Well that is different, LFN Bike

[LewTwo]

Pedals move straight up and down. No clue how it converts 20 inch linear stroke into rotational for the chain ... oh and it has a 350 watt front hub motor ... look at the handle bars ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoLmZLs4HUg

 

[Rube]

Wow, that's odd and ugly.
Seems to have a drive shaft with pinion arrangement?. Angle of the derailleur is interesting.
Surely the shaft drive recently posted on ES is much more appealing.

 

[MadRhino]

Don't try to jump with this bike (Should be a sticker warning).

The way the drive is installed should have inspired the designer to fit the motor on it instead of a front hub.

That is a good example of how to make simple things complicated, making sure to handicap its efficiency and gain considerable weight. I believe the weird handlebar and motor ideas came after he tried riding it, in a desperate hope to save his work from going straight to recycling.

 

[Chalo]

It's amusing to see bicycles reinvented by people who don't ride bicycles.

 

[LewTwo]

Wow, that's odd and ugly.

I was trying to avoid saying that.

Surely the shaft drive recently posted on ES is much more appealing.

I think so (it should be delivered here today)

Don't try to jump with this bike.

I am fairly sure that idea never entered the designer's mind (on mine).

It's amusing to see bicycles reinvented by people who don't ride bicycles.

Chalo, You have been around a while. Did not someone build some recumbent bicycles with a linear pedal stroke?

 

[MrDude_1]

so the engineer in me looked at that for a second and came up with an idea on how it could work.
have the pedals linked in that vertical loop by chain. have the sprocket on the top go back and forth turning a shaft back and forth.
then the rear right angle drive can be two gears on the shaft, each with one way bearings. turn the shaft one direction, it rotates the right angle sprocket forward with one gear, while the other one ratchets on the one way... then when it rotates the other direction, the opposite occurs...

Interesting design, but the best engineering solutions are the simplest.

 

[E-geezer]

It's amusing to see bicycles reinvented by people who don't ride bicycles.

No kidding

 

[Chalo]

Chalo, You have been around a while. Did not someone build some recumbent bicycles with a linear pedal stroke?

I've seen various linear, elliptical, and reciprocating arc drives over the years. The one that comes to mind that seemed least busted was the Alenax:

Almost two decades ago, the late great Jobst Brandt made a similar observation about the Alenax to the one I made about this LFN bike.

 

[Warren]

After WWI, Austrian-born Zeppelin engineer (and later car designer) Paul Jaray built variable ratio, linear drive recumbents from 1921-23.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--PDk1uN-n--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/cmwnpnelpnuhljdr5nip.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jaray

Jobst Brandt was an extraordinary athlete, who figured if he liked it, it must be right. I can guess what he would think of electric bikes.

 

[footloose]

I've seen various linear, elliptical, and reciprocating arc drives over the years. The one that comes to mind that seemed least busted...

Chalo, you might enjoy this design. If it isn't the "most busted", it is at least a contender for the title :lol:



Saw it in a bike museum. Took me a minute or two to even accept this was a bike, then another few to understand how it works. You (the rider) sit on the internal assembly and drive the innermost wheel (the part that looks most like a normal bike wheel) via complex linkages by 'pedalling' with both legs in synchronous motion kind of like a rowing machine. That assembly rides continuously 'uphill' on a track provided by the innter circle (wheel). Gear inches are amplified via direct attachment to the much larger outer circle (wheel). Four circular elements are involved if you count the tail-wheel on the internal assembly. Unicycle, bicycle,tricycle, or quadracycle?

 

[Warren]

Those are called monowheels. Motorized ones go way back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monowheel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgf51eoNTaQ

 

[footloose]

Warren, thanks for the info!
Gotta love the concept of 'gerbiling'.
Guess anything with wheels has it's own particular risks.

 

[Chalo]

After WWI, Austrian-born Zeppelin engineer (and later car designer) Paul Jaray built variable ratio, linear drive recumbents from 1921-23.

Linear drive for a recumbent makes some sense to the degree that it allows a better, more efficient fairing. It doesn't help pedaling any, but if it allows a more aerodynamic fairing that's easier to see out of, it could be worth the trouble.

You'd still want a sinusoidal change in foot speed rather than constant foot speed/instantaneous reversals, like both the LFN and the Alenax.

 

[Warren]

Nothing was ever gained by doing the same old thing. More out of the box thinkers.

Now that he is back from his nasty tangle with a deer, I hope we'll get to see Craig Vetter build the electric FF streamliner/scooter he had planned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyEMkdXHu8E&authuser=0

Bob Horn ultimately aims for a two wheel steered, two wheel drive, electric racing FF motocycle.

http://rohorn.blogspot.com/

 

[Chalo]

Nothing was ever gained by doing the same old thing. More out of the box thinkers.

The reason we're pretty well sorted out inside this particular box is that there was so much outside-the-box thinking during the hundred years before any of us were riding. Cycling was the high tech industry of its day, and lots of very smart people devoted their best efforts to it. The bad ideas, like the one in the top post of this thread, were all tried generations ago and found lacking.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were two US Patent Offices-- one for bicycle-related patents and the other for everything else. So to improve upon a traditional bicycle is highly unlikely, and the people who think they can do it are the same ones who are least likely to do so.

