Tony Edwards
04-29-2005, 04:26 PM
I thought this was pretty neat.
From Yahoo! (http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050429/ap_on_re_us/trike_bike):
INDIANAPOLIS - Who can forget the thrill — and terror — of that first solo bicycle ride: Mom or Dad letting go, the magic of two-wheeled freedom and, inevitably, toppling over in a knee-scraping crash?
Three Purdue University industrial designers who tapped into memories of their own childhood cycling misadventures have built a bike that ditches the training wheels but keeps rookies stable.
Called SHIFT, it slowly transforms from a tricycle to bicycle configuration as the rider pedals faster, then returns to trike formation as the rider slows down . . .
Here's a pic of the prototype -
From Yahoo! (http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050429/ap_on_re_us/trike_bike):
INDIANAPOLIS - Who can forget the thrill — and terror — of that first solo bicycle ride: Mom or Dad letting go, the magic of two-wheeled freedom and, inevitably, toppling over in a knee-scraping crash?
Three Purdue University industrial designers who tapped into memories of their own childhood cycling misadventures have built a bike that ditches the training wheels but keeps rookies stable.
Called SHIFT, it slowly transforms from a tricycle to bicycle configuration as the rider pedals faster, then returns to trike formation as the rider slows down . . .
Here's a pic of the prototype -