If we can have bikes and trikes then why not an n-wheeled vehicle called a n-ike? (just waiting for the ‘cease and desist’ letter from the world of humourless chinese trainer manufacturers).
Today’s invention is a simple way to make a bicycle frame using wheels. Two would be used to hold the rear axle and the seat. One more would be clamped between these to hold the drive sprocket. A fourth would be clamped to this one to hold the steering yolk.
With the two on the road that makes six wheels in total. This arrangement offers lightness, ease of manufacture, a way to reuse old wheels and the possibility of personalising the riding geometry by changing the clamping positions.
Interesting idea. Nip down to the BikeStation (www.thebikestation.org) and see if you can get bits to try it. You might want a bit of welding in there to stop it from creaking as you ride along. I also wouldn’t fancy carrying too much weight with it.
Another nice use for bike wheels is here: http://www.bikefurniture.com/
I’m reasonably sure that properly tensioned wheels would be more than strong enough…the trick would be to join them effectively. Welding would probably require all the spokes to be retensioned, so I favour a generic clamp, consisting of two welded overlapping circular arcs, capable of bolting onto both rims and allowing changes to the configuration. I liked the wheel furniture…there must be lots of alternative uses for a product that is both common and very high-spec.
Here’s another potential justification for this seemingly odd idea: comfort.
http://roundtail.ca/main/why_round