For a moment, I thought someone tried to ride a handcuff.
Turns out, the contraption is even cleverer (Now there's a word only a Brit can get away with using!) than that.
That strange-looking rear wheel is belt-driven and hubless. (Could even a Brit get away with saying "hubless"?) The moving parts are housed, which makes the bike's wheelbase.
Luke Douglas, the wheel's creator, said he was trying to make a bike as compact as possible without having to fold it. He said he was also trying to eliminate the awkward ride qualities of many folding or collapsible bikes.
At the time he designed it, he was a student at the Loughborough (UK) Design School. He entered it in the 2011 competition for the James Dyson Award. Alas, he didn't win.
He should have gotten some kind of award, though, for the name he gave his invention: the Lunartic.
Turns out, the contraption is even cleverer (Now there's a word only a Brit can get away with using!) than that.
That strange-looking rear wheel is belt-driven and hubless. (Could even a Brit get away with saying "hubless"?) The moving parts are housed, which makes the bike's wheelbase.
Luke Douglas, the wheel's creator, said he was trying to make a bike as compact as possible without having to fold it. He said he was also trying to eliminate the awkward ride qualities of many folding or collapsible bikes.
At the time he designed it, he was a student at the Loughborough (UK) Design School. He entered it in the 2011 competition for the James Dyson Award. Alas, he didn't win.
He should have gotten some kind of award, though, for the name he gave his invention: the Lunartic.
