Forget about fixies, Grand Rapids, MI design company Jruiter has created a really cool prototype for a minimalistic inner city bike. The design is so simplified to the point that it doesn’t even have a chain, instead the pedals directly drive the back wheel. Of course the next logical step would be to remove the brakes.
Our project, simplicity in inner city bicycling, was at first glance a fun aesthetic opportunity in new trends, color, and materials. Our target lived / worked in an inner city environment with minimal space. Bicycling at this level can be more about fashion and culture than speed and performance.
After the first few brainstorm sessions we knew there where bigger opportunities. The project ended up rethinking what a “frame” meant, getting ride of basic key components, and creating a new type of compact bicycling. Inspired by the first the “hobby horse” from it’s simplicity and secondly the cafe race scene. Each is an exercise in stripping something down to its core.
via Core77
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{ 15 comments }
Umm. There is a reason for the big-gear/little-gear combo w/chains. I doubt this would be ridable for any distance, and esp. downhill, unless there is a planetary gear in the rear hub, but the copy says pedals ‘directly drive’ the rear wheel.
you are making an “obvious” remark, and so I have to assume they have dealt with the problem? they are bicycle engineers after all. the short stroke may have been what they did – or yeah, planetary gears… *shrug* havta try one :)
A bike that you can’t ride: Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Hummer a car that you can barely park, drive, and afford: Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Bush, a President that can barely make sense: ……..
Can we please, have smart designs?
score
I wish I could get paid to build totally non functional crap like this.
It would be so much fun.
I don’t understand why this is “non functional crap”. Isn’t it essentially a unicycle with an extra wheel and handlebars? I mean I don’t know much about bike design, but it seems like a good option for someone just wants a simple bike that can at least roll, right?
People want more that a bike which “can at least roll”. And it’s not clear that this one can do even that. The position of the rider, the fixed gear, the 1:1 ratio between pedaling and rear wheel turning, the apparent difficulties with just getting the thing started, etc., all combine to make this a pretty solid “I’ll believe it when I see it” phenomenon.
Nothing wrong with “thinking out side the box” or whatever. And wacky bikes are great fun to design and build (I’ve done a few). But from the photo and description, I’m not laying money on this particular one’s success.
In addition to the impossibility of pedaling, the distance from the rear hub to the seat is WAY too short and not adjustable. Hey I’ve got an idea– how about a drinking mug with a big hole in the bottom? Would be totally tubular and radical…
wasn’t this tried 100 years ago as the penny farthing? http://bit.ly/1qGJrh
Put it on a pedestal and keep it in a gallery. That thing would hurt someone on the streets!
no gears = useless.
all the bases seemed to be covered so i’ll just say “whut he say”
If the pedal was a pump, i.e., added to momentum with a short stroke, circular the rest of the time (could be geared by a back pedal click?) it might work around town. “Bare bones” it would have to have splash guards before I got on it and the other stuff required by law in NYC, a bell.
Messengers drive notorious bikes, no brakes, not much for gears around people and traffic. UPS started as 2 motorbikes in Seattle, WA. More and more bike lanes today in NYC to be grateful for.
If you’ve ever (seiously) ridden a unicycle you’ll know that the bike above is feasible. You’d want something like a 26″ wheel to be able to achieve decent speed, and of course anyone can see that the seat would need to be higher to be comfortable. The above looks to be about a 21″ and the cranks are extremely short.
Scott, the next logical step to me is to remove the front wheel :-)
Looks like it needs to be a slightly bigger (taller) frame with a longer head tube and seat tube so the poor rider can stretch out there legs. The other thing that I thing would be feasible would be an internal (freewheeling) 8spd hub, that way the 1:1 ratio would be doable and it would not be a fixed gear cycle. I think a fixie in this position could be quite dangerous. I also think some Ergon grips (ergon-bikes.com) to take some of the pressure off of the riders tiresome hands would be a plus on a stock version of the bike. I think it’s doable, but I don’t know how comfortable it would be. Good luck with the marketing of this “interesting” cycle.
PS – I think the guy that said to just put in a museum might have said it best. Prove us wrong engineers!
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