Last Saturday, the 28th of March in Vars, France, Eric Barone broke his own World Speed Record by bike on the steepest speed snow track in the World at 7:38 am. The maximum speed recorded was 223,30 kph (138,75 mph), probably faster than you can do with your own car!
French athlete Eric Barone, 54 years old, a.k.a " Le Baron Rouge" because of his red speed suit, was a ski patrolman back in the 80’s, then worked (and still works) as a stuntman in the movie industry (Taxi, Taxi 2, Highlander, Lucy, etc.). He rode a Mountain Bike for the first time in 1994, and after few races, he won twice the European and the World MTB Downhill titles in the Master category. Then, he fell in love with speed and, after several World Speed Records on snow and land with a bike (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999), he broke a new World Speed Record in 2000 in Les Arcs with the mythic speed of 222,22 kph.
In 2002, during a new speed record attempt on the Cerro Negro volcano slopes in Nicaragua, he had a terrible crash at 170 kph on the very rocky and abrasive volcano land due to a mechanical crack in the carbon headtube of his Sunn prototype bike. Two torn shoulders, a broken femur, six broken ribs and a seriously infected hand were a part of the body damages he suffered. But the worst thing to deal with was probably in his head : the fear. During 8 years, Eric didn’t ride any bicycle at all, he even didn’t think about that, it was a long period of recovery, physically and mentally. Then in 2012, he decided to come back to his passion and did a run at 201 kph on the snow speed track in Les Arcs with a normal DH MTB (a Scott Gambler). Confidence and need of action were back in his head, « Le Baron Rouge » was back in the game. Then, he decided he wanted to beat his own record from 2000 and started to work hard with a team of partners, engineers, brands, mechanicals, etc. to come back with a bike he could go fast with. In 2013, he had a run at 217 kph in Les Arcs and in 2014, he rode 7 times Chabrieres in Vars with his bike from the top (more than any skier) which is the steepest speed track in the World (trust me, just standing there is impressive). He didn’t beat his own record but the performance was incredible.
Finally, Eric Barone was back in 2015 with a new bike, I mean with a new aerodynamic carbon body on his modified downhill bike. A 29’’ rear wheel, a 27,5’’ front wheel, new suspension (SR Suntour) modified with a 70mm travel fork and a 100mm travel rear suspension, a wheelbase extended up to 6,5cm and a 64,5° head tube angle. At this point, this was not the kind of DH bike you could buy in your shop anymore. With the help of aerodynamic specialists and their specific wind tunnel ACE (ex Prost Grand Prix engineers), Marc Amerigo (Eric Barone’s friend, Engineer and Technical Coordinator), Fred Bernard from Antidote Solutions (frame and suspensions MTB specialists), Mavic for the modified carbon profiling Crossmax XL wheels, Hope for the 200mm ventilated disc V4 brakes, several other technical partners for the carbon fiber, the machined foam and different aluminium pieces, and Sunn who brought their image and money to the project, Eric Barone was able to have a very specific fast bike after 8 months of hard work. All the Barone team came in Vars 10 days before the World Record, testing several suspensions settings after multiple test runs with the mule test bike, putting Eric in the right physical and mental conditions, and filming for a future 3D movie about his project. He almost did an attempt few days before the record, but finally, due to weather and snow track conditions, everybody had to wait. Mother nature is still the boss, even more when you do this kind of things in the mountains. The night before, all the team was back in Vars, Eric would attempt a new World Speed Record early in the morning while the snow was still hard like ice. As we were en route to the summit in the snow groomer at 5:30am with the team, the wind was really strong even if the sky was clear. Some worrying looks were shared, it was not good at all for Eric. But despite of these extreme wind conditions (we recorded some wind gusts at 70 kph) at the top of Chabrieres, and a first part of the track really icy and not as smooth as it should be, Eric had the green light from Marc and Philippe Billy, the speed track boss. He did a first run with his mule test bike, and then came back at the summit wearing his red speed suit, get on his F2.0 Race bike, put on his helmet, and threw himself into the impressive 42° icy bumpy speed slope. Less than 20 seconds after, the job was done and the maximum speed recorded was 223,30 kph, only 1kph more than in 2000, but due to the extreme start conditions, this run was beyond the records, it was extreme, really extreme.
Wind tunnel control room, do not enter!
