Streamliner, Part One

This page chronicles the construction of a streamlined bicycle or “streamliner” in an attempt to participate in the World Human Powered Speed Challenge (WHPSC) near Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Human powered vehicles or HPV’s first entered my stream of consciousness when I was about eleven or twelve years old. I was watching the television, and saw a report on a HPV that was capable of 60 miles per hour. I vividly remember seeing the rider through clear plastic canopy pedaling a gigantic chainring. I naively thought there was no limit to what you could do if you had a big enough chainring.

Vector Patent 4,410,198

Vector Patent 4,410,198

A couple of decades after the Vector went 60 MPH, I heard about a Canadian bicycle racer named Sam Whittingham going over 81 MPH in a streamlined bicycle called the Varna Diablo. I pretty much became obsessed with streamliners ever since then, particularly the Varna, which was created by Bulgarian sculptor Georgi Georgiev. Thanks to the Internet, searching pictures of streamlined Human Powered Vehicles is easy. I routinely scoured the Internet for pictures, charts, power data, tables,... ANYTHING I could find. I even found this U.S. Patent for the Versatron Vector.

2011-06-23 streamliner CAD line art.jpg
2011-07-06 01 streamliner mockup fixture.jpg
2011-07-06 02 sitting on streamliner mockup wearing helmet.jpg
2011-07-06 03 sitting on streamliner mockup wearing helmet.jpg
2011-07-11 01 mockup closeup of removed chainstay arch.jpg
2011-07-11 02 temporary wheel mockup.jpg
2011-07-11 03 mockup 700c wheel too big floor too high.jpg
2011-07-11 04 mockup 650c facsimile wheel.jpg
2011-07-11 05 sitting on mockup w 650c wheel.jpg
2011-07-19 01 mockup with Schwinn Madison fork.jpg
2011-07-19 02 mockup Zipp 870 tubular wheel.jpg
2011-07-19 03 sitting on mockup.jpg
2011-07-20 01 floor as drafting table.jpg
2011-07-20 02 closeup of subframe mockup.jpg
2011-07-20 03 sitting on mockup not looking.jpg
2011-07-20 04 sitting on mockup looking.jpg
2011-07-25 01 can't see over mockup nose.jpg
2011-07-25 02 dad examining mockup drivetrain.jpg
2011-07-25 03 mockup raised floowboard too high.jpg
2011-07-25 04 closeup drivetrain mockup.jpg
2011-07-27 mockup clears heel & toe can see over hood.jpg
2011-08-03 floor drafting table.jpg
2011-08-04 01 sitting on mockup with center divider, side.jpg
2011-08-04 02 sitting on mockup with center divider, front.jpg
2011-08-04 03 I'm the kid your mother warned you about.jpg
2011-08-04 04 Vittoria Corsa EVO CX 20-26 tubular tire.jpg
2011-08-04 05 Vittoria Corsa EVO CX 20-26 tubular tire stem.jpg
2011-08-05 01 new helmet.jpg
2011-08-05 02 mockup center divider modified new helmet.jpg
2011-08-06 65 tooth raptobike chainring.jpg
2011-08-10 01 mockup perpendicular stations.jpg
2011-08-10 02 mockup wide shoulders.jpg
2011-08-22 01 mockup first draft streamliner profile, side.jpg
2011-08-22 02 mockup first draft streamliner profile, angle.jpg
2011-08-22 03 mockup first draft streamliner profile, helmet.jpg
2011-08-22 04 mockup first draft streamliner profile, footbox.jpg
2011-08-23 01 ten feet 4130 chromoly tubing.jpg
2011-08-23 02 harbor freight tube roller.jpg
2011-08-23 03 beginning to bend tube.jpg
2011-08-23 04 closeup of bend.jpg
2011-08-24 01 kinked tube.jpg
2011-08-24 02 closeup of kink.jpg
2011-08-25 01 another kink.jpg
2011-08-25 02 Lucky Charms.jpg
2011-09-02 got foam.jpg
2011-09-12 WHPSC Battle Mountain Nevada start area.jpg
2011-09-13 01 WHPSC Battle Mountain Nevada shutdown area.jpg
2011-09-13 02 Sam Whittingham Varna Tempest 79.91 MPH WHPSC.jpg
2011-09-14 01 dad me Battle Mountain elevation 4505.jpg
2011-09-14 02 Varna Diablo III Tempest Battle Mountain.jpg
2011-09-14 03 Me Georgi Georgiev Varna Diablo III.jpg
2011-09-14 04 Me Georgi Georgiev Varna Diablo III.jpg
2011-09-14 05 Sam Whittingham Varna Tempest 73.46 MPH WHPSC.jpg
2011-09-14 06 Barbara Buatois Varna Battle Mountain 69.14 MPH WHPSC.jpg
2011-09-14 07 Barbara Buatois Varna Battle Mountain 69.14 MPH WHPSC.jpg