Recumbent - 29.76 Miles in One Hour - A New World Record

In case any readers here haven't already seen this, you may enjoy this 10-minute video of Sean Costin's amazing, blazing trip around the ADT Event Center Velodrome at the Home Depot Center complex in Carson, CA.

Here it is in glorious, streaming Google Video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6728875879424303240):

http://photos.imageevent.com/aero92/adt/websize/IMG_1143a.JPG (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6728875879424303240)

Here are a few pix too: http://imageevent.com/aero92/adt

Enjoy! Jonathan

Badass.

indeed! I'm fairly certain I could get near 27 on a good day with the tica, but I think my heart would stop at 27.01 :)

indeed! I'm fairly certain I could get near 27 on a good day with the tica, but I think my heart would stop at 27.01 :) Hey Greg! Come on out and have some fun at the 'drome. Just email Roger Young and see if you can get some open track time. It's close to LA International Airport and I live about 7 miles away. I'll even bring the NME and do some ontrack shots for more excitement. I'll get my CPR cert upgraded for defibrillator use too. Cheers, Jonathan

Hey Greg! Come on out and have some fun at the 'drome. Just email Roger Young and see if you can get some open track time. It's close to LA International Airport and I live about 7 miles away. I'll even bring the NME and do some ontrack shots for more excitement. I'll get my CPR cert upgraded for defibrillator use too. Cheers, Jonathan

After you get my CPR, and pay for the airfare form Texas, I'm all over it :) They don't let me use the local velodrome - big wusses!

And I';ll revise my earlier statement - I think just over 26 is more likely, after looking back at some of my TT races. Though indoors on wood is a huge advantage of course, which I've never tried.

Let's see.....my commute to work is 9 miles and I can do that in around 30min. That's about 18mph (on a good day with favorable winds and traffic). Sean went more than twice as fast for twice as long. Making me feel like Mr. 'Bent Turtle. Wow!

48 clicks in one hour :eek: . I gotta get me a lowracer :love: . How old is Sean Costin?

Sean is 41. Young enough to break his own record several times. I have no doubt that he will break the 30mph barrier. Strong dude!
AG

48 clicks in one hour :eek: . I gotta get me a lowracer :love: . How old is Sean Costin?

Man, where was the announcement for this?? I would've come up. Now JV has something to shoot for. :) Just did the math, that's about a 50:06 40k tt. :)

30 mph in 1 hr, indoors, w/o wind, on a perfectly smooth track, on a low rider... are you sure that's not a typo?

Didn't lance armstrong average something like 33mph on a tt bike in a time trial?

Yes, but it wasn't an "hour record" attempt. He had climbs and descents, and probably a tailwind. There are quite a few pros that could probably beat this, however, most don't attempt it. UCI has two categories,
UCI hour record, and Best Human Effort. Bordmans 35mph record is a "best human effort". UCI being the UCI, it's got it's head somewhere. To be fair, best human effort records for the UCI should allow HPV's. :)
The reason Best Human Effort exists is to allow for equipment improvements, and nothing improves an unfaired bicycle aerodynamics like a recumbent.

Didn't lance armstrong average something like 33mph on a tt bike in a time trial?

IIRC, Lance's TT speed was for a 10K time trial. (6 miles) I don't think Sean's record is expected to survive very long; it was just something to put on the books as a starting point. Encourage follow-ups, so to speak.

Lance did a 50K tt at around 32mph or so. But that's an uncontrolled environment, hills, tailwind, etc. I'm sure he'd be up there with Bordman and Merckx on a UCI bike.

Le Wiki sez that on 18 November 1933 Marcel Berthet France trundled his laid back velocipede 49.99 km in one hour. That's 2 more than 47.89km.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record

which page goes on to say that the "standard" hour record passed this distance in 1966.

Not sure what set of limiting parameters make this, a good effort to be sure, a "world record."

Lance did a 50K tt at around 32mph or so. But that's an uncontrolled environment, hills, tailwind, etc. I'm sure he'd be up there with Bordman and Merckx on a UCI bike.


Lance also have decades of racing/training background.. what kind of racing/training career does Sean Costin have?

What's the age difference between Lance and Sean?

Was Lance riding a multi-speed TT bike for the 50km, I think Sean was riding a fixed gear low-racer..

I would have thought a low racer would be faster than an upright. Chris Boardman's hour record is 56.375KM which is over 35miles in an hour. That kind of makes the LowRacer's 29.76 miles look kind of slow by comparison? Am I missing something?

I would have thought a low racer would be faster than an upright. Chris Boardman's hour record is 56.375KM which is over 35miles in an hour. That kind of makes the LowRacer's 29.76 miles look kind of slow by comparison? Am I missing something?

