Conference noted::bicycle

2472.0. "Lotus Bike" by PAKORA::GGOODMAN (JIT - Japanese Induced Terror) Sat Dec 12 1992 01:35

Brilliant article in this month's Performance Car on the Lotus Bike that
Chris Boardman rode in Barcelona. (what permission?)

	LOTUS BIKE

	New Elan replacement
	Priced to compete with Mini Cooper
	Let down by lousy engine


  Nigel Mansell has managed to convince an entire nation that he is, by far and
away, the best racing driver in the world. Clever that because, of course, he
isn't. Alain Prost beat him when the two were teammates at Ferrari. Mario
Andretti and Elio De Angelis made him look like a ninny at Lotus, especially in
1984 when Elio scored 34 points to Mansell's 13. In 1985, Rosberg scored 40
points while Nige, in the same car, scored 31.

  Only when Mansell was given a vastly superior tool and a geriatric teammate
did he triumph. If that makes him the best driver in the world, the moon is made
of cheese. Basically *Williams* won the championship, and would have with Stevie
Wonder and Ray Charles driving. It's only the Mansell PR machine that's
convinced the masses otherwise.

  Quite the reverse applies to Chris Boardman. He was an Olympic gold medallist
at Barcelona this year, but are we running around championing him as the
greatest British rider that has ever lived? No, we are not. Instead, and rather
perversely considering the Mansell situation, most people think that Douglas
Bader (NB Douglas Bader lost his legs in WW2) could have won gold if he had been
equipped with a bike like Boardman's. Lotus has succeeded where Renault failed.
It has won the PR war and convinced us to hail the machine, and not the man.

(He then goes into detail about the bike, with comments such as:-

	like a bicycle in the same way that Danii Minogue is like a rock star,
ie not like a bike at all.

	Saddle is perched several yards from ground, yet the handlebars are down
there with the weeds, so you adopt that 'butt up' stance that is a) unbecoming
b) uncomfortable and c) impossible in boxer shorts.)

  There's a possibility they'll make the bike commercially and at a price which
will put in competition with the Mini Cooper. But the Mini is faster. Despite
the elbows-in, butt-out, head-down, thou-shalt-be-pedalling stance, I didn't
think that the Lotus bike was as fast as it could have been. The engine was all
wrong. And the engine, alas, was me.

  Lessons learned by the car world can be applied to the bicycle too. You can
use the wind tunnel to give you the best possible drag factor. You can use space
age materials. You can go racing to acquire that special image. But if you spend
no money on the engine, you fail.

  Putting me on the Lotus bike is like putting a Moulinex engine in the Esprit.
I'm big yet weak and, on the urban cycle, I need six pints per mile. The
Boardman unit is far better. Fit this motor and you'll shave 12 seconds off the
4000m run. Go for the smoky old twin-cylinder, one-valve Clarkson unit, and
you'll be lucky to cover 4000m at all.

  FOR		You can drink and drive
  AGAINST	Hard to ride when drunk
  VERDICT	Only for lycra lovers


	The article was written by motoring journalist Jeremy Clakson (also
does BBC programme Top Gear). His lovely dry, cynical sense of humour makes
Performance Car well worth a look.

Graham.

    It's of interest to note that Lotus "lost" the world pro championship
    to Mike McCarthy, the American equipped with a more "traditional"
    track machine (granted, this Lotus was a prototype to the one Boardman
    rode in the Olympics).  If I were Chris Boardman, I'd tend to be a little
    cynical myself!
    
    Boardman is an exceptional athlete.  You don't lap your former world 
    champion opponent in the 4,000m pursuit final simply because you're
    riding an exceptional machine.
    
    Justin
    
    Justin

    
    
    
    I don't think McCarthy's bike was standard. Granted, not as radical as
    the Lotus...
    
    I liked the article because here was one of the enemy (ie motorist)
    raving about a cyclist and not his equipment.
    
    Graham.