BTW, that idea has just been revived. Some Spanish old f@rt named Manuel Soriano claims to have invented it, and he is said to have sold it to taiwanese bike makers [edit: to China] . The article in a Hungarian newspaper said the that you can reach 55mph with the thing. I laughed my socks off... I mean, come on! It sure has a huge big gear, but you will never be capable of putting in any serious power with that idiotic leg movement it requires, so it will take a downhill ride to get up to any speed at all. Plus it looks like it has tons of friction(it was some cog sytem around the bb area).
Here ya go:
http://www.thinkspain.com/news/notic...odNoticia=8679