Chris Boardman was also a cyclist with decades of racing/training experience (competed in the Tour de France but never finished), Chris Boardman was much younger than Sean Costin when he attempted the hour record.

Chris Boardman was also a cyclist with decades of racing/training experience (competed in the Tour de France but never finished), Chris Boardman was much younger than Sean Costin when he attempted the hour record.

So what exactly is this record? It's obviously not who went the farthest around a track on a bike in 1 hour, since Boardman went much farther. Is this an unfaired recumbent record? I would think that the recumbent would offer much better aeodynamics than the upright so have an advantage. If so, that makes the record kind of lackluster. Yeah, it's way way faster than I could do. But it seems like touting a jet airplane doing 180 mph, while a prop plane does 225. The recumbent isn't restricted to UCI specs. So you would think opening up requirements to ride any kind of bike you like (ie a lowracer), would allow for a faster record than a bike that has to meet UCI specs.

For sure if Chris Boardman trained and raced on a recumbent for decads, he would (most likely) have a better record than Sean.. but would Sean achieve similar result if he trained and raced as Chris Boardman did on a DF bicycle?

Records exist to be broken, that's the mentality of a racer at least.

I think what's being asked is:

How many and what kind of qualifiers are attached to make this a "world record?"

30 miles in an hour is nothing to sneeze at, but to boast about it... details. We need details.
One armed asthmatic Spanish American War vets? Yeah, super.
40-something amateurs on lowracers... meh. Interesting, but not real interesting.

I thought it sounded slow, too. It appears that the WRRA is a new organization, so there haven't been many attempts.

WRRA rules (http://www.recumbents.com/wrra/rules.htm)
The World Recumbent Racing Association has been organized to recognize the accomplishments of non-faired recumbent bicycle racers, and to keep a record of those accomplishments

There is a separate organization: International Human Powered Vehicle Association: http://www.ihpva.org/ which includes faired bicycles, too. (and boats, etc)

ahh, so it's kind of an "I love me" sort of thing for the low racer set.

Makes sense now.

Not really, he could've used any unfaired recumbent bike. :) I think it really comes down to the fact that no one has tried to break the unfaired recumbent hour record. That record has been at 27.99mph since 1933 when Faure set it. The 1932 49.99 and 1938 50.53 records were on faired bikes. Most the recumbent racers are going for top speed, or racing faired bikes. Sean just beat the other guys who have mentioned (JV) trying it to the punch. I'm sure Sean has sparked interest in it now, so we'll see how it goes.

And, Sean has publicly said that he hopes that others will be inspired to raise his record. So, anyone who thinks they can do better, needs to get out there and do it!

And, Sean has publicly said that he hopes that others will be inspired to raise his record. So, anyone who thinks they can do better, needs to get out there and do it!

Like I said:

Records exist to be broken, that's the mentality of a racer at least.
The most difficult ones to beat are your personal best.

scratch that. stupid comment. and self editing.

scratch that. stupid comment. and self editing.

What have you to contribute to this thread so far?

Can you deny the truth in my comment?

What's wrong with self editing?

I just edited my comment because I had made a silly joke that made no sense because I confused my terminology.
That's all.
I'm darn impressed that this guy covered the distance that he did. Rock on. I know that I wouldn't be able to!!!

No doubt, Boardman is king. Consider that the UCI has all kinds of record categories. Check it out online. It also has masters categories for old guys like me and I'm proud to say that I would be the UCI world record holder for my age group if I had done that distance on an upright. In fact I would be the record holder for as low as the 30-35 year age group in masters. There are a number of other upright guys with less distance claiming the hour record.

There are many variables to consider when evaluating and comparing hour performances. Consider for instance the slick head fairing that Boardman used. That would not be allowed with a WRRA record. Consider also that Chris Boadman was a professional cyclist, while I am strictly an amateur. Look at the records set at 10,000 feet above sea level. That is a 3.5km advantage! Moser admitted to blood doping for his hour but before it was outlawed, so it's OK to keep the record on the books. I could go on and on. The guys I look up to are Obree and Boardman. I'll get closer to them before I'm done.

In my case, the fact is that no one has ever gone faster for the hour on an unfaired recumbent. Recumbents are a different category. The UCI came to that conclusion 75 years ago and we only started keeping the recumbent records a few years ago. Recumbents have about 1 millionth of the racing development that the upright racing category has. If you are not impressed by the speeds now, then just wait a few more years, or possibly a few more months.

Sean Costin

No doubt, Boardman is king. Consider that the UCI has all kinds of record categories. Check it out online. It also has masters categories for old guys like me and I'm proud to say that I would be the UCI world record holder for my age group if I had done that distance on an upright. In fact I would be the record holder for as low as the 30-35 year age group in masters. There are a number of other upright guys with less distance claiming the hour record.

