Video: Short film follows Graeme Obree as he tests his old race positions in a wind tunnel

The crouch, the Superman or the conventional one? Which of Graeme Obree’s riding positions was the most aerodynamically efficient? With the help of Endura, he went to a wind tunnel to find out.

While Obree concedes that there is a touch of sadness at killing off the mystery, he’s also a man with a bountiful supply of curiosity. Clad in his Fullarton Wheelers skinsuit, he clambers onto his various bikes and awaits the results with interest.

“I just realised, I don’t get to keep everything after today,” he says at one point. “Before: ‘He was a genius, he’s an amazing athlete, he’s so fast, designed those positions’ – but once you’ve done the measures, I don't keep all of them.”

While he clearly feels a little like it’s a no-win situation, Obree is as watchable as ever, embarking on the experiment with a certain glee, cracking jokes about the length of his arms and how Old Faithful “should be outlawed” because of how uncomfortable the position is. At one point he views a modern bike from the perspective of an air molecule.

We won’t spoil the results, suffice to say that the exercise gives a better perspective on the Scot’s oft-overlooked ability as an athlete and diminishes our opinion of him not one bit.