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Welcome to Velo Vision magazine, covering specialised bikes, cycling as transport and human power. It's a quarterly dose of cycle inspiration.The current issue is Issue 16. The next issue is out early March 2005.
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Mike Burrows calls for a 'sports class' for HPV racingMike Burrows, well-known designer and HPV inventor, is calling for a 'GT' or 'Sports' class to be defined for (British) HPV events, to allow owners of 'ordinary' road-worthy machines to race competitively. Also, it looks like his book 'Bicycle Design' will be reprinted in the next few months. At present, you really need a low-racer machine, preferably with a tail fairing, to be competitive in the 'unfaired' category for HPV racing - at least under British rules. This tends to limit the competitive edge of the sport to a few, dedicated riders who have invested in the specialist equipment required. Mike would like to see a new category introduced alongside the existing 'open unfaired'. The new 'GT or 'Sports' class would be design to allow production, road-worthy machines to compete on a relatively even footing. This should encourage the many recumbent owners who have never raced to feel that they can simply turn up on their 'normal' machine and have a decent race. The proposed standard involves a simple test - the eye-line of the rider must be at or above 1.05m from the ground. In the interests of simplicity no allowance is proposed for differing rider heights. Most of the currently-available SWB recumbents will fit the bill - most LWB machines, too. Trikes already have their own category, so won't be included. A second provision would limit aerodynamic fairings to a (working) luggage boot. Finally, provision of a chainring guard might also be required. The proposal also ties in well with the pre-publicity for the British Human Power Club's hosting of the HPV World Championship in Brighton later this year. We'll be covering their plans for this event in more detail in Issue 2 of Velo Vision magazine - or see the BHPC website. Other news from Mike: - He's 'officially' no longer working for Giant. The parting seems to have been amicable enough... he'll still do 'one-off' projects for them, apparently. he's now making his main living from the sale of Ratcatcher 9 SWB recumbents. - Giant recently released the 'Halfway' folding bike, based on a Burrows design with one-sided wheel supports. Mike says that although the original design was his, he didn't have much input into how it finally turned out. - Mike's book 'Bicycle Design' was published by Open Road shortly before its demise, and only a few thousand were printed. These seem to have pretty much sold out just a few months after they were published. Mike is, though, confident that a re-print is on its way in the next few months. Posted on 15 January 2001 Your comments ...
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