Video: Wooden land speed record bike progresses

Here at road.cc we’ve been following the Splinter Bike project to set a land speed record on an all-wooden bike with some interest.

Now the man behind the project, Norfolk-based Michael Thompson, has released a short promotional film, which culminates in a tantalising glimpse of the prototype machine (screen-grabbed above to help you study it in a little more detail).

Michael has now dismantled the prototype in order to retro-engineer it - making  tweaks to some of the dimensions after a custom-fitting session with rider James Tully - as he embarks on the construction of the actual machine that will set the inaugural record.

Try as we might, it has proved impossible to squeeze all but the most meagre details from Michael about the drive system for the bike, but perhaps our more mechanically-inclined readers will have their own ideas. All we have been told is that there are 12 elements which enable the “complex” drive system to provide power to the wheel.

Check out Michael’s Splinter Bike blog for regular updates as the project progresses.