Folks who think they have a brilliant new bike idea should at least go have a look at the dozen or more long-expired patents for more or less the same thing they believe they've invented.

 

[Warren]

The highracer recumbent bicycle is as fast as an upright TT bike, while being much more comfortable, as demonstrated many times on the RAAM. You will never believe me, because you will never try one. The only "compromise" is the necessity for a wider gear range, since you can't stand to muscle up steep grades, in exchange for a vastly less stressful ride.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/?p=10945

The upright will continue to outsell the highracer by ten thousand to one, because of ill-informed bike shop "experts" like you.

 

[Warren]

I know there are people who can ride 100+ miles a day on an upright without pain, but they are the rare exception. i have been able to ride these distances on recumbents for decades, while my upright friends must content themselves with much less. But at least they don't get laughed at by "real" bikers.

 

[Warren]

Upright bikes are the perfect solution for riding a few miles, in crowded cities, and should have replaced cars there at least one hundred years ago, if we were sane, or could have foreseen the future. But to suggest that a vehicle which requires a pillow in you pants, for most people, if ridden more than a handful of miles at a time, is the pinnacle of bicycle engineering, is laughable.

 

[LockH]

Already spotted in ES Newz:
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=82047

 

[MadRhino]

Saw it in a bike museum. Took me a minute or two to even accept this was a bike, then another few to understand how it works. ...

I like this one. If you create a new cycle and can't improve functionality, make it a work of art. I find it's fitting well in a museum, but I'd see it better in a circus. I mean, this one calls for a clown or some intrepid acrobat.

 

[Chalo]

The highracer recumbent bicycle is as fast as an upright TT bike, while being much more comfortable, as demonstrated many times on the RAAM. You will never believe me, because you will never try one.

I've already ridden several recumbents, gotten my head around their benefits and limitations, and decided they're not for me. Surely they're just right for some needs and situations. I need something that can turn around inside a lane width, slow to below walking speed while remaining stable, and ride no-handed when necessary.

Has the RAAM record ever been held an unfaired 'bent? If so, that's news to me.

There's nothing inherently wrong with recumbents, but they have had something like 120 years to prove they are as useful as normal bikes, without success. To be fair, electrifying a bike does more good for a 'bent than it does for a normal bike, so e-bikes offer a potential toehold to capitalize on the recumbent's strengths.

 

[Warren]

The strongest riders in the endurance world have not ridden RAAM on a recumbent. They aren't going to try anything out of the ordinary, since they are doing just fine on standard equipment. Why would they take a risk...why bother? But several very good athletes have won their age group on recumbents.

I know you said you tried riding a BikeE. Have you tried any of the half dozen highracer brands?

"I need something that can turn around inside a lane width, slow to below walking speed while remaining stable, and ride no-handed when necessary."

You have just described a highracer. My wife and I used to climb 15-20% grades on our highracer tandem at 4-5 mph. I have never been able to trackstand any bike, but I watched a kid in a bike shop trackstand a recumbent his first time on the bike. I have ridden one on rollers without any drama. I have ridden a highracer around in circles countless times in the width of a lane. I always do it with my inside foot unclipped, because I have absolutely no desire to break a hip, but I am certain that someone young enough and foolish enough could do it clipped in.

I have ridden my converted tandem highracer, in cruise control mode, for miles, no-hands. One of my favorite things to do, when I see somebody on a motorcycle, is to do a Nixon-style, two handed, over the head, victory sign. It always gets a response.

I am sure your assertions about recumbents convince shoppers in a bike shop, but I have years of actual riding experience, and you are just spouting crap.

 

[LewTwo]

Play nice children

 

[Chalo]

"I need something that can turn around inside a lane width, slow to below walking speed while remaining stable, and ride no-handed when necessary."

You have just described a highracer.

OK, then I'll add that I need to ride safely in normal shoes, see over cars (easy for me since my sight line is almost 7 feet up on a normal bike), stand still while ready to move promptly, walk the bike as necessary, lock up easily to signposts, and get on and off sidewalks without alarming peds. If I think about it a minute, I can probably find half a dozen other deal breakers for me personally that apply to any recumbent, without even getting into their appallingly poor cost to value ratio.

Surely there are many others who don't need or want the same things in a bike that I do, who would find a recumbent bike to be a net benefit. But in my neighborhood, at my shop, I don't encounter them. These are practical riders in the center of a real city, who need a practical city bike.

 

[Warren]

Yup. An upright is the best bike for crowded cities, and has very specific requirements. I was fascinated to see that in Japan some years ago. Pretty much everybody rides women's frames, as top tubes make no sense in a suit, and where you are jumping on and off every few minutes. They also ride with the seat way down, so you can get your feet flat on the ground. This means standing to get started, as you can't get normal push with the seat that low. You'd think they'd blow their knees out, but these are folks who sit on their knees on the floor from childhood, so they are amazingly limber. A foot forward design, like the Townie would solve the problem, but at the expense of a longer wheelbase, so they just put up with it. Everything in life is a compromise.