Lotus reveals new bike range is in the pipeline as partnership with Jenson Button’s Léger brand announced

brooksby wrote:

Why are they showing off their new bike in the Holodeck of the USS Enterprise?

It was supposed to show them at the finish of the Tour in Paris, but it had crashed ...

No need to dope any more - just hack the TV feed...

markieteeee wrote:

Not sure I like the poster boys for bikes to be people famous for making unnecessary car journeys. Nor for the bikes to be made by (or precision-engineered by) a manufacturer still developing and manufacturing petrol-driven turbo-charged cars in 2021.

However, maybe having car manufacturers getting involved in cycling will encourage some petrol-heads to take up cycling? At least Lotus are making a serious effort to design an aero bike whereas from what I can remember, most other car brands just slap a paint job and a few decals on existing bikes.

I take your points about potentially encouraging some out of their cars and that they are making a serious effort.  It still stinks of greenwashing though.

A story with no connection to Brexit.

Transparent again Nige, trying to hi-jack the thread once more.

Time for another of Peter's War Games images, or a nice squirrel picture at least.

<filler>

I'd assume that line was just sarcasm? Then again, it'll wind up the Brexiteers instead.

In what field ? Hypothetical bikes or Jerseys ?

No he definitely used the Lotus in '94 - he used Hottas to win in '97 and '98.

shame the same cant be said for the latest Team GB "Lotus" track bike, it looks ok side on, but head on, ugh.

Awavey wrote:

shame the same cant be said for the latest Team GB "Lotus" track bike, it looks ok side on, but head on, ugh.

Just looked it up - that's a pig alright. Looks like it's designed for bikepacking with integrated front and rear carriers!

I doubt that how the bike looked was top of the list for the designers of this bike - speed was and hopefully it will give Team GB an added advantage over everyone else. 

Quite so,but there is an old adage in motorsport & aviation, which rely heavily on aero design, that a car/plane that just intangibly "looks good" is always quicker.

Something we havent yet been able to code into a computer language that pure CFD analysis alone can understand.

Let's hope the modelling is accurate and it delivers what it promises.

I'm generally open to new bike tech but I think that Hope track bike is hideous. Also largely unseen so far.

If it wins stacks of gold expect to see next years road bikes taking some influences from it.

Awavey wrote:

Quite so,but there is an old adage in motorsport & aviation, which rely heavily on aero design, that a car/plane that just intangibly "looks good" is always quicker. Something we havent yet been able to code into a computer language that pure CFD analysis alone can understand. Let's hope the modelling is accurate and it delivers what it promises.

What? Rubbish. These are Olympic athletes we are taking about. They are told what to eat and when to eat, when to train, how to train, when to sleep, what clothing to wear and what bike to ride. These people are 100% dedicated to their sport so you really think they are going to look at the bike and think "Ooh not sure I want to ride that, the forks are a bit weird". Do you not think they'll say "Will it make me faster? Ok then, thank you chaps!"

I'm commenting about the looks of a bike and using an old adage used by aero designers to describe it. what have the riders dedication and what they eat got to do with that ?

Theyll be given the bike and told to sit on it, they might be lucky and get a proper bike fit with one though that hasnt always been the case in the past.

It's a bike designed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD is known for creating stuff like these fork placements because the computer says its faster, but they often find the practical application in the real world then isnt, because it's very hard to model the real world accurately in a computer and calibrate it successfully.

If its accurate it will deliver its performances, if it's not and it's just a theoretical gain in a perfect wind tunnel style environment it wont.

Awavey wrote:

I'm commenting about the looks of a bike and using an old adage used by aero designers to describe it. what have the riders dedication and what they eat got to do with that ? Theyll be given the bike and told to sit on it, they might be lucky and get a proper bike fit with one though that hasnt always been the case in the past. It's a bike designed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD is known for creating stuff like these fork placements because the computer says its faster, but they often find the practical application in the real world then isnt, because it's very hard to model the real world accurately in a computer and calibrate it successfully. If its accurate it will deliver its performances, if it's not and it's just a theoretical gain in a perfect wind tunnel style environment it wont.

I always regret commenting on a post because inevitably I get drawn into an argument with a bored stranger but what the hell....

I'm just saying you might not like how the bike looks but that is way down on the list of priorities of not only the designers but the end user as well - if it is on it at all.

The Hope Lotus track bike isn't meant to "look pretty", this is a performance tool just like an F1 car. F1 cars in my eyes looked better 20 years ago than they do now (not that I watch it) but I bet they can go round corners faster due to all the "computational fluid dynamics (CFD)". I can use (copy) big words as well.

I was also talking about the athletes who are going to riding it because these people have dedicated their lives to their sport and sacrifcing an awful lot for the potential to maybe win a medal of two - do you think they care if it isn't as pretty as Australia's track bike? No they want the fastest one full stop. Anyway beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder and I see 2 British names on one awesome looking bike.