
These were some designs I did way back in the late 80's early 90's. I was trying to come up with somewhat plausible designs for bicycles to be ridden in a futuristic setting. I also wanted to try and address the question of how to keep the tail out of the spokes and chain. Ouch! Hurts just thinking about it. I was somewhat satisified when years later I sawreal, get paid for it, bike designers exploring some of the shapes and ideas.
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Well since this was suppose to be a futuristic setting, the expectation was that the bike frames would be made from carbon-fiber or similar composite materials. Several years ago I got a chance to handle some carbon-fiber body panels for a car and was just stunned at how much lighter the stuff is compared to metal. No wonder the aviation industry loves the stuff.
Composite materials are certainly common today with top-end roadie bikes (Giant's "*0" line) .. I'm never going to buy one though! If you have an accident, and you get speared by the carbon-fibre frame.. the inert material stays in your body forever.. Bike Courier companies as a rule (in AU at least) always use metal-framed bikes for that reason. Those designs also have a huge aerodynamic cross-section too..
If you're after a tail-friendly idea, go recumbent! :)
(Let's play Spot the Bike Weenie..)
If you're after a tail-friendly idea, go recumbent! :)
(Let's play Spot the Bike Weenie..)
Yeah true, also if whack a composite material wrong cracks and that's the end of the ride...pun intended. No I was hoping for some cool new future material for these bicycles. Recumbents are cool but I wanted something that looked more traditional bike-like the study.
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