Arion 1 is not your average everyday bicycle. This bicycle was designed by eight engineering students from the University of Liverpool Velocipede Team (ULV) and has an enclosure that hides its two wheels. Riders must lie down inside the cocoon type structure, as low as possible, and the only way to see where they are going is through a screen that displays video captured by a built-in camera.
Though it is still a prototype, Arion 1 can break 90 miles per hour (144Kph) to become the world’s fastest human-powered bike by breaking the 83.1 mph record set by the VeloX3. According to one of the engineers on the team, “We’re trying to make our vehicle around 40 times more aerodynamic than a Bugatti Veryon.”
The aim for the 90 mph mark also includes making a gear that turns 17 times for each rotation of the pedal, whereas regular bikes have a gear ration of 4:1. The ULV team hopes to have the Arion ready to break the VeloX3’s record by May 2015. Check out the video below to see the VeloX3 in action and get an idea of how the Arion will look and perform once it’s ready.