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The Spencer Racing Panther
Speedbike |
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07/2007
Steve and his father LaVerne Spencer built a long wheelbase, dual 700C
lowracer, with unique in-hub steering. The steering "head tube" is
actually inside the front hub. |
| This arrangement, coupled with
remote steering appears to work quite well, as seen by the grin on
Steve's face as he blasts aroung Nothbrook velodrome during the 2007
Byant Tucker 100 races. |
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The real reason for the
peculiar arrangement of this bike is to allow a dual 700C bike to fit
into a streamliner, for use a Battle Mountain. The lack of a headset
sticking up above the front tire allows a nice low nose.
Here, the streamliner mold is being
constructed. The Spencer's decided to build the streamliner from the
Varna nose and Rick Wianecki's Frank-n-liner rear.
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| The back half of this
streamliner is constructed using the "lost mold" technique. The
egg-crate foam construction in the picture above is covered with strips
of foam. The foam is then sanded smooth, and any remaining gaps are
filled.
Here, a carbon fiber mold taken from the
Balfour's Varna front end is grafted onto the foam backside of the
Frank-n-liner. |
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After some body work to seam
the two together, Steve and LaVerne cover the right half of the body in
a layer of Kevlar. |
| The entire bike is covered,
and then the shell is cut open and the foam is removed. |
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The bike is fit into the
'liner, and fastened to the bottom half of the fairing. |
10/2007
Steve, LaVerne, and Teresa Spencer drove out to Battle Mountain for the
World Human Powered Speed Championships. |
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Steve battled with new
speedbike issues like tires rubbing on the body for most of the week,
which kept his speed low, but he gained valuable seat time, which is
very important in a streamliner. |
| Here, Steve waits for his turn
to run on the 5 mile Battle Mountain course, as darkness falls in the
high Nevada desert.
Here is the Spencer
Team write-up of their adventure. |
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7/2007
After modifying the bike to allow it to make left turns, Steve races the
Panther for the first time on the Northbrook velodrome, during the
Northbrook 100 races.
Steve runs the 200 meter sprints, turning
a respectable 36 MPH run, good for 2nd place in class!
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| Steve says: "It was a great
day for racing, if not a little too windy for the debut of a
Streamliner. As you will see in the pictures, Teresa launched me with
rollerblades like we did in Battle Mountain. She was a real trouper as
it was her first time on the rollerblades and we had no time to
practice. Unfortunately, the first launch was perfect. The rest of the
day was 50/50." |
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"We launched for the 200 meter
sprint and I was able to see the Panther's potential. But we couldn't
launch for the 100 lap race and I ended up having to race without the
top. That was disappointing but it was good to get in some seat time in
the bike."
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| The Spencer Racing team, happy
after a day of racing in Northbrook.
Steve says: "My dad and I are currently modifying the
Panther for the 2008 racing season. Shorter, more compact wheelbase,
lower seat height, smaller frontal area, among dozens of other
refinements. We are looking forward to competing at Battle Mountain in
Sept." |
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9/11/08
We are sad to announce that Spencer Racing Team, designers and builders
of the "Panther" streamliner, will not be attending this years speed
challenge in Battle Mountain. After our success at the Northbrook
Velodrome this past July, we had very ambitious goals to improve and
refine the body and chassis for BM. By Sunday Sept 7th, we reluctantly
conceded we had run out of time and a return to BM would be impossible.
Sincerely,
LaVerne, Steve and Teresa Spencer
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