Mike Burrows (17 April 1943 – 15 August 2022) was an English bicycle designer from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, England. Burrows is best known by the general public for his collaborative work with the design of the track carbon-fibre Lotus 108 time trial bicycle manufactured by Lotus for Chris Boardman, when he won the 1992 Olympic 4000m pursuit in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He also attempted to copy the famous "Old Faithful" bike used by Graeme Obree, to be used as a spare in an attempt on the world hour record. However Obree did not like the bike and did not use in any record attempt. Burrows had long been involved in the

recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position, and often called a Human-powered_land_vehicle, human-powered vehicle or HPV, especially if it has an aerodynamic fairing. Recumbents are available in a w ...

/tricycle world, having designed the Speedy or Windcheetah trike and more recently the Ratcatcher, Ratracer and Ratracer B. He has collaborated on projects with Richard Ballantine. Burrows was also involved in

utility cycling Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private t ...

and has designed a folding cycle (the Giant Halfway), an especially thin machine (the 2D) that takes up little space in a hallway, the 8-Freight

cargo bike There have been many human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting loads since their earliest appearance in the history of the bicycle, 20th century. They are referred to variously depending on the number of wheel ...

in use with cycle courier companies such as Outspoken Delivery, and makes customised screen and PA carrying freight bikes with extendable "batwings" for AV2 Hire. In the 1990s, Burrows worked for

Giant Bicycles Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (commonly known as Giant) is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, recognized as the world's largest bicycle designer and manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, China and Hungary. Th ...

and designed the compact frame TCR road bike among others, the bike design was truly revolutionary, to minimise bike manufacturing cost. Burrows' designs often feature cantilever suspended wheels. He supplied a bike fitted with a front monoblade to television science presenter Adam Hart-Davis, which featured in some of Hart-Davis' programmes. Hart-Davis also owned a Speedy, finished in pink and yellow. Burrows was involved with the design of a recumbent that could break the speed record for a human-powered vehicle (HPV). The design Aim 93 attempted to break the record at the International HPV Association's world championships at Battle Mountain. Burrows died from cancer on 15 August 2022, at the age of 79.

Bibliography

* ''Bicycle Design: Towards the Perfect Machine'' (). * ''From Bicycle to Superbike'' ().

References

External links

Velovision 8-Freight review

Velovision Ratcatcher review

Official 8 Freight website

8 Freight users

8Freight at LeftFieldBikes

Next stop Nevada: British cycle team aim at 90 mph record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Mike 1943 births 2022 deaths British cycle designers English male cyclists British male cyclists Sportspeople from Norwich