Bicymple. the bicycle, simplified.

If it’s got a freewheel, it’s obviously not a unicycle hub. But yes, I want one. For gearing, there is already a unicycle edition of the Schlumpf 2-speed drive, if you don’t mind losing the freewheel, and a lot of money. (No brakes? Obvious front disc is obvious.)

Retarded!

you are all missing the point about “no brakes”. The author didn’t say it has no brakes, they are saying that with a unicycle (fixed) hub, there won’t be a need for a brake. Currently it runs a hub with a coaster.

@peter Now the article says so, yes. Bikerumor tends to listen to comments and clean up articles accordingly.

It’s still talking about freewheel unicycle hubs, which makes less sense than a brakeless derailer geared road bike – unrideable. Well, it would theoretically be possible to ride a freewheeling unicycle, especially if it has a brake, but it would be unsafe, require extreme concentration and be much more tiring than a normal fixed one.

A better term might be “freewheel tricycle/ordinary hub” since that’s what it’s generally used for, or “freewheeling hub/crank unit” – FWHCU (TM)

@Sean – that was my first reaction too. The efficiency would be terrible, and if you watch the video he rarely pedals, and that’s only a soft pedal. And could you imagine the pressure that saddle would put right where you don’t want it? Especially nose up like in the pictures…. ouch.

It’s a cool concept, but I don’t see how it could be practical at all in it’s current incarnation.

PERSONALS:

Impractical Solution seeks non-existent problem.

He is doing a lot of work to keep the bike stabilized.
Generally one does not want work that much just commuting.
Especially when you are focused on traffic and not getting run over.
Innovative but not practical.

this bike must be stable at high speeds cause at slow speeds it just looks horrible.

A normal bike is simply enough for me.

Nice soundtrack on the video. Everything else (deleted)!

I build swingbikes, which this is just another overpriced variation of. I also have owned highwheel “repros” with the freewheeling direct drive hubs. The hubs used on this bicymple had better be engineered better than past incarnations of the same system. The internal freewheel systems are cheap and fragile. Because of the number of components that have to be packed into a small hub, there are several weak points. Also, the rear of this bike needs to be drawn in further, the trail on the rear fork should be no more than 20dgrs, but I’d stay under that. The trail they have may work fine when the rear tube is locked, but in swing mode it will cause problems. Bringing the rear fork in, while extending the seatpost/stem a bit will alleviate the issue of sitting forward of the pedals. The front fork rake is right on though. The frame is just a shortened version of the ones I build. But that rear tilt is going to kill someone, especially if the swinglock fails. Incorporate a return spring similar to 70’s swingbikes as a safety measure.