Obree trusts Old Faithful bike
World pursuit champion Graeme Obree will swap his new state-of-the art bike for his home-made machine in the opening round of the Olympic 4,000-meters event at the Stone Mountain Park track on Wednesday.

The Scotsman will contest the time trial stage on his "old faithful'' because he says can handle it better than his new $18,000 bike on the 250-meter wooden velodrome, which he describes as "egg-shaped.''

"I need to be comfortable and not fighting for control on those bends,'' he said. "It is even more important if it is windy.''

His wife Ann flew in on Tuesday with the special shoes he needs for the old bike which has carried him to world titles and records. The shoes have the pedals bolted on.

"Last year (at the world championships) I was only the third fastest qualifier but I eventually took the title,'' said Obree.

"I just hope to get faster as I get further into the (Olympic) competition.''

Last year, Obree was persuaded by his business manager Frank Quinn to buy a new bike with back-up spares built to his specifications.

It followed an embarrassing scene at the Nations track meeting in Paris when "old faithful' broke down and there were no spares.

On Wednesday he cannot afford the slightest slip against opponents such as Andrea Collinelli of Italy, Australian Bradley McGee and German Heiko Szonn.

This story written by Reuters correspondents