Bicycles were never meant to break land speed records. They were merely
meant to be used as easy, no-fuel personal mobility options that could
get people from Point A to Point B. But daredevils have always dreamed
of using the lowly bicycle to create history and in 1899, Charles
“Mile-A-Minute” Murphy became the first person in the world to surpass
the 60 mph speed limit on a bicycle. Even the record came as a shocker
to most people, no one dared to challenge the record or even attempt to
surpass it in the American biker’s time.
A few decades hence, with the advent of motorbikes and cars, people got used to two wheelers hitting greater speeds anyways and the dream of biking to 100 mph was forgotten. But now, we may just have the dream revived as Tom Donhou, noted frame builder and UK’s Donhou Bicycles have joined forces to create a bicycle that can easily hit the 100 mph mark!
Shown off at the Bespoked Bristol show only recently, the custom project uses a special Royce 104-tooth chain-ring that spans 17” in diameter and was custom-made for it. Thanks to the bespoke chain ring, the bike has already made it to 60 mph top speeds on the road which means that in a proper cycling-optimizes arena, the bike could easily hit top speeds of around 100mph and possibly even more should a professional cyclist be roped in for the challenge.
The Donhou bike is made around a triangular frame and features a low-set handlebar close to the front wheel to further fine tune the aerodynamics scheme when a rider is using the bike. The solid steel frame also adds stability to the bike at higher speeds that would have been harder to do with lightweight materials like aluminum etc.
