The crouch, the Superman or the conventional one? Which of Graeme Obree’s riding positions was the most aerodynamically efficient? With the help of Endura, he went to a wind tunnel to find out.
While Obree concedes that there is a touch of sadness at killing off the mystery, he’s also a man with a bountiful supply of curiosity. Clad in his Fullarton Wheelers skinsuit, he clambers onto his various bikes and awaits the results with interest.
“I just realised, I don’t get to keep everything after today,” he says at one point. “Before: ‘He was a genius, he’s an amazing athlete, he’s so fast, designed those positions’ – but once you’ve done the measures, I don’t keep all of them.”
While he clearly feels a little like it’s a no-win situation, Obree is as watchable as ever, embarking on the experiment with a certain glee, cracking jokes about the length of his arms and how Old Faithful “should be outlawed” because of how uncomfortable the position is. At one point he views a modern bike from the perspective of an air molecule.
We won’t spoil the results, suffice to say that the exercise gives a better perspective on the Scot’s oft-overlooked ability as an athlete and diminishes our opinion of him not one bit.




















9 thoughts on “Video: Short film follows Graeme Obree as he tests his old race positions in a wind tunnel”
Legend!
Legend!
Genius and Athlete. Mega!
Genius and Athlete. Mega!
Love that guy!
Love that guy!
What a hero. Great video
What a hero. Great video
Enjoyed that a lot, top fella
Enjoyed that a lot, top fella is Obree.
Mutz Nutz!
Mutz Nutz!
As the guy says, modern kit with his ‘old faithful’ body position would wipe the floor, even with the old bike/bog std cycling kit he was still 30 watts up on the modern bike+kit.
The guy was revolutionary, modern day engineers are only evolutionary, massive difference and shows how much kudos Obree should receive and is underplayed IMHO.
From this Boardman’s 1 hour record should still stand as the absolute hour record/UCI record as the position he used was inferior aerodynamically to modern kit not to mention inferior components/tyres!
Live near Irvine these days,
Live near Irvine these days, seen him on the roads occasionally, he’s very quick even when cruising… Utter legend. Back in the ’90s I raced in the same races as both him and Boardman, both nice blokes, and both complete machines. We were blessed to have them both.
Athlete and a Genius!
Athlete and a Genius!
What a man & great video.
What a man & great video. Really enjoyable.
Wish they could have tried Old Faithful with modern skinsuit, helmet, etc just to see where you could get to now. Although I suppose skinsuit designed to gain benefit with the modern arms position.