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The heaviest bicycle in the world is 4800 lb
- dom96 4y agoAt which point is something like this not a bicycle but rather a motorbike?
- buro9 4y agohe cycles it, so it's a cycle. though the addition of 2 stabilising wheels challenges the "bi" part of the bicycle.
- ramesh31 4y ago>At which point is something like this not a bicycle but rather a motorbike? When an engine is attached to the drivetrain. >It also has an engine, “but it only drives the alternator and charges my cell phone,” says the inventor. Although you could argue this is actually not technically a bicycle, since it sits on the tires and does not require momentum to balance.
- jerf 4y agoThe real coup de grâce of this whole thing is when he comes out and publicly admits the only reason he built this was to troll the internet into getting into huge arguments about what the definition of "bicycle" is. Sophisticated Internet pedants have already moved on, though, and are currently arguing about whether or not the Kleine Johanna is a sandwich.
- photochemsyn 4y agoCloser to a pedicab as far as definitions go.
- re 4y agoThe embedded video didn't play for me for some reason; here are a few on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mWwOrIdjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mWwOrIdjU (the embedded one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lc72Uvq29U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lc72Uvq29U
- sdflhasjd 4y agoI feel like having wheels this wide is "cheating" and it's no longer using the same balancing principles as an actual bike.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoR4 tires (which is what those are) are round enough they won't stand on their on when inflated. They will when flat though. It's not immediately visible how that thing stays upright. I assume he has some sort of kickstand he can deploy without getting off the bike. It also looks like the frame might act as training wheels keeping you from going over if you stop.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- NickBusey 4y agoIf you watched the video[0], it has 2 extra tires on a left side mount. Calling this a bicycle isn't even accurate. Tricycle is more like it, though technically looks like a quadcycle. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mWwOrIdjU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mWwOrIdjU
- freeqaz 4y agoThis video doesn't seem to have the extra wheels. Not sure why! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lc72Uvq29U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lc72Uvq29U
- sbierwagen 4y agoThe camera angle is such that you can't see behind the rear wheel, I wonder if it's been moved back there.
- teh_klev 4y ago> Calling this a bicycle isn't even accurate. Tricycle is more like it Tricycles have two wheels at the rear. This is more like having a sidecar on a motorbike (which we still call a motorbike - with sidecar), you can see the second seat on the outrider.
- hinkley 4y agoMeanwhile the self proclaimed lightest bicycle in the world weighs 1/8th of a percent as much as this bicycle: https://antranik.org/worlds-lightest-road-bike-at-2-7kg/ https://antranik.org/worlds-lightest-road-bike-at-2-7kg/
- expertentipp 4y agoTBH the lightest bicycle is also 800 times more exciting than the heaviest one.
- RobotToaster 4y agoI wouldn't want to see what happens if that hits a pothole.
- hinkley 4y agoIt's a lot easier to bunny hop a light bike than a heavy one.
- thatguy0900 4y agoBoth made by Germans too..
- unwind 4y agoWow! 2.7 kg is insane! I love the caption to the top image, too: This road bike weighs in at 6lbs (2.7kg): Lighter than the laptop you’re probably using right now. That is ... strange in more than one way. :)
- AlgorithmicTime 4y ago[dead]
- csours 4y agoI was thinking about how much money people spend on lightness in bikes, and then I was thinking about how much weight I've lost. I know that these ultra-light bikes are meant for people who have already optimized their body composition, but to put my weight loss in terms of bike lightness, I've got several thousand dollars of lightness. (I know that it's not really comparable, it's just something I thought was funny)
- kunwon1 4y ago“I can even tow 15 tons with it without any problems,” Beutler said, adding that he is planning a trip to the Baltic Sea in the summer. I have trouble envisioning this. How could a ~2.5 ton human powered device tow a 15 ton load safely? My rather elementary understanding of physics would suggest to me that it can't stop quickly, or maybe not at all, if it's on an incline
- kunwon1 4y agoI've done some reading out of curiosity. My best theory is that there are trailer brakes that are actuated from the 'bicycle' - I think that would make this feasible. But I'm also reading things that make me think I just don't understand the physics of towing, so this might be much more feasible than I initially surmised
- thatguy0900 4y agoI think when you tow loads that big the attached trailer has its own separate brakes, right? The bike does have an engine to power an electrical system
- userbinator 4y agoA 35-speed transmission, with ridiculously low gearing, probably helps a lot. E.g. with a 1000:1 mechanical advantage, 15t becomes a very humanly manageable 0.015t (~33lb). That said, it won't have a very high top speed, and will spend a lot of time accelerating through the gears to get to it.
- twobitshifter 4y ago“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall lift the world” - Archimedes. It’s like this guy took that idea and applied it to bicycle gears.
- usrusr 4y agoBraking quickly is only hard if you move quickly. If you don't, beaking quickly is trivial.
- newaccount74 4y ago
- StephenSmith 4y agoIt clearly has four wheels. How is that still a bi-cycle?
- DFHippie 4y agoI just see two huge truck tires. ETA Eh, my bad. I hadn't watched the video. Nice camera angle.
- glxxyz 4y agoIn case it's not obvious 'kleine' means 'little' or 'small'.
- uxamanda 4y agoThis article is timely if you happened to listen to 99% invisible's latest episode on Wilderness[0]. There was a whole tangent on why wheeled vehicles are not allowed, even wheelbarrows. Turns out it's because someone realized humans always want bigger things. :-) [0] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-wilderness-tool/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-wilderness-tool/
- _yb2s 4y agoThis is a really cool project. It's neat to see adults do something weird just for fun.
- oldgradstudent 4y agoIt's heavy, but it's not a bicycle. You can argue whether it has three or four wheels, but it's definitely not a BIcycle.
- usrusr 4y agoI'm sure it would still be the heaviest with the trainer wheels off. Is a bicycle a bicycle before it has been ridden?
- cirrus3 4y ago> Please accept cookies to view this content. Since when have embedded YT videos done this? Anyway, I lost interest already and will move on. This is what happens with walls.