The 
© 2007 Raptor Designs Pty Ltd.
(Last Update 4th April 2007)
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The
© 2007 Raptor Designs Pty Ltd.
(Last Update 4th April 2007)
 Stop Press: The Noodler takes out 3rd place overall in the 2007 OzHPV Challenge! (The picture shows the Noodler crossing the line in the 2.2km time trial) Why is it called the "Noodler"? It's because the curved sections of the frame are made of carbon fibre wrapped around "pool noodle" foam rods. The rest of the main tubular frame is 2" aluminium tube, with rear forks from a thrown out racing DF bike, and front forks from a kids 20 inch bike. The seat is my "moulded from life" Mk 3 prototype fibreglass unit. This isn't a practical everyday commuter road bike. It was built purely for a bit of extra speed and the chain running alongside the front forks limits how sharply you can turn. I do have some extra hard points built into the frame to allow extra pulleys to be used to route the return chain over the top of the front wheel though. The design is based loosely on the layout of the "Zephyr", but without suspension. It's actually quite fun to ride. The seat is super comfortable, as it should be, as the mould for it was based on my own body impression in a sand box. The handlebars swing upward to allow entry and exit. I've not noticed any real problems with "Tiller effect" or wheel flop. So far I've had it up to about 60 km/hr without any steering instability. At this speed you do not want to make any abrupt steering moves though! The ability to poke into a headwind is quite noticable, and that plus a somewhat lighter weight means that I find hill climbs easier as well. I'm in the process of re-jigging my old tail-box to suit it. Specifications:
 By my calculations, the acheivable bike speed in the highest gear by cadence is: 60 34.1km/hr 90 51km/hr 120 68km/hr
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