New World Record | Evandro Portela Goes 124 Miles Per Hour on a Bicycle

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Written by: Stuart Kenny

Last Updated: 30 Nov 2017

Brazilian cyclist Evandro Portela has just set a new world record for the highest speed achieved on a bicycle on a public road – reaching a full 202km last Sunday. Cycling on the closed BR277 road between Curitiba and São José dos Pinhais in Brazil, Portela managed to beat his own record of 184km an hour, which was set earlier this year, and went a full 18km/h faster than his previous effort. Portelo is no stranger to viral internet fame. Footage of the Brazilian drafting a truck at 124 km/h went all over the web, racking up almost four million views, in 2014: This time he was going a lot faster than that, though it didn’t come very easily even with a pacing car. Portela was being paced by a Subaru WRX 4X4 350 HP Turbo but had to struggle up to 50km/h in a headwind before he could enter the vacuum created by the fairing on the rear of the Subaru – which in this case took the form of a sort of half-gazebo type thing popping out the back of the car. Unfortunately for Portela there were no hors d’oeuvres or refreshments.

Once he entered the vacuum at 50 km/h both Portela and the car accelerated forward together until reaching the final speed. It took Portela 6’32 “733 and 11 km to hit his peak time. Speaking afterwards he told Red Bull Brazil: “It’s a great emotion, a dream come true and a great challenge. “It was not easy. I faced a wind against 20 km / h, which made my progression very difficult. When I was at 190 km/h I could not see anything, the rear wheel was already in the air, but I managed to control the bike, persist and beat the mark! It was very difficult, but rewarding.”

Of, course, Evandro was using specialised equipment tailor-made for speed, to reduce friction and to support all the unique requirements of such a challenge. The front wheel was aluminium, and so heavier but stabler than a carbon wheel. The rear wheel spokes were flat to avoid resistance and the tires used are capable of passing over shards of glass or stones that do not stick with no bother. The clothing gear was developed to cut through the wind. Watch the world record cycle below: