Interesting and Unusual Bikes You've Seen

[Kim]

An ordinary in Uxbridge High Street today. [...]
I suppose it's a way of minimising the chances of a SMIDSY!

When riding a recumbent I never turn down the opportunity to tell an ordinary or tallbike rider that they must be invisible all the way up there, and they should get a flag...   

[Andrij]

An ordinary in Uxbridge High Street today. Ridden by a young woman in modern clothing, flashing rear lights (didn't see the front), looked like a modern build rather than antique, apparently being ridden as a means of transport rather than for leisure. Rider slowed right down before the pelican crossing at red to avoid a stop and restart.

I suppose it's a way of minimising the chances of a SMIDSY!

Possibly Kat (NOTP).

Jungnickel?

Yes.

[matthew]

Not the bike but the riders attire;

East bound on the A30 in Berks whilst wearing a storm trooper costume and with an escort vehicle behind. Unfortunately I was driving the other way so I couldn't read the posters on the back of the van.

[Jakob W]

In the bike sheds at the hospital, this: https://www.meteorworks.co.uk/trystans-fast-commuter

I clocked the Warwickshire bear on the seat tube, didn't recognise the framebuilder's name, and went over to have a look; Campag and Hope/DT made me think this was probably fairly bling. It had different mudguards and seatpost to the ones in the promo shots on the website, but a rather nice piece of kit, especially for the location...

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

..and a Brooks saddle.


I saw a tandem.

But not your usual tandem.  This had a recumbent front end with an upright back so the stoker was able to see ahead over the rider on front.  I only got a quick glance when passing through York's South Bank going t'other way.  Would it be the best of both worlds or the worst? I have never ridden a recumbent or a tandem*.

* Mrs A said I would go too fast.  8mph was her limit.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Sounds like it might have been a Hase Pino. The person in front is actually the stoker, I think.

[Kim]

Hase Pino and Circe Morpheus are the common ones.  The rider on the front is the stoker^[1], and has a freewheel so they don't have to pedal.

It's a pretty good solution for stokers of varying sizes, disabled stokers who need securing to the bike or can't use normal saddles/handlebars, and of course stokers who are recumbent-fit.  A bit less unwieldy length-wise than an upright tandem.  Performance-wise it will be a big 'It Depends'.

The main downside as I see it is the horrible seating arrangement for the pilot.  The main downside as barakta sees it is the alarming way it leans in a bicyclular manner on corners.


_{[1] I recall Kinetics modifying a Pino for front steering.}

[yorkie]

I know of at least one Hase Pino in York, the lady stoker (a former customer at the cycle circuit at work) is unable to ride an upright so the Pino is perfect for them as a couple. I believe she also has a Trice now for solo excursions.

[Mr Larrington]

Hase Pino and Circe Morpheus are the common ones.

AFAIK the original was the Opus from long-defunct USAnian outfit Counterpoint but it ent likely to be one o' they.  The Pashley PDQ was also based on one of their machines – the Presto – but with the crucial difference that it didn't break in the middle thereby leading to company-destroying lawsuits.

[Cudzoziemiec]

An Omnium Cargo. I've seen it around before but today had a chat with the owner. He teaches (in normal years) circus skills at Circomedia.

[grams]

A guy riding a mountain bike down Charing Cross Road with a normal size front wheel and a 16 or 20 inch rear wheel. The derailleur was close to dragging on the ground. It actually looked quite fun.

[Mr Larrington]

A guy riding a mountain bike down Charing Cross Road with a normal size front wheel and a 16 or 20 inch rear wheel. The derailleur was close to dragging on the ground. It actually looked quite fun.

Back in the primeval swamps of mountain bike development someone – quite possibly Jeremy Torr – built such a device, yclept “The Rat”.  It was claimed to be better for climbing.  It probably wasn’t.

[RobertW]

Between Fishbourne & Bosham today, head-on it looked like a wheelchair being pushed by an upright bike.  The apparent distance between the pilot and the lady in the wheelchair seemed small - so some form of trike ?  I suspect you could feel quite exposed at the front.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

https://www.specialbikesuk.com/duet maybe

[Wobbly John]

Didn't Josie Dew do LEJOG on one of they?

[Kim]

Between Fishbourne & Bosham today, head-on it looked like a wheelchair being pushed by an upright bike.  The apparent distance between the pilot and the lady in the wheelchair seemed small - so some form of trike ?  I suspect you could feel quite exposed at the front.

If you're used to being pushed around in a wheelchair, it's probably just more of the same, thobut.

I found stoking a Pino a bit interesting in that respect, though probably nowhere near as much as someone without USS recumbent bike experience would - it being the lack of steering rather than the feet-first aspect that was novel.

[RobertW]

https://www.specialbikesuk.com/duet maybe

Possibly.  My memory says the passengers feet were closer to the ground, but I could be wrong.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Another Omnium Cargo! This one engage in actual deliveries and with electric assist.

[Cudzoziemiec]

While waiting at the lights today (yes, I've actually been out on my bike!) I saw a woman ride by on a fairly non-descript dark blue 'town' bike – with back to front forks. It didn't actually seem to be causing her any problems...

[rafletcher]

Not unusual, more uncommon, and not really a bike either... two Elliptigo’s this afternoon, ‘twixt Wingrave and Ledburn in damp Bucks.

[Hilldodger]

Is that a ZEM? http://www.zembikes.com/


When we did Cyclemagic events, we were lent a 4 seater one by the predecessors of 'Get cycling' but had to haul it from Abbey park, throught the centre of Leicester, and out to near the race-course - one drivechain was 'stuck in top and the other in bottom, and I think the front drivetrains wern't working at all - so most of the time only one person (out of the four on board) was doing all the work.

I remember that ride. Bloody awful thing. Thanks to Simon it went back to York in a much better condition than when we got it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Brief chat yesterday with the maker of a homebaked e-bike. He'd taken a nondescript frame and stuck a large battery pack, with vinyl cover, between down and top tubes. This drove a large motor in the rear wheel. This develops 7hp and propels the machine to about 40mph, he said (so according to UK law it's an – unregistered – electric motorbike). Pedals and drive chain all present but almost entirely unused, he's got it all on throttle control. Regenerative braking along with the V-brakes and he'd somehow wodged a small amount of telescopic suspension between fork crown and wheel. All finished off with always-on headlight and a tough rear carrier with comfy pad for his girlfriend to sit on.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

HK and I overtook a cargo trike about 5km outside of Maidenhead. Something like https://www.babboe.co.uk/cargo-bikes/curve but with a DJ desk and sound system pumping out a banging tune as he was cycling along. Apparently he was riding from West Wycombe to Maidenhead for charity.

He might have just squeaked in to the finish before lighting up time, though we had lights on all day on account of the heavy fog.

[Tim Hall]

A Brompton with a Suspiciously Large front hub. Closer examination showed it to be an official Brompton E conversion. I'm guessing the battery was in the bar bag, on account of the wires going in there.

Ironically it seems such an electrified bike was devoid of lighting, as I saw the rider pedalling,unlit, on the pavements of the 'sham.

[Kim]

A Brompton with a Suspiciously Large front hub. Closer examination showed it to be an official Brompton E conversion. I'm guessing the battery was in the bar bag, on account of the wires going in there.

The official one does a rather neat job of making the electrical connection automagically via the front luggage block to the battery and controller in the bag.  They may even have got them to work properly by now.