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0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 29, 1996 | by Kenneth Silber

State-of-the-art racing bikes may help American athletes pedal their way to Olympic gold--if their training equuals the techology.

The United States never has been a world power in Olympic track bicycling. But thanks to high technology and advanced training techniques, that may change.

The summer games in Atlanta will mark the debut of the SuperBike II, or SB-II, a racing bicycle so innovative in its materials and design that, in the words of one of its engineers, "the only thing conventional about it is the chain." The bike is the centerpiece of Project '96, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Cycling Federation, the U.S. Olympic Committee and a corporate alliance led by Electronic Data Systems.

Unlike the familiar triangle of most bike frames, the SB-II's structure is essentially V-shaped -- the top bar has been eliminated to reduce weight and wind resistance -- and components such as seat fastenings have been streamlined or hidden. Its wheels are extremely narrow, further improving the aerodynamics. "If you look at the frontal area of this bike, it practically disappears before your eyes," says Scott Gordon, and engineer at California-based GT Bicycles, the bike's manufacturer.

The frame is composed of a high-strength, carbon-fiber composite material that reduces the need for structural support while maintaining the stability and stiffness required under racing conditions. The small diameter of the SB-II's front wheel enables cyclists to stay close together -- an important feature in team races, as the official result for a four-member team is determined by the third cyclist's time.

Like all Olympic track bikes, the SB-II has a single-speed gear and no brakes; riders slow down or stop by backpedaling. The lack of brakes actually improves safety, since a sudden panic stop would cause a chainreaction accident.

Some of the SB-II's aerodynamic features also are found in the Olympic team's road-racing bikes, which traditionally are heavier and less streamlined than track bikes. (The SB-II weighs 16 pounds, compared with about 20 pounds for a state-of-the-art road racer.) Eventually, similar innovations even may be available in bikes on the consumer market -- for a price.

"Probably, some of the stuff in the SuperBike is going to make it to commercial bikes," says Paul E. Teague, editor of Design News, a biweekly magazine. "But you'll have to be a pretty well-heeled person to afford them."

Indeed, the SB-II's price tag is as impressive as its technology -- as estimated development cost of $50,000 apiece for the 24 bikes that have been built, each one customized for an individual cyclist. Engineers relied heavily upon computer-aided design techniques, such as 3-dimensional modeling software that allowed the range of possible designs to be narrowed early in the process. A General Motors wind tunnel was used to test prototype versions.

The SB-II's predecessor, the SuperBike I, made of aluminum but sporting a similar streamlined design, already has made its mark in international competition, helping the American team win eight medals at the world track-cycling championships in 1994, including the first medal ever won by an American in the teampursuit event. The U.S. cyclists followed that success by winning four championship medals at last year's Pan American games.

The Project '96 effort has focused on sophisticated training methods as well as high-tech equipment. At the U.S. Olympic Committee training center in Colorado Springs, biomechanics experts have used stationary bikes equipped with computerized sensors to conduct detailed assessments of U.S. team members. By measuring the precise direction and strength of a cyclist's pedaling motions, trainers are able to suggest slight modifications to increase the athlete's endurance and efficiency.

Such emphasis on training, of course, recognizes the fact that technology cannot substitute for human skill and spirit. That point was driven home in the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, when the U.S. bobsledding team, equipped with an elaborate, multimillion-dollar, high-tech sled, still failed to ascend into that sport's top ranks.