The Solex is a motor-assisted bicycle that was originally designed and sold in France during the late 1940's. It quickly became popular in France and throughout the rest of Western Europe. To date, more than 7,000,000 Solex bikes have been sold. It can be an ideal mode of transportation, especially in large, congested areas, as it is efficient and cheap to buy. Recently, it has enjoyed a new upsurge in popularity.
Solex is powered by a 49cc two-stroke gasoline engine, which develops a little less than one horsepower. It has a centrifugal clutch, which makes it easy to engage and disengage the engine to the front wheel. The bike weighs approximately 62 pounds, and has the frame of a typical bicycle. It gets excellent mileage, about 200 miles per gallon, at 18-20 mph on level ground. It performs poorly traveling uphill; therefore, pedaling is necessary at times.
Every year, there is a race in Troyes, France, in which 80 teams compete in a six-hour race. This year the race takes place May 16. There are four categories of competition: Original Solex, Improved-Original Solex, Prototype, and Super-Prototype. Our team will compete in the Original Solex and the Prototype categories. Each team will have four riders, who will take turns driving during the six-hour race.
In addition to the six-hour race in Troyes, we plan to compete in the 24 Hour Race in Chaumont, France, which is a few hours drive from Troyes. This race will be a serious challenge, as it is based on endurance, not only of the bike's stability, but of the drivers' fortitude. There are only three drivers allowed for this race, which means that each driver will be riding for eight hours. The rest of the team will form an experienced pit crew in case of breakdown during the race, and our team will be anticipating trouble-shooting to fix the bike as soon as possible to get it back out contending. This race takes place May 29-30th.
The University at Buffalo Solex Team is comprised of 20 ambitious undergraduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences students, 10 of whom will be traveling to France for competition. This project was brought to our attention by Dr. Joseph Mook, who had witnessed the Troyes race last year. Knowing it would be an opportunity to travel and to gain hands-on practical engineering experience, the 20 students jumped at the challenge to successfully modify a Solex bike. To most of us, this was an introduction to Solex, as most of us had never heard of the bike. But as knowledge was gained about its durability and simple and efficient design, a good deal of interest developed.
We plan to arrive in France on May 12, and use the time before the Troyes race, May 16, to make last minute adjustments to the bikes and adjust ourselves to the time difference. The time between the races, from May 17-26, will be used to repair and modify the bike as indicated, based on our race results in Troyes on May 16. When this is complete, any remaining time will be "free" time for us to explore France and the rest of Europe as a group, once it has been established that the bike is in a good working state for the 24-hour race. May 28th will be spent in Chaumont, where we will prep for the endurance race. And finally, May 29-30th is the 24-hour race. Most of the group plans on flying home June 1, but some may stay longer at their own personal discretion to take advantage of being overseas.