There is absolutely no debate in the Cycling Plus office as to whether Graeme Obree, the 1993 and 1995 individual pursuit world champion and former world hour record holder, is an 'athlete or genius'. To us he is both…
Many of you will be familiar with Obree's fascinating, inspiring and, at times, sad story. If you're not then I'd heartily recommend you read Graeme's autobiography The Flying Scotsman. (There's also a movie starring Jonny Lee Miller which, IMHO, isn't nearly as good…)
Long story short, though – in the early 90s Obree defied convention and upset the UCI by taking to the velodrome on a bike nicknamed Old Faithful which he'd built himself, adopting extreme positions such as the crouch and the superman and trading records and championships with another British legend Chris Boardman. Those positions and bikes were eventually banned by the UCI…
Amazingly – unlike Boardman, nicknamed The Professor – Obree never tested his bikes or riding positions in a wind tunnel. Until now that is! In this fascinating film, made with Scottish cycling brand Endura, Obree tests his bike and himself in Drag2Zero's wind tunnel, pitting himself against a UCI standard bike from the time of his career and also rides a modern machine and Endura's most slippery skinsuit. The results are very, very interesting!
Read more on Endura's website.
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