World's Lightest Bike?
#1
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World's Lightest Bike?
FairwheelBikes.com says they have made the world's lightest bike. "We have built the first bike to go below the 8.0 pound mark."
It appears to be a legitimate road bike, and with 20 speeds and even a saddle, it appears it could be ridden. Of course, with Gizmodo reporting a price of $45,000, I personally would be more than a little nervous about even touching it.
It appears to be a legitimate road bike, and with 20 speeds and even a saddle, it appears it could be ridden. Of course, with Gizmodo reporting a price of $45,000, I personally would be more than a little nervous about even touching it.
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Sucks to be FairwheelBikes.com I guess
https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...nd-bike_142858
https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...nd-bike_142858
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The black bike in the photos is Günther Mai's old but recently rebuild 2.7 kilo (5.9 lbs) carbonfibre Spin, so where does Fairwheels come in with a new "record" 8 lbs titanium Litespeed? The Ghisallo in the Fairwheels article was build in 2006 or 2007.
Günther...
Günther...
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The problem is that the OP linked to the wrong Fairwheel bikes project in his post. But the Gizmodo article, the velonews article, and the recent Fairwheel bike's article are all the same bike.
#18
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I'm not sure I see the point to it, if you're using custom-made items, using the prototype because it's lighter, using items from a defunct company, etc.
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There's a lot of "world lightest bike"s on the interwebz. And in bike magazines.
Under 8 lbs. was done years ago. But not 6. if I put the 8lb bike on top of the 6lb bike I still can't race it unless I add some weight.
But I would sooooooooo like to take one for a spin with some of my friends. Just one big steep hill that's all I'm asking. Pleeezzzzz?
Under 8 lbs. was done years ago. But not 6. if I put the 8lb bike on top of the 6lb bike I still can't race it unless I add some weight.
But I would sooooooooo like to take one for a spin with some of my friends. Just one big steep hill that's all I'm asking. Pleeezzzzz?
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This guy won the Mt. Washinton Hillclimb race on a sub 10 lbs bike:
https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/.../sweet-victory
Just because it is light doesn't mean it won't stand up to normal use. Actually, the previous owner of the Spin bike that Fairwheel Bikes rebuilt into the world's lightest bike apparently logged around 1,000 km / week on his then 7-lbs bike (that is 32,500 miles / year).
https://velonews.competitor.com/2010/.../sweet-victory
Just because it is light doesn't mean it won't stand up to normal use. Actually, the previous owner of the Spin bike that Fairwheel Bikes rebuilt into the world's lightest bike apparently logged around 1,000 km / week on his then 7-lbs bike (that is 32,500 miles / year).
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It sounds fun. My son said he saw a Bugatti Veyron the other day. The world's fastest production car. "Bugatti" the original company doesn't exist. The name was auctioned off long ago. The Veyron is actually a Volkswagen. But at 267 mph, it's waay faster than a Beetle, Jetta, or even a Volkswagen (Lamborghini) Diablo.
The fact that fairwheels has come up with a one-off world's lightest bike is cool. But pro racers can't use it, because UCI won't allow it. Amateurs that can use it, who aren't that fast, because if they get really fast, they'll want to do UCI events, and realize, "Oh s**t I'm going to be weighted down majorly. If UCI dissolved weight restrictions, then the fairwheels bike would be nice, but Specialized, Cervelo and others would jump into the race, and probably win. Cervelo is owned by aerospace engineers. They could bury fairwheels.
But in a totally open-competition, bents would win in flat tts. A $45,000 fairwheels is probably a bike-collector/bike-museum piece.
Has anybody even measured their durability?
The fact that fairwheels has come up with a one-off world's lightest bike is cool. But pro racers can't use it, because UCI won't allow it. Amateurs that can use it, who aren't that fast, because if they get really fast, they'll want to do UCI events, and realize, "Oh s**t I'm going to be weighted down majorly. If UCI dissolved weight restrictions, then the fairwheels bike would be nice, but Specialized, Cervelo and others would jump into the race, and probably win. Cervelo is owned by aerospace engineers. They could bury fairwheels.
But in a totally open-competition, bents would win in flat tts. A $45,000 fairwheels is probably a bike-collector/bike-museum piece.
Has anybody even measured their durability?