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Stand-Up Bike Goes 50 Mph
With its many advantages over conventional bicycles, the patent-pending and bizarre-looking HyperBike promises to change the way you look at "going for a bike ride." Inventor Curtis DeForest Jr., of East Hampton, N.Y., has one prototype and is seeking financing for additional units.
Thirty years of cycling a
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Stand-Up Bike Goes 50 Mph FARM HOME recreation 32-1-27 With its many advantages over conventional bicycles, the patent-pending and bizarre-looking HyperBike promises to change the way you look at "going for a bike ride." Inventor Curtis DeForest Jr., of East Hampton, N.Y., has one prototype and is seeking financing for additional units.
Thirty years of cycling and experience as a cycle shop mechanic, combined with an inventive streak, motivated DeForest to try to create something new.
With no seat, the HyperBike gives the user "a full body workout," as it requires engagement of all four limbs, using arm and foot pedals. With the rider standing, the unit has excellent stability. This is important since he says the machine can achieve speeds of up to 50 mph and better.
DeForest says the HyperBike driver uses a "skate-ski" motion to propel it. "The HyperBike is the fastest and safest human-powered vehicle on the road," DeForest points out. "The circumference of an 8-ft. dia. wheel is roughly 25 ft., and gearing that allows an operator to rotate the wheels four times each pedal cycle (at a 1:4 ratio) while at a comfortable cadence rate produces a speed upwards of 50 mph."
The HyperBike's stability is maximized because "the upright driver's center of gravity is below the wheels' spinning axes, as is the weight of the transmission. This stability is reinforced by both the frames' broad base, formed by the canted wheels, and by the power of the centrifugal force of the spinning wheels pushing down on the road."
Similar to a racecar, the framework will include a roll cage that could potentially withstand a 200 mph impact, and incorporates interior air bags.
"I was inspired by the design of a racing wheelchair, which is unbelievably fast and has a low center of gravity," DeForest explains.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Body Rite Ltd., 11 Saddle Lane, East Hampton, N.Y. 11937 (ph 516 456-2908; curtis @bodyriteltd.com; www.bodyriteltd.com).
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