There are many variables to consider when evaluating and comparing hour performances. Consider for instance the slick head fairing that Boardman used. That would not be allowed with a WRRA record. Consider also that Chris Boadman was a professional cyclist, while I am strictly an amateur. Look at the records set at 10,000 feet above sea level. That is a 3.5km advantage! Moser admitted to blood doping for his hour but before it was outlawed, so it's OK to keep the record on the books. I could go on and on. The guys I look up to are Obree and Boardman. I'll get closer to them before I'm done.

In my case, the fact is that no one has ever gone faster for the hour on an unfaired recumbent. Recumbents are a different category. The UCI came to that conclusion 75 years ago and we only started keeping the recumbent records a few years ago. Recumbents have about 1 millionth of the racing development that the upright racing category has. If you are not impressed by the speeds now, then just wait a few more years, or possibly a few more months.

Sean Costin
Nicely done and gently phrased. Thanks.

However...
Obree's helmet is a fairing but splitter plate is not?
A "prone" recumbent would not qualify based on excessive prone-ness?

I are confused.

Nicely done and gently phrased. Thanks.

However...
Obree's helmet is a fairing but splitter plate is not?
A "prone" recumbent would not qualify based on excessive prone-ness?

I are confused.

The splitter plate is in the design of the frame. Obree's helmet is an aditional aero device. Basically if it's only function is for aero, then it's an aero device, if it serves another function like the splitter plate then it's not considered an aero device. The nocom takes every advantage of the rules to make it one aero bike without using fairings.

Okay, the helmet in the opening picture isn't an awful lot different than the one in the pic's I've seen of Obree's. Is there really a difference between them? Color, obviously. Probably length? 8cm OK, 10cm not? What's the cutoff?

What does the splitter plate do? Is it there as an artistic flair or was it molded as a part of the frame to approach the limit of the rules of add-on fairings?

For that matter, what is the purpose a full body lycra suit?
Fashion would appear to be more the casualty than the causality.

It continues to have the feel of a game set up for low racer proponents to feel good about themselves, and that's not a big deal. The problem is, as the rules tightly refine themselves around a shape or a class, the results become proportionally less meaningful.

.............It continues to have the feel of a game set up for low racer proponents to feel good about themselves, and that's not a big deal.......... For me the biggest deal is having fun and taking on a personal challenge. Just learning to ride a lowracer confidently on the streets and bike paths in and among traffic was a huge challenge for me. After that it became fun. Have you ridden any recumbent bikes? If so, which ones? If not, why not disclose your location and we'll try and help you find a shop where you can take a test ride. Or maybe there's some other local activity and perhaps some generous soul will let you try their bent.

Me? I'll ride any platform that I can afford (or borrow) at any given moment. Road bike, mountain bike, track bike, tandem, recumbent, what-have-you. Everything offers it's own unique challenge. Unfaired recumbent hour records are just one of a multitude of personal challenges.

When I ride my lowracer out among road bikes I always mention that I ride a road bike too and offer any curious riders the chance to get on and feel what it's like for themselves. I've even mooched rides on some pretty cool looking racing bikes along the way. It's all good to me. I posted this video here in order to stir up a little interest, and not controversy. In fact I post a lot of videos! (http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=NMERider) People have commented that they were inspired to give it a try themslves after seeing that it wasn't such a mystery and did look like a lot of fun.

I look forward to reading your first lowracer ride report! I hope it's sooner than later.

Hey, they should do a one hour trial on real roads. I wonder how it would work out if it were off the track? It would be more like a grand pri, cool.

Moo,
I'm glad you are questioning. It is the spirit of recumbent cycling to question the established way of thinking.

Helmets: The WRRA and the IHPVA have determined that all helmets must meet national safety standards. I think this is a good idea. You have to buy something off the shelf and you cant modify it . Helmets should be there to protect riders from serious injury. Boardman's helmet appears to be no more than a carbon fiber shell that would not offer any impact protection. In fact ,this helmet was quite long and if it were turned forcefully in a crash it could cause a neck injury. An un-padded helmet creates a significantly smaller aerodyanmic profile that gives an advantage over someone with a padded helmet. Laid back recumbent riders have the additional problem that the available aerodynamic helmets are designed for a different body position, so the aerodyanmics are not optimized.

Splitter plates: The WRRA and the HPRa allow splitter plates on what are considered Unfaired recumbents bikes. The bike that Boardman used incorporated this same concept in the area from the front of the down tube to the rear wheel. My personal opinion is that splitter plates are a good design solution which offers improved aerodyamics, and stronger structures with minimal weight. Categorically it has a distinctly different visual appearance from a faired rider tailcone and it's effectiveness is not not as good, but still worth doing.

