The Circle City Bicycles blog contains info on bicycles, cycling events, pro racing, bicycle touring, and just about anything else cycling related. Since our bike shop is located in Indianapolis, we focus on biking in the Midwest, but cycling fans anywhere in the world should find this blog interesting. We try to post daily Monday through Friday, but we occasionally miss a day. Each Friday we try to have an interesting bicycle related photo.
Here's an interesting design that apparently never made it off the drawing board. It is a recumbent tricycle that folds. There are a number of articles out there about it on websites like Behance, all dating back to 2010. It was designed by Mantas Palaima, an automotive / industrial designer from Lithuania. It looks like he put quite a bit of thought into the design, which features:
A carbon fiber frame
Underseat steering
Front wheel drive and rear wheel steering
Ten degrees of camber in the rear wheels to improve stability when cornering
24" rear wheels and 19" front wheel
Folded size of 48" x 30" x 21"
My guess is that the concept never went into production because of cost. The reason recumbents and folding bikes cost more compared to standard bikes is they are produced in much smaller quantities. With a folding recumbent, it is a very small niche in the market.
Tandem designed by Hubert Opperman (photo courtesy of Modern Mechanix)
Here's an interesting bicycle. This side by side tandem was designed by Hubert Opperman, a prominent Australian cyclist during the time between World War I and World War II. His bicycle racing career ended with the outbreak of World War II. After serving in the RAF during the war, he went into Australian politics. This photo appeared in the August 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix.
Well, the Winter Olympics are now over. After watching ski jump competitors fly through the air, I wondered if any daredevil had taken his bike down a ski jump ramp and flown down the hill. Turns out there are a few that have.
In this video, Igor Obu makes a run down a ski jump ramp. A couple things about the video: First of all, the audio is in German. Secondly, very little of interest happens in the first 2 minutes and 40 seconds, so feel free to skip ahead to that point. The jump is shown several times, from different perspectives. Igor travels just over 42 meters, which is way less than what ski jumpers achieve. I think someone needs to design a bicycle with wings. Then they could make this new sport part of the Summer Olympics.
Will Igor stick the landing, or will he crash into the ground? Watch the video to find out.
Here's the ultimate fat tire bicycle. I wonder how much the rear tire weighs. I bet that when you get going on this bike you don't want to stop and accelerate up to speed again. I don't have any information about this bike, I found it (surprisingly) on the website 1947 to Current Chevy & GMC Trucks. Under "Alternate Tinkerings" there is a thread for "Hot Rod Bicycles."
Here's an interesting wheel cover I found out on Tumblr. It looks like the owner of this bike is a bicycle polo player. They all have wheel covers so that balls and mallets don't wind up in their spokes.
Here's a cute video. There's a bike hanging outside, and one little raccoon jumps onto the back wheel and hangs on. It's not very long before his friend comes along and pushes him off. The two then begin to fight, and a third raccoon comes along. It quickly turns into a free-for all, with each raccoon alternately fighting and jumping on the bike wheel. This is short video, only 50 seconds long:
There have been a number of amphibious bicycles that have been developed. The Bike Boat is a little different than most. Instead of continuing to ride the bike when you enter the water, it's time to break out the oars and start rowing. It's basically a recumbent trike with a detachable hull.
I'm guessing this idea didn't make it past the prototype stage. In the "News" section of their website, they have a 2015 entry that says they are getting ready to start a Kickstarter campaign, and nothing after that. I don't know if they never did the Kickstarter campaign, or if they failed to raise enough money to launch the product.
Here's a short video of the Bike Boat in action. One thing I notice is that the top of the hull is not much above the waterline. There are some other videos on the website, but they all show the Bike Boat in still water. I don't think you would want to take it out on a fast flowing river.
