Skip to main content

Cycling heavyweight

A German man from Schleswig-Holstein has set a new world record. With his 1.1tonne bicycle he has now had his name listed by the Guinness World Records for the world’s heaviest bicycle. The man rode his monster, self-built bicycle a distance of 100m to claim the record, beating the previous title holder which tipped the scales at a mere 860kg. Because of its immense size and weight, the bicycle did have to be equipped with training wheels at the rear to ensure it remained stable. Novel features for the bicy
January 27, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
A German man from Schleswig-Holstein has set a new world record. With his 1.1tonne bicycle he has now had his name listed by the Guinness World Records for the world’s heaviest bicycle. The man rode his monster, self-built bicycle a distance of 100m to claim the record, beating the previous title holder which tipped the scales at a mere 860kg. Because of its immense size and weight, the bicycle did have to be equipped with training wheels at the rear to ensure it remained stable. Novel features for the bicycle include secondhand tyres previously fitted to a muck spreader and a seat made of a beer crate, with a piece of bent sheet steel bolted on top. A low gear ratio ensured the man had sufficient strength to cover the distance required to claim the record, while clocking a cruising speed of 5km/h. Its enormous weight and low gear ratio means that its use for long distance cycle touring or regular commuting will be out of the question. The man, a truck driver, said he found inspiration to build his bicycle while sitting by a local canal and watching the ships go by.

Related Content

  • Ammann pushes the utilisation rate of recycled asphalt even higher
    December 16, 2016
    The Ammann team was confident it had a game-changer on its stand when the 2007 bauma exhibition opened in Munich. The company’s RAH100 asphalt dryer was about to take a massive step forward for the global highway industry – and to lead the market for years to come Ammann’s RAH100 wasn’t a simple upgrade of an existing product. It was much bigger than that. The dryer offered the ability to utilise 100% recycled asphalt … a benefit no other competitor could match. “That 100% utilisation rate was a miles
  • JCB celebrating 70th anniversary
    October 21, 2015
    UK construction equipment manufacturer JCB is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The firm was founded on October 23rd, 1945 by the late Joseph Cyril Bamford in a lock-up garage in the Staffordshire market town of Uttoxeter. It was the same day as his son Anthony, now Lord Bamford, was born and as Mr Bamford remarked “being presented with a son tended to concentrate the mind and when you were starting at the bottom, there was only one way to go and that was up.” The foundation for the growth that was to
  • From Bangalore to Dumfries, plastic waste technology is reinforcing our roads
    May 2, 2018
    At last some good news about plastic waste: road authorities around the world are starting to use it in their roads - Kristina Smith reports.
  • Track stand tactics take top honours
    January 5, 2015
    Cyclists and vehicle drivers may have their differences on the road but they can, nonetheless, admire each other’s skills. The ability of an articulated truck driver to back up while threading his lengthy vehicle through a narrow passage is often admired by cyclists. Drivers, too, can admire the ability of a cyclist at a stop light to balance his bicycle while stationary, without taking his or her feet off the pedals, a feat called the track stand.