According to the Sci Fi Tech Newsletter:
Want a bigger, better, faster bike? The HyperBike claims to be all of those things and more. Curtis DeForest wanted a bike that could keep up with traffic. He was inspired by the angled wheels on the wheelchairs used in wheelchair rugby, but in his design those tilted wheels are eight feet high.
“Riders” have to be strapped in, and once they are, the contraption supposedly allows them to cruise at up to 50 miles per hour without breaking a sweat. The bike has no seat and is powered by arms as well as legs. Because it’s a full-body workout, DeForest could market a stationary version as well.
Biking at 50 miles per hour sounds fun if scary. You would have to keep up with traffic as you would not be able to it this in the bike lane.
Chrisnonymous
Says:January 17th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Don’t worry, you’d never get it anywhere near 50 miles per hour. You’d get a lot closer to that on an ordinary road bike.
This guy eliminated every advantage of a bicycle in the name of “improving” it, then managed to build three working prototypes without learning the first thing about aerodynamics or conservation of energy. Maybe he should’ve set his sights on leaving the parking lot before he decided he was gonna prove it in the salt flats.
The only impressive thing about this invention is that he’s apparently strung qualified people along into helping him, and that no one’s thought to take him aside and teach him the difference between energy and power.