d2create

Woah.

https://gizmodo.com/5034640/nulla-min...-most-of-frame

philski

The mechanical engineer side of me says it'll ride really hard and not be near as durable as a traditional bike based on the rim mounting scheme.

But it looks cool and a practical implementation, honestly, shouldn't be too difficult - people have done monowheels for awhile so the wheel mounting mechanism need not be anything new.

https://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEU.../motorwhl2.htm

RazorWind

There have been motorcycles built with a similar design.

It looks pretty cool, but the motorcycles like this require a huge amount of machining to produce wheels like that.

JustBrowsing

Wouldn't the rims need to be made out of some ridiculously strong, but light, material? I can't imagine that being very cost-effective. Still looks interesting, though.

MrRamonG

and what would I use my truing stand for? A mouse ferris wheel?

facial

The wheels can be a lot stiffer by deepening the section. It might fail too fast from fatigue.

chewybrian 

one-wheel versions: impractical, dangerous, but interesting

https://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/motorwhl/motorwhl.htm#1

Chromavita

Is there any point to this other than looking cool? I don't see any problems that it fixes. It just looks like it's asking for more trouble than it's worth.

JeffS

Point? It was a grade for some design student. That was the only point, and the reason why you never see anything more than computer renderings of this type of thing.

Lamplight

I was drawing bikes like this 15 years ago. Eventually I decided it would probably be impossible to have the gearing even remotely useful. Looks cool, though.

StephenH

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/364527-custom-rims-needed.html

Fairmont

It'll tear up on the first ride (the way and where I ride it).

shubonker

Its kinda ugly

ItsJustMe

Spokes under tension is what makes bike wheels strong. It's a very elegant way to get a lot of strength for very little weight. They could make those wheels out of the most crazy strong material they could find and I bet it wouldn't make it 1/2 mile down the washboarded gravel road I have been riding my $300 bike down for the last 15000 miles.
The rear wheel in particular looks like it'd break just sitting on it.

The article itself is pretty indicative of concept vehicles in general: "Who cares if it actually works, it looks cool!" One reason why I don't look at concept cars much anymore.

zephyr

My first thought when looking at the photo of this two wheeled thing was hey, is that a catapult?

Industrial

Damn, that bike looks really awesome but I wouldn't want to ride it. Looks so fragile.

markhr

Great, another rip off "design" by someone who's just changed the color and tried to call it theirs. It's a blatant copy of an early 90s design (cannondale r&d dept afaik) and was originally rejected because there's no top tube clearance.

...and no I don't mean soft ride or zipp, I mean the early 90s cannondale with spokeless, rim only, wheels that was almost exactly identical.

taliesin

Wow - all the worst aspects of a Softride, a minimalist fixed gear, and The Sharper Image all in one bike? Sweet! The Gizmodo article linked by the OP says, "rock up to a cycling meet on this thing and you'd have an instant bunch of admirers." A cycling meet, eh? I think the term "cycling meet" may be the gayest thing I've ever heard; and I think if you were to ever "rock up" to one on this bike you would be greeted by bewildered stares rather than admirers. Then you would be dropped. Fast.

The article goes on to say, "Just a concept... but who knows, it looks exactly sort of thing we're riding in twenty years time." Right, because in 20 years centrifugal force as we know it will cease to exist and you might actually be able to ride this thing over 12 MPH. Plus it's a grammatically incorrect sentence, which might be excusable if the article had more than five sentences.

d2create

Threads like this are such a great social experiment.

You have all the right brain people (like me) who can appreciate the "concept" for what it is. An excercise in design, art, thinking, experimentation...

And then you have all the left brain people that are on the verge of being offended at how impractical it is, how it will never work in the real world, even picking on grammar in the article!

Ya gotta love the world wide interweb. Fascinating stuff!

taliesin

Perhaps you're right about the left brain/right brain thing. It's clear the bike was created by a designer and not an engineer. A designer that is attempting to recreate the wheel, which is so cliché.

You're riding two Rivendells for cryin' out loud. What does a retro-grouch like you see in a bike like the Nulla?

markhr

The bike in question wasn't made by a designer. It was plagiarised from an existing idea by some moron who believes changing the color constitutes design.

If you want to be a stylist then go be a stylist but don't confuse it with design, designers and original ideas.

d2create

I'm neither a retro grouch or a bike snob. All bikes are art to me regardless of whatever style I choose to ride. And I only have one Riv. Plus a Felt F65.

taliesin

I am not a snob. I am just a fan of things that work.

d2create

I didn't say you were a snob. I was saying I was not one... I can appreciate a style of bike other than the one I own. Whether the bike posted above actually works is irrelevant to me.

modernjess

Needs a brooks b17