http://www.thealphabike.com/ALPHA/ALPHA.html

No.

hell no!

Surely the future is some kind of Marty McFly-esque hoverbike?

Yes !

oooh, yeah – pull my ponytail and ….

sorry 😳 . No.

It seems exceptional for an undergraduate project. True innovation on the basic bicycle design is next to impossible, so I’m guessing that there must be significant precedent to the internal drivetrain idea. Even so, just fabricating it as part of your degree is impressive. Assuming it works, of course.

On first glance I thought it was a fabricator-type project, where you design a bicycle on your pc and print it out in your garage using a fabricator. Seems like it’s not as speculative as that, and is more grounded in systems integration, whatever that means. One thing’s for sure, it’s not about the bike.

It uses Sturmey-Archer hubs.

I can’t see how it does the belt drive through those tubes.

Alpha bike just out of shot.

i like it

Just looks like a bike to me.

The future is Sturmey Archer? I shouldn’t have sold my old Grifter when I was 13 then… 🙂

I assume this bike is designed for a future when everyone has thick-soled shoes as that appears to be the only way of slowing the thing down…

beanum, there’s a brake lever in a bloody stupid place on the left hand drop and an internal hub brake on the front wheel… actually you’re right, thick-soled shoes are the way ahead

It’s got a drum brake on the front. Plenty power in that on a bike with skinny tyres, so it will stop ok.

The rear could have a coaster brake, but more likely it is the S-A S3X fixed 3 speed hub because they have incorporated a freewheel in the bottom bracket.

epicyclo – Member
I can’t see how it does the belt drive through those tubes.

Good photo of it here…
http://www.thealphabike.com/ALPHA/Manufacturing.html#15

I hope not. But a good, fun project for the student.

I think it’s ace. Zero maintenance.

The tone of the website gets up my nose though but it’s a really nice bike. Of course it needs more than 3 gears and I’d certainly save some money and weight by not speccing the fixie option.