My dad has a Rowingbike (not to mention some more conventional 2- and 3-wheeled recumbents) which is pretty fun. I’ve not mastered it.
1 Like
Let’s see that in action to see if it looks as crazy as one might think. Hmm… yeah it does.
I would love to try something like this. I guess it requires a lot of effort though
4 Likes
What if you’re totally exhausted and 1000 meters above ground… 
1 Like
Well you should be able to glide for awhile. It’s a matter of finding somewhere to land.
I’m guessing it never goes much higher than 10m if it even gets that high.
You can see just how fragile it is by the movement of the fairing.
Guess you’re right, they should build a pedal powered helicopters for the daring.
True…
They have them but they just go up and down
3 Likes
I think they don’t have any handles for the flaps, otherwise Im sure they can make it go up some more. I also think it is wide enough to glide. What they don’t show is that there are trees at the end of the runway that they don’t want their creation to end up in, so they won’t let him climb any higher, just in case he runs out of energy.
Would love to try it out though.
It would be interesting to find out how high they flew earlier human powered planes like the Gossamer Albatross or Daedalus. I’ve never seen a picture where they were more than a few meters above the ground/sea. I’m guessing that was for safety reasons, but at the same time, flying low like that one would think that the wrong gust of wind could bring them down.
I presume sticking close to the ground is beneficial for the reduced aerodynamic drag due to ground effect.
1 Like
The inventions are, of course, very interesting, but I don’t see much sense in the existence of some of them. unless just to be original, not like others. not to mention the fact that such homemade things are dangerous to health.
I feel like tallbikes should have been mentioned by now
6 Likes
Cool, I made a tallbike about 60 years ago.
2 Likes
The Bicymple looks like a fun thing to ride around on, making super-tight turns, but looks like it would be pretty terrible for transportation. The rider’s body position seems to put the pedals vertically to the rear of the rider’s contact point with the saddle, which in theory makes it “worse” than a unicycle in terms of ergonomics. The lack of a drivetrain severely limits your speed, unless you add an expensive multi-speed hub. Weight-wise, however, a multi-speed hub might be lighter than a whole set of rings, derailleurs, cables and levers. 
Cool for shows, but very heavy and hard to transport. Also hard to steer!
The LeRuns/Skatebikes/Rodeocycles sold in the millions. But they aren’t good for transportation; more for playing around on.
Pretty much, only quite a bit lighter! I assume the idea of a vehicle like this is for exercise. It’s not meant to be efficient, it’s meant to get your body moving, like any adult (or kid)-sized push bike.
That looks like a funny and extremely harsh-riding mini-penny. Fun!
The hydrofoil bike looks fascinating! I wonder how much oomph it takes to keep it above the water; probably a great workout, especially in hot weather! I’m curious to learn more about that one.
Lopifit? Appears to be a treadmill bike, but the rider’s feet pushing the treadmill are obviously not generating the power to move the bike. An electric bike with an electric treadmill? Or an electric bike with a treadmill that generates some juice for the battery?
If I remember correctly, the Gossamer Condor was built to win the Kremer prize, for completing a figure 8 course where you had to clear 10ft altitude at each end. It flew at around 11mph and was very fragile. You wouldn’t want to be high up if something broke I guess.
The Gossamer Albatross was built to win the second Kremer prize, by flying across the English Channel. Both were piloted by Bryan Allen, an amateur Road racing cyclist. I think one of these two pedal-planes is on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Muserum.
I feel like this deserve a repost here
1 Like
Well, in the old days it was already a great achievement to fly 10 meters above the surface of the earth. Not to mention flights to the heavenly heights.
Im sure Icarus could fly more than just 10 metres.
Terrific!