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Off the wall conversion. 1 wheel + 1/2 wheel + 1/2 wheel = 2 wheels

Scruffy

Scruffy

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Us humans are always trying to reinvent the wheel.
 
dbostedo

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Posaune said:
I wonder why the before action video showed him riding up over the curb but the after only showed him going down off the curb?
Click to expand...
Up or down, there are still potential problems. The problem I'm thinking of are probably unlikely to happen much while just riding around, but look a this shot from the video:

1656694473283.png


Let's say the cyclist started in a position that was 3 feet back from where he actually started. Then, when he reaches this point, you'd actually have the bottom of the front half-wheel about to smack into the curb. I'm guessing the effect would be some resistance in the pedals and maybe a weird slide/skid, and maybe damage to the end cap of the half-wheel?

Things would have to be timed just so, but could definitely be a problem. I'd think you could have the same geometry issues on any variable ground/surface that isn't flat/smooth (i.e. cases where one-half wheel isn't making good ground contact as the other half-wheel goes airborne).
 
cantunamunch

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dbostedo said:
Up or down, there are still potential problems. The problem I'm thinking of are probably unlikely to happen much while just riding around, but look a this shot from the video:


Let's say the cyclist started in a position that was 3 feet back from where he actually started. Then, when he reaches this point, you'd actually have the bottom of the front half-wheel about to smack into the curb. I'm guessing the effect would be some resistance in the pedals and maybe a weird slide/skid, and maybe damage to the end cap of the half-wheel?

Things would have to be timed just so, but could definitely be a problem. I'd think you could have the same geometry issues on any variable ground/surface that isn't flat/smooth (i.e. cases where one-half wheel isn't making good ground contact as the other half-wheel goes airborne).
Click to expand...


There's even a problem on smooth surfaces - that bike can't climb.

His rear center is so far back that unless the uphill is half a wheel circumference long he won't have more than 20% of his body weight on the back wheel. Possibly less.

Slip slide fall on yo' adz - probably worse than climbing a regular bike on wet paint stripes.

On the upside, his self alignment torque is probably really good for staying stable on flat sand.

My next question would be - how did he ratio the brake effort?
 
Tom K.

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I don't know whether this guy should be locked up, or given a job at NASA troubleshooting the rovers!

Sadly, irrelevant, since it uses 26" wheels, and we've all moved on to 29ers. ;)
 
skibob

skibob

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Bill Talbot said:
We have?
I must not have gotten the memo...
Click to expand...
To be fair, your the "Vintage" Gear Curator.

The industry has, but not all riders have. I am 6-2 and would never go back to 26" for most bikes. But I have a friend who is 5-5 on a good day. He was looking for a new MTB a few years back and asked my thoughts on 29ers. I said if I were him I would look at all the deals on top of the line 26" mtb from just a few years prior. At the time you could pick up a bike that was $5-6k new a few years prior for ~$1,000 in good shape. He followed my advice and is still riding that bike.
 
cantunamunch

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Open question:
Anyone know of a historical 26er hardtail with slack front and SUPERtight rearcenter?
 
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Bill Talbot

Bill Talbot

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skibob said:
To be fair, your the "Vintage" Gear Curator.

The industry has, but not all riders have. I am 6-2 and would never go back to 26" for most bikes. But I have a friend who is 5-5 on a good day. He was looking for a new MTB a few years back and asked my thoughts on 29ers. I said if I were him I would look at all the deals on top of the line 26" mtb from just a few years prior. At the time you could pick up a bike that was $5-6k new a few years prior for ~$1,000 in good shape. He followed my advice and is still riding that bike.
Click to expand...
I do have a 27.5". 5" suspension bike but find I rarely ride it....(that's 584 and 125mm). And I have ridden a few 29ers (622) and didn't like them at all.
Side note I really wish we could just use BCD (bead seat dia.) when talking about wheel/tire sizes. It's not really that hard is it?!
For the most part 622, 584 and 559 cover it. OK, also 630 for some 70's and 80's tourers.
 
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