wfin2004

Here in Sarasota there is large Amish and Mennonite populations. They love the Florida winters also I suppose. Saw an Amish woman riding a bike that was half scooter/ half bike. Had front and rear tires like a bike and handlebars, but no seat. It had a platform about 3 or 4 inches off the ground and she made the bike go by using the motion as a small kid on a scooter does. No chain or pedals. The "bike" actually was keeping up with 2 other real bikes as they were riding down the sidewalk. Do not know if it was homemade or not. Looked interesting though. Any Ideas or comments?

Nermal

I've seen something similar. The owner called it a "kick bike." I tried it and it was kind of neat, but it didn't do hills worth a darn. Supposedly, it went for around $500.00 American, and included handlebar mounted brake levers.

vger285

https://www.kickbikeamerica.com/ i have had one for going on 8 years, i don't have any trouble going up the hill's,ofcourse i don't get to sit down or use gears to make it easer! i guess it's just getting used to it,or not.

Cyclist01012

no thats not an Amish bike, mostly they ride hybrids in very large frame sizes think 3 or 4 times larger then they need. Then you raise the handlebars up as high as you can get them. And there is no rear rack with a milk crate strapped to it.

Reporting this from Wayne and Holmes counties in Ohio

JanMM

A fellow did last October's Hilly Hundred (Southern Indiana) on one. He has won some major races in Europe, according to a newspaper story about him. He was slow up the hills but, on the last major downhill of the Hilly, my wife and I were getting up to a pretty good speed on our tandem when he came from out of nowhere and passed us going REALLY FAST!

BigDaddyPete

Thanks, most insane thing I've seen all day. Can't imagine going up hills on that. I would rather have pedals.

blickblocks

Seems like a pointless gimmick.

bbattle

The original Ingo bike, 1935



Notice the eccentric rear hub. You got the bike rolling then "pumped" the platform to turn the rear wheel.

unkchunk

This is just to get folks to stop teasing people with electric bikes, right?

wethepeople

Our metalwork class has one of those up on the wall.

You can get going pretty fast, but it's alot of work.

Portis

Those Amish get all the new gadgets.

MikeR

The Amish around here (central PA) are not allowed to ride bikes. When they ride anything it is a scooter like the one described in the OP. Most of the scooters around here were not mass produced – perhaps made by a local craftsman.

wfin2004

I think you are correct with this. It was a very large frame and the front and rear wheels were the same size. I could not believe the speed she had on it AND was keeping up with the other two at a speed I would say 12-15mph.

wfin2004

The Amish here are less restrictive than the northern counterparts. They are living within the city limits of Sarasota on small lots with smallish, very neat homes. There is a bus stop close to this area that is packed with bikes chained to themselves all day while the owners all go to their "city" jobs I imagine. I did have a cottage near Coldwater, MI and the Amish there were much more restrictive. But a lot of the "men folk" have jobs in factories such as the camper and trailer factories which are so prevelant in Ohio/MI/Indiana crossroads.

chephy

This is just so strange. I wonder who draws a line at how much technology is too much and what criteria they are using. In principal it's all human-powered and a bicycle should be fine... just because it's a smarter way to move around it doesn't mean it's evil... Of course lots of religious folks do equate reasonable and sensible with evil... Oh well, never mind, never mind.

But Amish communities really do differ a lot. The Amish I saw in Ontario countryside were using gasoline-powered lawnmowers. For crissake!...

Little Darwin

Are you sure they are Amish and not some flavor of Mennonite.

The old order Mennonites are hard to distinguish from the Amish, and they come in flavors from nearly Amish to other groups that drive cars... In Lancaster county for example I saw people that I was told were a Mennonite group that retains the Amish look in dress, but they drive cars, but they must be black, and have no chrome.

wfin2004

Could be. Funny about the "black cars w/ no chrome". I mean technology is technology, right? Chrome doesn't make it a new fangled contraption. None of these drive but I have seen one or two of the older men who have small gas powered motors on the front wheel of their three wheelers.

wfin2004

I hear where your coming from. I don't get the who draws the line at what gig, any more than you.

Cyclist01012

The sect or order sets the rules. There are old amish and new amish, Also the kids can own cars and such before they join the church. Something gas powered is ok as long as you dont own it. You can give someone money to buy something ie a lawn mower or a tractor but you can use it.

wfin2004

Thanks for the info. I do remember a program about and older Amish man that "ran" some kind of busisness. But for this busisness to be successful, which it was, He needed to incorporate many "luxuries" into it. Phones being the big one that I can remember.

al-wagner

NO

iamlucky13

Now that's a real interesting idea. I would think it would be a little awkward to ride, but it's cool to see different approaches. The basic idea is like playground swing.

There's a sort of technique in mountain biking called pumping. You time the movements of you body to match the crests and troughs of the terrain to gain speed without pedaling.

MikeR

Years ago I asked an Amish friend of mine how that works. He told me that each area is a “diocese”, and they have a Bishop who is in charge of one or more diocese. The bishop makes the final decision, based on what he thinks is best for the people. He told me that the general goal is to be able to survive within the larger society without becoming part of it.

MikeR

Recently I have seen many Amish near here with cell phones. I don't know them so I didn't ask, but it does look odd.

Gus Riley

Around these parts the Amish aren't allowed to ride. They must be of a tougher fundamental group.