I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Innovation is ugly, inelegant. By it’s very definition, it is carried out with almost a kind of contempt for The Rules. With no regard for aesthetics, it is a domain ventured into by the casually courageous and mentally frail. It comes in fits and starts, and success is punctuated by devastating defeats. The same personality that drives innovation thrives on the momentum of success and easily passes over seemingly insurmountable obstacles with hardly a moment’s notice, and is also irreparably upset by inconsequential setbacks.
On an afternoon ride with a friend, Graeme Obree decided to turn up the bars on his road bike in order to achieve a better tuck while riding. After a succession of iterative improvements to that core idea, he arrived at a bicycle that carried cycling into perhaps it’s most prolific period of innovation. When it comes to innovation, success also carries with it the singular distinction of changing the world and the way we operate in it.
If ever there was any question that innovation can be ugly, his trusted bike, Old Faithful – famously built out of bits of washing machine and scrap metal – definitively put the question to rest. However ugly the machine, uncompromising function can in it’s own right be beautiful, and Obree’s “I’ve been kicked in the boys” tuck exhibited only grace and elegance as he flew around the track in Norway to set the World Hour Record in 1993.
Obree led the charge in revitalizing interest in the Hour, fearlessly taking on much better funded pros such as Chris Boardman, Tony Rominger, and Miguel Indurain. I look back on this period as perhaps one of the most exciting times in our great sport, and it all started with one crazy idea.
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@Pedale.Forchetta
What do you make of his 1984 Giro win and the fiasco regarding the helicopter in the final TT? I felt Moser - while I was certainly always a fan - was a bit out of place winning a Grand Tour and the Hour; a man for the classics, and not a terribly great time trialist, I also found it eyebrow-raising that he took the Hour. I love the scene in The Impossible Hour where Ole is training with Moser, his devoted team mate. Foreshadowing?
@eightzero
I'm with you on sentiment, but then you get this kind of shit rolling, and what good is that alongside a real cyclist?
Now you're onto something. The UCI - Union Cyclist Irrationale - is a mess. Of course, there's also the "everyone rides essentially the same bike" aspect to the idea, it's not just safety...but safety is always cited as a core factor in keeping the rule. With drilled-out alloys, maybe weight is a relevant measure of strength, but the model breaks down completely with composites. That's what happens when politicians and not subject-matter experts are the principle advisors on policy.
I wonder how much strength the weights the riders are putting in their bottom brackets to meet the regulation is adding?
By the way, I always thought the Superman position was rad looking
I, for one, like the latest setup for the hour; the Athletes Hour for 1-1 comparisons, and then the absolute Hour (whatever it's called) for anything-goes gear. I only wish the pros took that one more seriously. I'd love to revive the innovation from the early 90's.
Completely agree about the Superman position. That just strikes me as so aesthetically pleasing and hardcore at the same time!
And when in gets right down to it, is doing the hour on a track any less artificial that making farings illegal? Sure, there is a wind-assist issue, and an indoor track is the only way to eliminate that. But really...so there's a faring. Big deal.
When it gets right down to it, yes. And furthermore, fairings are a HIDEOUS ABOMINATION.
@frank
He in fact built old faithful from scratch
@frank
I agree with you Frank, still I think that the words of Merckx on Moser were totally undeserved and that's why I mentioned Rule n.5
Obree was brilliant, not just the hour but also the pursuit world titles. Check out the gigantic chain ring he's pushing in the top photo.
Recumbents are not bicycles - period.