[Fictionary] Pannage Results

[Nicolas Ward]

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 6:30 PM, J-J Cote <jjcote at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> Well, it could be built.  Turning the power train 90 degrees like that takes
> a bit of doing, though.  Bevel gears would work, though they're lossy, or
> there are chains that consist of a bunch of buttons strung between a pair of
> cables, and these can do twisty things.  You can also have a lever and
> pushrod drive system, which is likely more suited to the image and the
> period.  The feet would go up and down instead of around, more like an old
> sewing machine than a conventional bike.  I'm more concerned with how you
> would get this thing moving, though.  It takes a bit of speed to be able to
> balance a bike (complicated by the fact that the balance axis is now pitch
> rather than roll), and if this thing has two wheels, it's going to be really
> tricky to get started.  I suppose you could have "training wheels" that
> retract once you get moving.  But if you fall, there's a 50-50 chance that
> you're going over backwards.
>
> But in this crazy world, everything probably exists:
> http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JzIwv_oCcmc/TJqvV5cXKLI/AAAAAAAAATQ/6fpP23m7Ab4/s1600/Bike.jpg

I kinda want to try riding that first one...

--Nick