Xavier Gergaud (L) from ACE and Marc Amerigo from Enginova push the wind tunnel power at its maximum to determine the CX (aerodynamic efficiency) of Eric and his bike.
The modeling system is seen on a screen while Eric tries to find his best position.
The perfect aerodynamic position has to be found during the wind tunnel aero testing day while Eric discovers for the first time his finalized bike.
The SCx of the new bike is less than 0.20 which is better than the 2000 prototype bike, which is very good for a stock bike modified.
It's always interesting how the air goes through with the help of a white smoke.
A view of the wind tunnel from the rear.
The Sunn prototype bike with which Eric Barone broke the World Speed Record in 2000.
After the wind tunnel step, all the technical team is finally in Vars for the last part of the World Record project.
Eric and Marc study for the first time of the winter the speed track from the top.
Marc, Eric and Mathias have fun while they build a cabin at the summit.
A view of the mountains around Vars from the top of Chabrieres, the steepest speed snow track in the World.
Here it is! The new F2.0 2015 Eric Barone's speed bike. Even if it's shape is all about a technical and aerodynamic work, it's a real piece of art.
The brakes are really important on Eric's bike, in fact, he has to stop after a 200+ kph run.
29'' rear carbon cover wheel, stock Hutchinson Python 2 tyres with 4 bars of pression in it, single speed with a specific long chain, but it's just to say it's a bike because Eric doesn't really need to pedal.
This part of the frame is 6,5cm longer than the stock one thanks to his aluminium machined part. Even if you can buy these nice 200mm Hope ventilated discs brakes, you don't see them a lot on the tracks.
Fred Bernard from Antidote Solutions works on different rear shock settings for the mule test bike and the race bike.
The rear shock settings are really specific with a 100mm travel suspension plus the weight of the pilot and all the constraints you can have on a 200+ kph run.
Different settings and a bunch of rear shock plus a spare fork to be as flexible and efficient as possible.
Fred knows what he is doing with 20 years of experience in the mountain bike industry. He records all the different suspension settings on his computer.
"Le Baron Rouge" and his bike are ready for the first test runs on the Vars speed snow track.
I went for a ride at 3:15am once to see a very unique thing in the World...
David Suppliciau, from ITS, adapted a GPS to the snow groomer.
David Suppliciau, from ITS, adapted a GPS to the snow groomer.
Combining the snow groomer pilot talents and David's skills, the speed track can be shape with a 1cm precision. It's very unique.
Thanks to a specific cable, the snow groomer can almost go to the top part of the track, depending of the snow conditions. The photo doesn't deserve the steepness of the track, which is almost 45 degrees here.
During 5 hours every nights before the event, the speed track is shaped as perfectly as possible to allow Eric, skiers and snowboarders to go as fast as possible.
Four days before the World Record, the track was almost ready. But the highest part was seriously damaged due the a bad snow quality and even the machines seemed to not be able to repair it...
Eric and Marc, his Engineer and Technical Coordinator, observe the speed track from the bottom.
Last meeting with Philippe Billy to finally decide that the attempt will be on Saturday, the 28th.
D day. The team arrived at the top of Chabrieres at 5:45am to set up everything before the first rays of light.
You can't feel the wind here, neither the cold, but the conditions were absolutely not perfect for a World Record attempt.
Eric stays in a warm environment while everybody is out working to set up everything.
Despite the strong wind at the summit, Marc and Philippe Billy said it was ok for the run. Eric was ready to do it in his mind.
Climbing irons, ice ax and lifeline are the essential tools for the team to set up the start.
Eric focus before to go for his first test run from the top.
Everything is ready, mule test bike, 3D camera, team and pilot are ready. Dropping in 5 seconds!
Everything is gonna be ok, everything is gonna be ok, everything is gonna be ok, everything... Test run ok!
The moment Eric open his eyes and has only two things to do : go straight in the slope and keep the best aerodynamic position he can, like in the wind tunnel... No fear, only mind and body control.
The highest part of the track was bumpy and icy, the wind was very strong like it was hard to stand up while the race bike normally accept one good position to go as fast as possible. But he did it. Eric Barone did a World Speed Record run in very extreme conditions. But if you look at this still image, you can't even imagine how extreme it was.
The hardest part is done here and Eric can focus on his position to go as fast as possible.
