A British inventor has built the world’s fastest and loudest shopping bicycle.
Shopper bikes are the ideal vehicle for short-distance errands; robust little work vehicles long loved by those for whom the bicycle is about function rather than form.They are bikes that cannot be described as fast, until now.
V1 doodlebug-powered bicycle
Colin Furze is self-confessed ‘garage inventor’ who salvaged a Raleigh Shopper after it was discarded by his friend’s mum and decided to upgrade its performance.
After lengthening its frame, and unfortunately doing away with the definitive wire mesh shopping basket usually fitted above the front wheel, he added a 5ft-long home-built pulse jet.
Pulse jets were fitted to the German V1 ‘doodlebug’ rockets that terrorised England during WWII – they get extremely hot, make a horrendous amount of noise and are very rarely fitted to bicycles!
A standard Raleigh Shopper usually cruises at about 15mph, but with the help of the propane-powered pulse jet it is claimed this speed is boosted to a wobbly 50mph.
Insure your own custom bicycle
If you have bought or built a custom bicycle, get an insurance quote from the ETA. We cover many unusual, non-standard bicycles and as a company that has been known to indulge our own passion for customising bikes (the uninitiated can search Google for the BOND bike or the Hornster) we have a sympathetic policy towards home builds. If you have any questions, please get in touch for a chat.
Get an instant quote for cycle insurance
Every cycle insurance policy from the ETA protects against theft, accidental damage, vandalism and includes £5m third party cover. If you are unfortunate to be injured while cycling, it boasts personal accident and a specialist legal team is ready to spring into action on your behalf to safeguard your rights. Other benefits of the insurance include Cycle Rescue – a recovery service for your bike should you break down – and cycle hire to keep you on the road should your own bike be unavailable following a claim. The cover costs from the equivalent of 40p per week.
Tom Smerdon
Surely i can’t be the only person to think why this guy, riding a 50 mph bike is not wearing a helmet!?!?
Jeremy
would have liked to listen through to the end, but the music completely wrecked it, wihy does every clip have to have soundtrack.
David S
I can’t quite believe the ETA have allowed this footage on their web-site, promoting the wanton destruction of cars and a general sense if irresponsibility. And then articles promoting more motorways and fast roads into the centre of towns…isn’t this exactly what’s destroyed the heart of so many of UK’s towns and cities. Let’s not roll the clocks back to the 1960’s but promote smarter approaches to moving people and goods.
Tomthumb
I didn’t see any cars being destroyed – the film I watched was about an eccentric cyclist fitting a jet to his bike. Just a bit of fun!