[m463]

I think the fastest bikes in a straight line are recumbent bikes because of the small frontal area. Nobody talks about it much (probably because nerdy middle age men are the only demographic with enough devil-may-care attitude to ride one in public)

[mrob]

The fastest bikes are fully enclosed velomobiles, but they're expensive and usually don't fit in normal bicycle parking spaces.

[jandrese]

Also they're banned in most racing events and horrendously expensive.

[m463]

that's fascinating - I think common bicycles would probably have lots more variants if these hidden administrative rules didn't exist.

I'm reminded of the look of sport motorcycles. The design has been heavily influenced by an almost unknown source - a racing rule from many years ago that said the fairing should not extend forward of the front axle.