Bizarre bike seen on Paros, Greece

[Riggers]

Abandoned. And one can see why. Very odd set-up.

[clarion]

If that's evolution, I'm staying a chimp.

[nuttycyclist]

I'm trying to work out WTF is going on there 

[Majorbloodnok]

What the?  Was it 2WD?  Does the rider "row" backward and forward with the bars at the same time as pedalling to drive the front wheel?

If not, why not?....



...Dear dragon's den......

[border-rider]

The bit on the front wheel looks like a freewheel; the big cog on the fork is fixed, with what looks like a pulley or capstan on it.  The cable attached to that seems to be fastened to the bottom of the arm that's pointing down.

But I have no idea what that all means.

Nice place, Paros, though, isn't it ?  Or at least it was when I was there, 24 years ago.

[Charlotte]

Leading link suspension forks with some kind of innovative secondary remote braking system.  Possibly a dynamo.

A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

[border-rider]

Leading link suspension forks with some kind of innovative secondary remote braking system.

That was my first thought, but the forks are contiguous with the headtube, and firmly connected to the headset, and the mounting point for the horseshoe-shaped bit that the stem is connected to is also firmly welded to the forks.  I can't see any possibility for vertical movement; the only degree of freedom seems to be for the horseshoe to rotate forward.

Or have I missed something ? It's not that clear is it ?

[border-rider]

Ah, got it.

The Major's right: it's a secondary rowing propulsion system. The bars are pulled back, and the horseshoe-shaped bit does pivot, backwards (you can see the stop to prevent the bars going forwards), causing the cable to turn the pulley and turning the front wheel.

[rae]

Neatly given away by the "dual action" on the forks....

The pulley looks like the guts of a rope starter from a small engine.

[border-rider]

Neatly given away by the "dual action" on the forks....

20:20 hindsight's a marvellous thing

[Ian H]

There was an end-to-ender in the twenties whose record-breaking ride was done on a two-wheel drive bike. Front drive was by rocking the bars side to side on a central pivot.

[Moloko]

The 'Olympic rings' bike is a dual powered affair, like that originally was.

[Tourist Tony]

Front chain's a bit slack...