VELOX 8

After the team had come so close to the women’s world record in 2017, team 8 decided to aim for the 121.8 km/h and selected two new female riders. Although de design of the VeloX 8 was based on its predecessors, the team kept innovating. A new shifting system was developed, which moves the cassette over an axle while the chain stays in its place, instead of using a conventional derailleur. This compact shifting system also allowed to improve aerodynamics by reducing the total area of the shell. To be optimally prepared for the World Human Powered Speed Challenge (WHSPC), the athletes had a longer acclimatization period than previous years at Lake Almanor, California, where they even had some days to get used again to the VeloX 8. Although the team had done everything they possibly could, there was not one race during the WHSPC 2018 in which all circumstances (technique, athlete, weather) were perfect. In spite of that, the Human Power Team returned from Battle Mountain with a 1st and 2nd place again.