cdaniels

I came across an article on this bike and found it very interesting. The bike he rode had a 700 front wheel and it states the rear wheel is 1.03 meters in diameter? That is a big tire, was it specially made or was it a production tire of some kind? Anyone know? There is an article on someone who made a reproduction of it and it shows a Vitoria tire. Can't sat I would want to ride it but still interesting.

mhespenheide 

That's not a 700c front wheel. It looks like 24" to my eye, but it could be 26" or 650c.

From memory, the thought was that they would go with a wheel (on the rear, at least!) that had more rotational inertia since the (aero, as opposed to spoked) disc wheel was already heavier than normal. That was supposed to help him maintain speed at the end of the hour. I don't buy it, but he did break Eddy's record.

Spaghetti Legs 

Hour record wasn’t set on that bike. It was in 1984 on this one. Wasn’t beaten until ‘93 by Graham Obree.

bikingshearer 

I'd be interested to see what a 1972-edition Eddy could have done on these bikes. Or on the ones Obree, Boardman, Rominger and Indurain used. Of course, unless and until time travel becomes a thing that is not possible. But is fun to imagine.

No, this is not an anti-technology rant. Every Hour Record holder used more advanced technology than the previous Hour Record holder - in its day, Eddy's bike was (rightly) regarded as model of modern construction and was considered a featherweight at something around 16 pounds. But there is no doubt that later record holders benefited from major improvements in bike design and aerodynamics. I just think it would be a lot of fun to see what he could have done on those bikes. Come to think of it, the same holds for Anquetil, Ritter, Coppi and all the other Hour Record holders. Well, maybe not Henri Desgrange - he sounds like he was kind of a dick.

repechage

The UCI killed those recumbents off soon enough.
I actually liked the "merckx hour rule"
The follow on go fast aero bikes can have a different record.

Rocket-Sauce 

Eddy's bike was 5.9kg, or a hair over 13 pounds.

Rocket-Sauce 

Recumbents?

bikingshearer 

Even more featherweight than I remembered.

Of course, it may have weighed a little more in the actual event. Ernesto Colnago had steam coming out his ears when Eddy let the Windsor folks slap some stickers on it just before he started off; some of the steam may have condensed on the frame and added a few grams.

T-Mar

The bicycle in the original post is an hour record bicycle. At the time there were there were three hour records. The Absolute Hour Record had no venue restrictions. There was also an Indoor Hour Record and a Sea Level Hour Record. The subject bicycle was used to set the Indoor Hour Record, giving Moser all three Hour Records.

Many people complain of Moser's "unfair" technological advantage over Merckx, but Merckx also had a big advantage over most of the previous records holders, including people like Coppi and Anquetil. With the exception of Hamilton (1898) and Ritter (1968) all the Hour Records had been set at low altitudes, Following Ritter example, Merckx chose the high altitude velodrome of Mexico City, where the thinner air would significantly reduce aerodynamic drag. He was also more acclimatized to the reduced oxygen levels than Ritter, having trained extensively with cylinders of rarified air, prior to travelling to Mexico City for the attempt. The realization of the advantages offered by certain venues, such as Mexico City, led to separate Hour Records for Indoor and Sea Level velodromes.

T-Mar

That would have been offset by the reduced gravitational pull experienced at the high altitude of Mexico City.

nlerner

I wonder what one could do on an e-bike.

T-Mar

Back to the original question, the rear tyres would almost certainly have been custom manufactured. That's not a standard size and it not difficult to create large diameter bicycle tyres. However, cost would be relatively high, due to more manual labour.