15 years later and 1 kph more, here is the new World Speed Record by bike.
Even if he knows than his bike can go up to 230 kph with the good conditions, Eric Barone, 54 years old, can be proud of his new World Record as he did it in very extreme conditions.
The moment you celebrate with your team after 8 months of work.
With better weather (no wind) and track (a cleaner first part of the track) conditions, this bike could go close to 230 km/h. But mother nature is still the boss and sometimes you have to deal with what she gaves you... 1km/h more, but with 70km/h wind!
The title on Pinkbike is incorrect. If you look at the official video of this on YouTube, they have it correct in the title: "(OFFICIAL) Eric Barone - 223,30 km/h - World mountain bike speed record - Vars 2015" www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpAKB75c0xU
This is way scarier and more insane than what the roadies have done though. I have more respect for Barone for doing this
well kinda unfair to have something cleaning the air front of you? well, if someone would have been cleaning the air away from the dh run he would have cone +300km/h?
He might have been drafting but he had no downhill to help him. Pedaling 152mph on a bike with bmx wheels that looked like it would fall apart at any minute. Not really unfair when you think about it.
True that. Both of the guys used a situation where they could go faster than under normal circumstances on a flat road.
Either way the title of this article is wrong, it is the World Speed Record on a mountainbike, not on any bike.
Same goes for the dude on the hill. Find him a 80 degrees steep slope of hunderds of meters high and he should reach 500km/h too. Actually the guy on the road bike was pedaling by his own force. The guy on the mountainbike didn't pedal at all and neither did he do anything that requires force from his muscle to speed up to this speed.
If you hate on one of them, you have to hate on both of them. Because both were not pedaling under normal circumstances only by their own forces. The fact that matters here is that they were on an unmotorized bicycle, with both wheels on the ground, while they hit that speed.
Personally I hate on none of them, I think both are awesome
Either of these should be offered as a ride at an amusement park. One could be a summer ride and the other a winter ride. Bike and draft car are supplied in the price, but alcohol is extra.
Great stunt! Shitty ass video! This is supposedly the "Official" video and the f*cking guy stands back 4 deep in the crowd so we get no footage of the f*cking flyby! WTF!!!! That's so annoying! Someone slap that camera man!
All I want to know is who pays for this stuff? We have insanely talented athletes who actually can sell products for companies that aren't sponsored. Then there is this guy who isn't going to sell anything to anyone getting financed so he can go 1mph faster? Makes sense.
Dam that old guy Eric Barone is fast! He must be part Jedi to control his fear and believe in himself like this. I remember seeing his crash, this is an amazing comeback story. Legendary!
Dude, we just got a new sport invented. Snow Time Trials. Soooo if Bend, OR is already doing the Pole, Pedal, Paddle, then it can be the "add what ever this is" ripping from the summit of Bachelor and the Pedal...yes.. anyhow... I'm drunk. But this is clearly a new sport of time trials downhill on the snow and rocking SUNTOUR!!!!! Shots of tequila!!!!!
In the end it didn't really matter: he didn't pedal. SPDs do give more control when riding or if a bump launches him a bit. Personally I would have chosen flats for this aswell, but I can also see the point of using SPDs
The title of this article is wrong. It's the fastest speed recorded on a mountain(!)bike. Road bikes have ridden faster than this by riding very closely behind a car and having 0 air resistance (maybe even getting sucked forward a bit).
The title of the official video on YouTube is correct, they did know it's not the fastest record on a bike, but it IS the fastest record on a mtb
That being said, What Eric Barone did is pure insanety! Going down a slope like that, can't really describe in words how much respect I have for him doing that. In my opinion it's so much cooler than riding a road bike in the wind-bubble of a car, probably being dragged forward by the wind on a normal road. Riding down this hill is way more scary
Has anyone really challenged Barone? I mean, he's invested a lot of his own money into this venture, but if Guy Martin can do 110 on flat ground, imagine what he could do on a hill? Sure, Barone wasn't slipstreaming, but I'm sure we could combine Barone's aero with a strong peddler and a slight hill.
I don't think a human's 0.3hp would make a lot of difference against air resistance at 130mph. You'd gain a lot more from modifying body position to improve aerodynamics and not pedalling at all I'll wager
All the world cup riders will be running 650b up front and 29 rear in the next few years and everyone will be complaining that the bike industry is forcing them to buy them
What I don't get is why didn't he pedal? He probably could have gone a lot faster if he did. And that gear ratio? He needs like a 60t x 11t. We are talking speed here.