The rules differ a bit between the HPRa and WRRA. The HPRa requires the splitters to be permanently bonded and integral to the frame, but the WRRA does not make that distinction. I raised a few eyebrows last year when I raced a Challenge NME with Latex splitters bonded on to the frame. This was later dubbed the Costin Condom. A vote of the racers determined that it was acceptable. My personal experience is that the splitter concept works and that a spinning rear wheel is an effective splitter.

The skinsuit was not a fashion statement. I had this custom skinsuit made because it lowered my drag. My consultations with tight wearer Matt Weaver and Chet Kyle (who developed the Nike Swift Suit and Lance Armstrong's racing clothing) confirmed real world testing that tights are faster than no tights. I was able to get a 4-5% reduction in drag. Lance got something like 8%! with his improved clothing. The body is the biggest thing on the bike. The texture of the surface should not be ignored. I didn't have time to optimize the suit since I received it the day before I left for California. The other good thing is that I didn't have to shave my hairy legs. I did that a couple times and It was not much fun.

Part of the problem that everyone seems to have is that our only frame of reference is the UCI and the established norms of upright cycling. Unfortunately this brainwashes us to think of everything in relation to UCI records rather than to imagine a new recumbent set of standards customized to our needs. Without the structure for a new set of records, records wont even be attempted. This is a proven fact. The UCI records were built up as a progression over 100 years or so. The IHPVA records were built up over a progression of 30+ years. Both record sets started out humbly by today's standards. Why should we expect any different with the WRRA. With more records being set and recumbent use and racing on a schedule of continued growth, the records will rise and the UCI dominated frame of reference will fade in the same way that diamond frame bikes have faded for most recumbent riders.

It's rare that I get a chance to say Oxymoron, but another poster mentioned something about a recumbent prone and that was the first word that came to mind. If you look at the fastest ever UCI times, the bike design is creeping toward prone- certainly in the upper body. Prone is much more akin to upright cycling than recumbent. It is the opposite. I dont care much for this position for the same reasons I abandoned traditional upright bikes years ago. Sometimes prones race with recumbents just as uprights do, but that doesn't make them recumbents.

Sean Costin







Okay, the helmet in the opening picture isn't an awful lot different than the one in the pic's I've seen of Obree's. Is there really a difference between them? Color, obviously. Probably length? 8cm OK, 10cm not? What's the cutoff?

What does the splitter plate do? Is it there as an artistic flair or was it molded as a part of the frame to approach the limit of the rules of add-on fairings?

For that matter, what is the purpose a full body lycra suit?
Fashion would appear to be more the casualty than the causality.

It continues to have the feel of a game set up for low racer proponents to feel good about themselves, and that's not a big deal. The problem is, as the rules tightly refine themselves around a shape or a class, the results become proportionally less meaningful.

Thanks for clarifying, and congratulations on an outstanding effort!

Sean Costin - my hero. My team set a new record at the Texas time trials - a 36 hour, 4 man race which we completed in 25.5 hrs. I broke the course record for fastest loop. 20 mile course with 18 miles of steady elevation gain and a big drop at the end. Hit a top speed of 46 and shattered the "upright" record of 51m30s by 1m15s. More importantly, had a BLAST.

Hey, they should do a one hour trial on real roads. I wonder how it would work out if it were off the track? It would be more like a grand pri, cool.

The problem with that is lack of controls. You would be likely to have wind in one or the other directions. And also finding a chunk of road to ride on that is level. You would need about a 50 mile stretch of very flat road. How would you compare someone who rode in one place under certain condition against someone else who rode elsewhere under radically different conditions.

An open road would certainly throw up too many variables as no two days would ever be the same and anyone who can ride nearly 30 miles in an hour on anything is deserving of kudos and some respect.

There was a time (half a lifetime ago) when I really should have considered professional racing and perhaps may have even been able to challenge things like the one hour (upright) record and am inspired that someone my age is setting some new ones, albeit in an different class.

Riding a recumbent is something I want to do as it's probably the only way I could ride as fast as I once did on an upright although I'm stil pretty fast for an "old" guy.

Hey, they should do a one hour trial on real roads. I wonder how it would work out if it were off the track? It would be more like a grand pri, cool.

See my most recent post - our 500 mile race was done on a 20 mile hilly loop with not-so-smooth roads, and I set the course loop speed record, and my team broke the 4-man 500 mile record by over an hour. This was the first time a 4-man bent team entered the contest. John Schlitter was at the same race as an individual and threw down a 28 hour ride - amazing, and again, a new record.

Bents are real, folks. And as we get more and more athletic people on them, instead of the traditional "white beared, big bellied geezers," people are going to take notice. When word got around about my lap record, people were talking to me left and right, and cheering me on at every loop. I was interviewed by a reporter as well - if I get into the article I'll link it.