Marine

'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

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Yes, this fella's swimming in clip-ons
Seabike
Superhuman speed thanks to pedal power
Seabike
The seabike offers a simple, mechanical way to propel yourself through the water
Seabike
Yes, this fella's swimming in clip-ons
Seabike
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French company Seabike has developed a swimming device that uses your own leg power to accelerate you through the water at superhuman speeds. This crank-driven pusher prop looks a bit like an underwater unicycle... We'd love to take one for a spin!

I can't say I've seen anything like this "underwater mobility device" before. The idea is simple enough; you extend the Seabike's pole to the appropriate length, then strap it to your waist with a belt. Then you find the pedals with your feet, and start turning the crank, with the waist strap to push against.

This drives what looks like about a 15-inch (38-cm) propeller. At this point, you start gliding through the water with the splendid, gracious ease of a cruising dugong with an outboard up its bum. You can swim with your arms as well, which creates a surreal visual effect somewhat akin to watching somebody walking along an airport travelator:

Or you can laze along, arms held out Superman-style. Or indeed, you can angle your nose down, go fully underwater and make like a pedal-powered fish. It's fully compatible with a SCUBA setup if you want to really go nuts down there, although you wouldn't want to take it down too deep and overexert yourself.

Propellers work both ways, too – so you can also flip the thing upside down, hold the propeller out in front of you, stick some handles on in place of the pedals, and drive the thing with your arms instead. Mind you, this looks a lot less fun.

Seabike says the prop turns slowly enough that you can safely use it at the local pool – although you'll certainly cop some dirty looks from the Speedo brigade in the fast lane. It's also buoyant, so you won't have to dive to find it if the thing comes off somehow.

It looks like an incredibly fun way to cover distance in open water, too. Seabike runs its own snorkeling tours out of Cannes, and also sells it with snorkel boards and spear fishing kits. Does it pack down for easy storage? You know it does.

Best of all, you can instantly charge this device by eating a hot dog. In an age where everything is going electric, something so simple and mechanical is a welcome change.

It appears Seabike has been making these things for at least a year, selling for prices starting at EU€290 (US$310). The idea doesn't seem to have received much attention yet, but that strikes us as just a matter of time; it's a simple, clever gadget that looks like a ton of fun.

Personally, I've never really known what to do with my legs on a swim. Nobody's ever properly convinced me that kicking my feet around is worth the effort, absent a set of swim fins. This jigger, according to the manufacturers, makes you handily quicker than an equivalent swimmer with fins on. Sign me up, I'd love to give one a crack!

Source: Seabike

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12 comments
CraigAllenCorson
Put a Sharrow™ prop on it, and then you'd really have something.
Dixon Ticonderoga
Not so new. Saw advertisement for this in the back of a magazine in the late 70's. Two contra-rotating props, kinda like an eggbeater, eliminated the torque.
PAV
I wild like to try this. Maybe an electric one would be nice for subs drivers.
Nelson
Looks like a good way to get hurt and hurt others.
NMBill
Following up on a comment here about safety, the prop needs to be put in a housing of some sort. Looks fun, though.
BlueOak
“Best of all, you can instantly charge this device by eating a hot dog.”
- Haha.

“Personally, I've never really known what to do with my legs on a swim. Nobody's ever properly convinced me that kicking my feet around is worth the effort, absent a set of swim fins.”
- Truth.

US$300? Seems like there must be a lot of markup and/or R&D to cover, but at least it isn’t priced at $1,999 like so many new recreational toys might be. Cool stuff it really works, is relatively safe, and is durable. Nothing phallic whatsoever about their home page promotional photos.

Looks like the shipping is $75 to the US.

However, a bit concerned at the Cyrillic-Russian appearing browser tab title for their payment processing storefront page!?! (Only exposed when you jump to another tab and look back at the store tab.) Since this is presumably an Italian (manufacturer) and French (sales & service) company, right?
Trylon
I would prefer a fin-style drive. The Hobie Mirage kayaks are known to be more efficient than their propeller-driven competition.
c w
Depending on the stroke, kicking is more about keeping the legs in line with the torso than propulsion (being big, muscley things, they tend to sink.

I definitely did not expect to see clipless when I scrolled down, but it's cool to see the venerable 3-hole in new and interesting places...though I don't knkw how confident I could become kicking out of those without the benefit of plantedness on earth.
Shane Kennedy
A brother in England built this 25 years ago
Gordien
A good set of swim fins might be as fast; a comparison of efficiencies would be nice to see. The price isn't too bad. Could it be converted to canoe propulsion? I do like the non electronicness of it.