i know its a bike, but that hub on the back would be an interesting ride if built into a unicycle?especialy a 36er, if someone had the ballance to just role on it… ?
I’m pretty sure those hubs on the rear are the same thing as unicycle hubs. I’d like to try this and do wheelies on it, it would be fun in a skatepark or something like that with 24" wheels!
I saw this a few months back, some bike polo playing mates think the long wheelbase will make it a super awesome goalie bike for polo.
The rear hub apparently freewheels…something that isn’t usually desired in unicycle hubs (unless your schlumpf has gone bad…haha).
I can’t imagine they’ll be cheap once they get into production…would be cool to ride though.
its odd but strangely … i like it
The knee extension in the video looks uncomfortable. What are they thinking with the ergonomics of this design?
Scott
i still carnt think why anyone would want one?
apart from getting one just for the hub
wouldn’t it be great if the back wheel could independently steer on this as well!
Seems obvious enough. They are thinking it looks cool, especially when there’s nobody on it. Which it does. Lont as you’re not trying to keep up with other bikes. But it would be great for bicyclists to ride on the San Francisco Uni Tour or other 36er group rides.
First thing I noticed in the video was the tiny clearance between the tires. Hit a pothole, and I bet the front wheel would come to a dead stop against the rear. Instant header!
So we are talking about an objet d’art rather than a vehicle?
It looks silly.
Scott
good idea but th ergonomics just look strange and unnaturall and it needs gearing up ( scrumph or however its spelt ) good idea for a full carbon frame though. the 36er looks like it should be longer by quite a few inches, but as a concept i like it but as a sellable proudct i cant see it working although i might nick the idea and make my own “city bike”
The ideas behind the design are on their site here-
So a lot of it is to do with taking the basic bike design and then simplyfying it even further- strip away the gears and chain, for example, and you take away a lot of maintenance issues.
That doesn’t make it better than a bike of course- many people prefer the greater performance of conventional bikes and are happy to put up with the extra maintanance, but, for those who prefer simplicity, there is now another option.
I can relate to this because I use my unicycle as an alternative to a bike, for precisely those reasons.
I love the red cranks!
Of course we here know the ideals of that bike’s design are much better met with a 36" unicycle, but I can understand them keeping to the easier form of vehicle. So much for the space savings.
But the short wheelbase makes it way smaller than an equivalent beach cruiser-type bike; those are really long, plus they tend to have super-wide (and super-non-ergonomic) handlebars. I also noticed they increased the wheelbase quite a bit on the versions shown on that page. I guess they found out about having the wheels too close together…
Also a too-short wheelbase could be a problem for takeoffs and stops. It might tend to wheelie if you pedal too hard, and going hard on the brakes could make it very unstable as well.
It’s not intended to be an “improvement” on the bike as transportation. The 36" wheels make it pretty heavy all by themselves (making a carbon frame somewhat pointless). But as an exercise in aesthetics and mechanical simplification, I think they did a real nice job.
The wheelbase seems to depend on the wheel size-
There’s a 36" version with extremely close wheels, but also the 29-er on the right with more gap between the wheels.