Mike Burrows Obituary

Mike Burrows, a British bicycle designer from Norwich, England has died. His death was announced on Monday, August 15, 2022.

Burrows is best known 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.

In a tweet, Boardman expressed his sadness at Mr Burrows’ death before describing him as the “godfather” of his craft.

Boardman tweeted;

“Very sad to hear Mike Burrows, the designer of the Lotus bike, passed away today.

“He was the godfather of modern bicycle design and my life would not have been the same without his influence.”

Burrows was also involved in utility cycling as he 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 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.

Burrows worked for Giant Bicycles in the 1990’s and designed the compact frame TCR road bike among others.

Burrows’ designs often feature cantilever suspended wheels.

Burrows also supplied a bike fitted with a front monoblade to television science presenter Adam Hart-Davis, which featured in some of Hart-Davis’ programmes.

Burrows kept his private life under the wraps and as a result, it’s not known if he was married or had children.