General Cycling Discussion - Some people are just insane ... there is no ...

... other explanation for this:

The Next BIG Thing in Cycling??? (http://sidewaysbike.com/)

lol, anybody remember the guy who used to sit backwards on his bike and ride it? he was in the philly area and used to make it on to some of the human interest news shows.

I think i've seen that guy (or maybe another guy who looks similarly beardy and rides a sideways bike) cycling up and down by the charles river in Boston. I never understood why you would do it because surely you would get neck ache from having to look sideways the whole time??

Indeed this is one of the asinine things I have even seen...

Why anyone would want to ride sideways is beyond me.

:confused:

steners! i think i've seen that guy too. i've seen him on mass ave in cambridge and along boylston street in boston. i wouldn't want to be weaving around in the traffic around here on that thing.

speaking of strange cycling, in the MIT media lab there is a bike where you pedal backwards to go forward. there is a coaster brake on it, so if you pedal forwards, you stop the bike. i've never tried it but my roommate says it's the most disorienting thing she's ever done.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
Why anyone would want to ride sideways is beyond me.

:confused: :D To see how many times he can bang the back of his head on the asphalt.Anyways at least he is riding.

To give the recumbent guy some to rag on.....
Just kidding ;-)

the things people come up with these days.

I'm all for silly creations but it looks difficult to get off if you fall. And there seems too much injury potential with the chain running where it does.

------- o
---- <=\,
----:) / :)

front and rear steering. That would be awesome on those tight trail switchbacks. LOL

Someone really needs to get laid.

He was at last years Lars Anderson show with the bike. I talked with him for a short time at the show I asked him why he built it. His reply "You should not ask why, ask why not?"

Originally posted by DieselDan
Someone really needs to get laid.

That act may be a problem if he crashes. Note saddle:

Looks like a bicycle designed by a committee.

Hey sistinas,

I saw the guy again today, I was crossing kenmore square and he stopped at the red light so I got to have a look at the bike a bit more carefully. It's an interesting idea, but again I'm not convinced about it not giving you shoulder strain or neck strain. He doesn't go very quick but it does look very smooth. Since those photos on that webpage he now has sidewaysbike.com painted on the frame and I think the front fork is now a rocksox of minimal travel too.

You at MIT then sistinas?

Streners - no, I just work around MIT. I also had a thought that if the guy loses his balance for some reason (one of the zillion potholes in Boston, maybe?) he could fall face first into traffic, which doesn't sound very appealing either. It's kind of hard to look sideways and downward all the time on pothole-watch, though I guess the suspension fork might help a little.

I still can't work out what he thinks the advantage is.

Why go to all the trouble of building such an awkward machine when existing bikes do the job better?

He dares to be different <shrug>

The fact that he built that thing and got it to work (for whatever it's worth) is a pretty big acheivment. I mean, he had to basically design the thing from the ground up.

Now why he had so much free time is another story!

Originally posted by MediaCreations
I still can't work out what he thinks the advantage is.

Why go to all the trouble of building such an awkward machine when existing bikes do the job better?
I'd love to try it.

Ride it to work?

:eek:

No. No. NO!

:crash:

:lol:

I agree on the "no possible advantage thing".

I nomitate this guy for " Lease likely to be doing an extreme mountain bike video"

How would you turn right? Or towards your back? You would lean over and be on your back in no time at all. Sounds like a head injury waiting to happen.