A group of engineering students and their custom-built moped will be heading to France this May to perform in a high-tech bicycle race.
Eleven of the 20 engineering students who make up UB Solex, a Student Association club recently formed by engineering students, will design and customize a motorized bicycle that they will ride in circles for hours on end in two marathon races in France this May. One race is 24 hours long, the other "only" six.
The students in Solex are the first Americans ever to compete in the races.
Their story starts about a year ago when UB professor and Assistant Dean of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Joseph Mook, was conducting a study-abroad program at the French Technical University at Troyes. While they were there, a race was run at the University featuring a French motorized bicycle called a Solex.
This was a marathon race of six hours designed to test endurance.
While one category in the race featured regular, unmodified Solexes there were categories for specially modified and engineered bicycles. This, naturally, is what caught the interest of the engineering students.
Half-jokingly, they and Mook said to each other that UB should enter the competition. The idea was born.
This spring, in class, Mook described the race and brought up the idea again.
"He said that it would be cool if UB students were in it, and said that anybody interested should see him after class," said Matt Willson, a senior mechanical engineering student who's helping to redesign the bicycle's engine. Some students did stay after class. UB Solex was born.
It took about a month to get the club organized, so they've only been actually working on their modifications for a month. The short preparation time is only one of their handicaps.
"We just started, so with our limited time, there's only so much we can do," said Dan Carroll, a senior mechanical and aerospace major, who's the leader of the frame team.
Frame team? Yes, the original bike frame is long gone.
"Basically all that's left of the original bike is the front forks and the front beam," Carroll said.
Senior mechanical engineering major Carson Lau, another frame team member, explained the Frankenstein-like nature of the frame.
"We took an original frame," he said, "then we took a BMX-type bike and attached that back of that to it to make it a little lighter. It's kind of like a hybrid between the original Solex and a BMX bike."
The group's other major handicap is that they are rarely sure of just what modifications they can legally make to the bike. All the instructions and rules - which are specific and stringent - are in French.
"Our translations are unclear," said Willson. "Sometimes we have to look at pictures to get verification that we're doing the right thing."
They have people in France who will answer their questions, but by the time the questions get translated and to the right people, some time lapses.
"We have things we want to try. If we have questions we e-mail them," said Willson. "Usually it's about a week before we hear back as to what we can do, if we can do it or we can't do it."
Lau explained they're not dealing with 'everyday' French.
"You can translate French," he said, "but then there's technical French. That's a lot different."
As a result, the group is being a bit cautious with the extent of their modifications and only making moderate alterations to the original bike.
"We prefer to be competitive rather than just jump into the highest category," said Willson.
"I think we're going to be a lot more competitive next year," said Lindsay Volaski, a junior aerospace engineering major who's been elected the club's president for next year. "We'll be a lot more prepared, we're going to know exactly what they want."
This year, the group is excited just to compete and will be pleased to just finish the races, as many of the entries break down irreparably and never finish. UB Solex hopes to be competitive, but as of now, they just have no idea how they'll stack up against their French opposition.
They do have what they refer to as a "secret weapon," though. There is a major engine part involved in propelling the bike that is known to break, and replacing that part and getting back into the race takes a lot of time. They've found away around the problem by redesigning the part so it is in two pieces.
"So if it breaks," said junior Jim Stanley, who's majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering, "we would be able to take it off in about 20 minutes instead of an hour and a half."
The team hopes to have the bike and engine finished and put back together sometime next week, and jokingly threatened to conduct trial runs in front of Capen Hall while students are getting ready for finals.
They also plan to race an unmodified bike, if it ever arrives. Currently, that one is somewhere in transit. They're not sure where. Hopefully it will show up in time.
The easiest part of preparing for the competition is getting the drivers in shape. About all they have to do is sit and steer for hours; up to eight hours in the case of the day-long race.
The bike won't have its pedals anymore, but there will be a seat, right?
"There will be once we put it on," said Carroll.
