. So it technically is just a rocket engine. Thus, the vehicle is clearly an enginecycle not a motorcycle.

      I have no idea why the semantics division happened in the first place. It's probably a holdover from whoever original was doing rocketry research in the US following the Second World War.

    12. Re:bike? by khallow · · Score: 1

      See? This is why we can't have good things. I demonstrate a sublime mastery of pedantry. You should be cowed and overawed, but instead all you can say is "I wanna call it a motorcycle" (well, paraphrased that is). I weep at the impiety of this modern generation.

  4. Ok, a robust crappy one by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    You mean he set a speed record on a crappy motorcycle.

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:Ok, a robust crappy one by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      Doesn't beat this. Not sure what kind of record it does beat

    2. Re:Ok, a robust crappy one by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      Or maybe a jet powered moped.

  5. Kind of like the world water speed record by gelfling · · Score: 1

    Which is sort of a 'boat' that flies above the water.

  6. Bike cannon by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So if I shoot a bike out of a cannon can I win the record for fastest bike? How about if I strap it to an airplane?

    Shame on the author of the article though. This is a truly awesome creation. But focusing on the "record breaking" aspect taints the accomplishment. It shifts the discussion from "hey, look at this cool thing!! Awesome!!!!!" to "That's cheating!"

  7. rocket powered bicycles by silfen · · Score: 1

    Unsafe at any speed...

  8. Fixie? by CAPSLOCK2000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's hope this is not a fixed-gear bicycle.

  9. Heh! Indeed by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 1

    I do love the fact that the thing has what appears to be a functional rear derailler.

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  10. Why even have a drivetrain? by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

    I saw on the video that the bicycle has pedals, a chain, and a rear derailer (presumably with a rear cassette as well). What I can't figure out though is what any of those are for. Obviously the rider isn't pedaling at 207 mph. I'm not sure if he is even resting his feet on those pedals when moving under rocket power, it seems the position he uses would be better suited to having foot pegs in a different location.

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  11. Re:I just broke the world record for longest poop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Maybe this is the worlds longest skid mark...

  12. Check out his other projects by MobileC · · Score: 1

    How about 0-100kph in 0.4s and on to 640kph.
    All with only 4s of thrust.

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  13. Yah! by Eloking · · Score: 2

    Nice, rocket duck-taped on things then set on fire, my favorite kind of science.

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    Elok
  14. Re:I just broke the world record for longest poop by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

    Maybe this is the worlds longest skid mark...

    No, that doesn't happen until you try to apply the brakes.

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    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  15. Not a bicycle by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

    Its a mototcycle. Where I live the limit is 200 watts. Less than that and your vehicle is a bicycle regardless of the number of wheels it has. I suspect this engine puts out a lot more than 200W.

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