Gravity Racer World Record: The Record Attempt

It was time to see if we could set a world record speed for a gravity racer. The weather was 21ºC in nearby Avignon and the wind on the 2 km road section was light. Feeling buoyant from the previous day’s 81.8 mph and having a number of further changes up our sleeves — we were optimistic.   […]

Gravity Racer World Record: Location

Mont Ventoux  — In the Provence region of southern France — is the mountain mecca for road bike enthusiasts. Jam-packed with glorious, sweeping, alpine roads and stunning scenery, “what a location!” I hear you say. Believe me, the selection of a location was no easy task. Mont Ventoux (Photo – Channel 4) To give us an idea of […]

Gravity Racer World Record: Design

The gravity racer was designed and constructed by the team at CSER (Heather Driscoll, Terry Senior, Alice Bullas, John Hart and Christina King). As with most engineering projects, we did not have an unlimited budget or time, so where possible we tried to use and modify bought in components. Modify is the key word though; […]

Gravity Racer World Record: Theory

When we accepted the challenge of designing a gravity racer we were inundated with offers of help: tips on what we should do, recommendations for which parts we should be using etc. It seemed that nearly everyone we spoke to was an expert! While some of their advice was gratefully received we decided to spend a bit […]

The UCI hour rule change, a record resurgent?

After a quiet period of nearly a decade, the UCI’s ‘cycling hour record’ has been making news again over the past year. In February, the time trial powerhouse Fabian Cancellara announced that he would attempt the record in August — an amazing opportunity to see how a cyclist of the modern era stacks up against legends such […]

Journal Special issue: Association Football

Every time the FIFA world cup comes around, there is a flurry of research into football. This may be aerodynamics, shoe traction or impact mechanics. To capture the research conducted surrounding the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, journal Sports Engineering is planning a special issue on association football. If you have some research which you […]

Rocker ski technology: how to conquer the powder

Water skis on snow? Really? Although the idea might sound crazy to you and me, it made perfect sense to the late Shane McConckey, back in 1998.  A professional skier and BASE jumper, Shane is considered to be the father of what is known as “rocker” technology, which has revolutionised the ski industry in the […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE WOODEN ICE HOCKEY STICK?

Technology has had a profound impact on the sporting world and it is the reason for the sudden disappearance of the wooden ice hockey stick. Over the last decade, there have been large advances in the technology of the ice hockey stick. Material, manufacturing and structural advances in composites have allowed manufacturers to create an ice […]

Image competition!

Share your images showcasing the best in sports science, engineering, and technology in the ISEA 2013/14 Image Competition. Do you have an image that showcases the outstanding research and consultancy being conducted within sports engineering? If so the International Sports Engineering Association want to hear from you! The ISEA is running a competition to uncover […]