He got faster but not smarter as he is using a single crown fork for this application? Its a testament to the tapered crown (assumed) strength. Last time the fork broke clean off at the lower crown.
True for sure. But after breaking a headtube at that speed, I would personally play it extra safe by mounting a DC fork instead of something that looks like a XC / light all mountain fork by Fox? (32 or 34 maybe?).
He knows the consequenses of something snapping in the front end of his bike.
Then again I do think he knows what he was doing. Guessing the fork was very new, straight out of the package and not a second hand buy off eBay.
Mattin : You can't compare bike components from 2002 to what we have in 2015, it's way more safety now than before. And the reasons why they didn't keep the DC fork are 1st : that's not good for the aero. 2nd : you don't need that much travel on a fork to ride a speed track like this one ;-)
I'm not comparing the forks to 2002. It just seems to be a fairly skinny fork (32mm?), almost like an XC-ish fork. For something like this I would personally rather have a beefier fork lowered to the same ammount of suspension. Maybe something like Fox 36, Totem or Marzocchi 66, but then lowered. This would indeed be much more sufficient for the aerodynamics than a DC fork and still be strong enough.
When I was talking about DC forks I was thinking about having one custom downtuned to a similar ammount of suspension. Him having a fork sponsor I'm sure they can give him any fork he wants lowered to whatever ammount of suspension he wants, even if it's not possible normally and it would require some small internal changes.
You know, the speed record is cool and all but I really hate the comma! 223,30? If you were doing math the number would be 223.30. Very confusing. I glanced at the number and was thinking the man exceeded escape velocity on his bike, which would be cool, but then I thought, "no", the comma is the wrong position and my sense of wonder became mixed with frustration.
I agree, that's the European way. I think the French own science, which begs the question, are we the ones doing it wrong using a point instead of a comma?
Holy fvck my hole PB! All that shit for a guy riding straight down a hill? Mighta been interesting with a sender at the bottom. :/
Isn't this the same guy that ate shit when his dorked out goof bike broke after it hit a pebble one time? Then a guy on a normal Giant DH bike went almost as fast & interestingly, made it to the bottom. :o Sump'm sump'm?
The title on Pinkbike is incorrect. If you look at the official video of this on YouTube, they have it correct in the title:
"(OFFICIAL) Eric Barone - 223,30 km/h - World mountain bike speed record - Vars 2015"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpAKB75c0xU
This is way scarier and more insane than what the roadies have done though. I have more respect for Barone for doing this
If you hate on one of them, you have to hate on both of them. Because both were not pedaling under normal circumstances only by their own forces.
The fact that matters here is that they were on an unmotorized bicycle, with both wheels on the ground, while they hit that speed.
Personally I hate on none of them, I think both are awesome
Miles are at least 60% more sponsorable.
its inspiring to see people doing this batsh*t crazy stuff on bikes
It really helps to understand how extreme this record is. Cheers!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Wi0EaTeqU
The title of the official video on YouTube is correct, they did know it's not the fastest record on a bike, but it IS the fastest record on a mtb
That being said, What Eric Barone did is pure insanety! Going down a slope like that, can't really describe in words how much respect I have for him doing that.
In my opinion it's so much cooler than riding a road bike in the wind-bubble of a car, probably being dragged forward by the wind on a normal road.
Riding down this hill is way more scary
He knows the consequenses of something snapping in the front end of his bike.
Then again I do think he knows what he was doing. Guessing the fork was very new, straight out of the package and not a second hand buy off eBay.
This would indeed be much more sufficient for the aerodynamics than a DC fork and still be strong enough.
When I was talking about DC forks I was thinking about having one custom downtuned to a similar ammount of suspension. Him having a fork sponsor I'm sure they can give him any fork he wants lowered to whatever ammount of suspension he wants, even if it's not possible normally and it would require some small internal changes.
That is so awesome!
Isn't this the same guy that ate shit when his dorked out goof bike broke after it hit a pebble one time? Then a guy on a normal Giant DH bike went almost as fast & interestingly, made it to the bottom. :o Sump'm sump'm?