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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.

12 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??

  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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    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    1. 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.

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      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  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 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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    4. 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.

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

    Or maybe a jet powered moped.

  5. 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!"

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

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

  7. 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