Today’s invention is a bicycle which requires the rider to undertake some quite athletic non-pedaling movements.
A spring links the rear wheel to the frame as shown.
First, the back wheel’s brake is locked electronically (red) and the rider leans backward, extending the spring (A).
Then, the front wheel is electronically locked and the rider lunges forwards, so that the spring pulls the rear wheel forward (B).
This repeated combination of body movement and electronic control of braking allows forward motion (like an inchworm) to occur.
A similar concept for water is this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8f0C_B9HA
Human powered hydrofoil
This is so cool. I wonder how it compares, in terms of perceived effort per km, with say a rowing boat? This makes me think about designing the bike brakes not to stop the wheels 100% but to allow some drift -for a potentially smoother motion. There is a monster analysis waiting to be done, once someone offers me some development funding!
Something similar (minus the electronics and logic) has been available for several years now:
http://www.slingshotbikes.com/
That’s really amazing. I’d never heard of Slingshot before.
Cheers,
p