This 200-MPH Bicycle Beat A Ferrari In A Drag Race

What's a bicycle's top speed? Well, we used to think it was pretty low—the Tour DF guys were hitting 65 occasionally on those long alpine descents. But it turns out a bike can go a hell of a lot faster if you slap a rocket engine on it.

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On November 7th in the south of France, François Gissy hit 207 mph on a bicycle that had been fitted with a hydrogen peroxide rocket engine. Being run on Circuit Paul Ricard, they had a Ferrari 430 on hand to race. Turns out it wasn't really much of a race.

That's a quarter mile in under seven seconds.

The bike itself has front suspension, a rear derailleur and cassette, and standard flat handlebars. It is, most certainly, a bicycle with regular spokes, tires, and general look—minus the oxygen and hydrogen peroxide tanks, of course. This is especially cool when you realize that they hit 207 mph in just 250 meters without being particularly aerodynamic, though Gissy rode in a superman position.


Ethan Wolff-Mann is an editor at Supercompressor. He has probably topped out around 50 mph on a road bike, if that.