I'm sure someone must have picked this up but just in case, it's quite 'novel':
Courtesy of stringbike.com
It's not really novel - like most of these "new" bike drive ideas, they reappear as soon as everyone forgets about the last time they appeared 😀
Problem with that particular system is how do you do gearing? It'd need a custom hub gear or crank gear, very expensive. And what's the massive improvement that makes it worth the cost and hassle?
Some rowbikes use a Kevlar string system - sometimes on a spiral conical pulley to change gear. That's a good application of the idea that's been around for a while.
[quote=bencooper ]Problem with that particular system is how do you do gearing?
It appears to have gearing. I'm not suggesting it's not rubbish, but it does look like they've found a way to do that.
Ah, that's an improvement on earlier incarnations - but my comments still stand 😉
I'm reminded of an inventor who once wanted my help to make his revolutionary new drive system. It was fantastically complex - linkages, helical shafts, spiral gears, a nightmare to machine. I kept asking him what the advantage was, and after lots of waffle he eventually came up with one: if you pedal forwards, the bike goes forwards, but if you pedal backwards [I]the bike still goes forwards[/I]. I convinced him that that wasn't really the USP he thought it was...
Anyway, speaking of stupid drive systems, have we done this yet?
Ha Ha Ha 😆
..."on a mission to unlock the full potential of the bicycle"
Looks like it could be a death trap on anything other than the completely flat.
I actually thought the gearing was quite nicely done!aracer - MemberIt appears to have gearing. I'm not suggesting it's not rubbish, but it does look like they've found a way to do that.
It belongs on a kinetic sculpture though rather than a bike I suppose.
I liked it anyway 🙂