More about the bike at Warren’s site.
My Nocom is pretty extreme because it is unpainted to save some weight. It definitely has that “ratrod” look. It needs a lot of mods to make it really fast. Mostly with the tiller bar – too make wires and that position puts my arms in not the best aero position. I have some radical ideas about how to possibly change that. It will be fun playing around with it.
You can see in the photo above that my arms are not in the most ideal aerodynamic position. I would like to see if I can develop some kind of steering system (maybe remote steering, or maybe a tiller) that stretches my arms all the way forward and down.
1. My M5 is on it’s last legs. I’ve put thousands and thousands of miles on that work horse and it is literally falling apart. To get it back into decent shape would require some work, but I am ready for something faster and lighter.
2. My winter training project is to ramp up my hour power (CP60) to something above 250 watts. Right now it’s something like 260 to 270 watts for 20 minutes which is probably quite average. I’ve had my 20 minute power as high as 300 watts, but that was on the Cervelo tri bike. I would like to try to get it back up there on the Nocom and my coach Jason Yanota is helping me.
The reason I am working on my short distance power is I would like to take a shot at the unfaired recumbent hour record. The current record holder is Sean Costin who pedalled his Nocom 47.89 km (29.76 miles) on September 1, 2007 at the Home Depot velodrome in Los Angeles. Here is the YouTube video of Sean’s recumbent hour record:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r39evoZUZU&hl=en&fs=1]
I know that the UCI hour record is way higher at 56.375 km for the ‘best human performance category’ and 49.7 km for the UCI legal category. And that is with a regular upright time-trial bike, but the recumbent hour distances are slowly moving higher. Old farts like me and Sean need to start pushing those distances up and maybe someday a REAL athlete will take a shot at it and blow the UCI record out of the water.
My goal would be to better the current UCI legal hour record which is 49.7 km (I believe). Is that possible? I’m really not sure. There is no drag coefficient data available for the Nocom and even if there were, my nocom would feature different handle bars, 2 disc wheels with a glued-on tubular on the rear, converted to a single speed with no breaks – basically a very minimal configuration and I would be able to take advantage of the low Crr of a wood velodrome track. So, I really need to get this Nocom into super speedy shape and run some power tests on a smooth velodrome track somewhere to get an idea of exactly where my power needs to be to challenge 50 kph.
Here is a great list of all the hour records through history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record
And my final little bit of news is that the IHPVA (International Human Powered Vehicle Association) has just ratified my 245.16 km, 24 hour human powered boat distance record from September 8th, 2008 on Whitefish Lake in Montana. It has been ratified by both Guinness and the IHPVA.
LATE BREAKING NEWS:
OOPS! I spoke too soon and hadn’t been paying attention (typical). I just posted a new blog update announcing my plans to challenge Sean Costin’s 47.89 km hour record and was immediately notified that Seans record was just broken in the Netherlands by Gert-Jan Wijers who went over 50 km!!
It looks like Bram Moens from M5 (makers of my M5 lowracer) had recumbent cyclist Gert-Jan Wijers ride his new M5 HIGH racer to a record 50.389 kilometers for the hour on October 24, 2008 on a velodrome track in the Netherlands.
Oh well, the bar has been raised. This will be TOUGH!!!! Yikes!!!
Here is the YouTube video of Gert-Jan’s record ride:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfVujXjdRO4&hl=en&fs=1]
And here are some additional photos of my NoCom:
Cody Kolodziejzyk on October 30, 2008
Sweet new ride dad!
Anonymous on October 30, 2008
Hi Greg,
it looks like you have to raise the bar:
http://ligfiets.net/nieuws/bericht.php3?id=2728&volledig=1
Good luck,
ChristianV
Adventures of Greg on October 30, 2008
OOPS!! I spoke too soon. It looks like Bram Moens from M5 (makers of my M5 lowracer) had recumbent cyclist Gert-Jan Wijers ride his new M5 HIGH racer to a record 50.389 kilometers for the hour on October 24, 2008 on a velodrome track in the Netherlands.
Oh well, the bar has been raised. This will be TOUGH!!!! Yikes!!!
Read about the new record here:
http://www.wisil.recumbents.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2191&whichpage=2
Jerry Somdahl on October 30, 2008
As always, I am rootin' for you! Exciting stuff!
Jerry Somdahl
Anonymous on October 30, 2008
Oh !!!
Beatifull machine.
Good luck.
Matías.
Anonymous on October 30, 2008
Hi Greg, Very nice new ride. Would you mind posting some of the specifics about it(components etc)? I tried to find a rear brake but don't see one.Is it hidden in the wheel well somehow? How do motorists treat you on the road while riding it? Do you feel safe so low to the ground? Maybe in Canada motorists are more bike friendly than where I'm from!
Regards,
Mark
Liza Bloomer on October 30, 2008
Nice bike Greg,
When I was 13 we had a Science Master at my school by the name of Harold Simfendorfer. He used to build and ride recumbent bikes. They were far out and so inspirational to all of us kids. This guy had a brilliant mind and was in awe of the stuff of science, which he endeavoured to pass on to his students. However, the most memorable thing he passed on to us, and the thing that lives on in legend is his nickname…
When he first arrived at the school to teach, he told his year 9 science class; "My name is Mr Simfendorfer, and you will address me as such". Needless to say he was known as 'Such' from that day forward.
NMERider on October 31, 2008
Greg – I wish you much success in your hour attempt on the NoCom. If your come down to Los Angeles, let me know and I'll shoot a better video of your ride. It's in my backyard.
Cheers,
Jonathan
RedorBlack on October 31, 2008
Go for it Greg! This one isn't going to be a cake walk. BTW, I think you need to make some room… clean out the shop and send me the trike 🙂
Anonymous on November 1, 2008
Something to check out.I read that the m-5 high racer is .5 mph faster at 250 watts.Would like to know that myself if it is true or not Good luck
PREDATOR 57/Doug
PoiterH on November 6, 2008
How much weight does clear coat save Greg?
My 2004 NC weighs 11.5kg with everything on board.
Jim on November 24, 2008
Hi Greg,
Good to see the SRM still holding up! Its the same one, right? Good luck with the bike. I have found the fork quite soft for 200m and 1K efforts on a banked track, but for 30-32mph, its just fine, plus you are lighter 'n me. Look me up if you are ever down in the LA area.
Jim Verheul
Team Bacchetta