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Bicycles

Tasuke I hobbyists aim to develop next generation cycles

By Rick Martin
May 27, 2010
Tasuke I hobbyists aim to develop next generation cycles
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Continuing our reports from Tokyo Make Meeting 2010, here's a fascinating group of bicycle hobbyists who brought some very creative bike designs to the show. The Tasuke I group were set up in the far corner of the exhibition hall, where they happily brought interested onlookers out the back exit for demonstrations.

The recumbent tricycle featured what was described as a luggage area on the back, useful for anyone who hoping to carry a larger-than-average load by bike. It is also equipped with a smaller basket underneath the seat for smaller items.

With pedals leading out above the front wheel and steering bars protruding upwards around the seat area, this tricycle seems perfect for a lazy Sunday morning grocery trip.

If this big yellow laid-back tricycle was a comfortable ride, the other bike that the group was showing off was anything but. This bicycle challenges the rider to lie down on top with his head leading out front, Superman style. Many thanks to Kanda-san (tech journalist of KNN fame) for kindly allowing me to film while he gave these bikes a shot. Check out the video footage of both bikes in action below.

The Tasuke I group is based in Chiba, and their group includes professors, engineers, IT professionals, and a wide range of other vocations. Members not only exchange information and design ideas with each other, but they also share tools as well for the benefit of the whole group.

Creative bike designs at Tokyo Make Meeting 2010

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Rick Martin

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George Van Wagner
Uh, hardly the cycles of tomorrow. There are far more advanced recumbent trikes around and have been for years, including two Australian manufacturere, LoGo and Greenspeed. And the other one is a safety hazard (running into stuff headfirst is not your best approach), and has been since the first version of that bike was developed during the 1930s. It\'s obvious that whoever designed those bikes didn\'t bother to check the current state of the art or prior art before starting.
Ed
On the recumbent trike...He\'s obviously never ridden this thing up any steep hills. With the front wheel being the driving wheel and all that weight over the back axle, this think will get *NO* traction and may even flip over backwards...Yay! Fun!
On the lie down one...I guess the guy never rode the thing over any rough patches on the road. Imagine what it must feel like getting pummeled in the chest repeatedly for 30 minutes at a time while trying to go for a relaxing bicycle ride!...Yay! More Fun!
TiBikeGuy
The lie down bike puts your head at the level of most vehicle bumper. In the event of head-on collision the bicycle helmet will not save the rider. City riding puts you too low on the ground and drivers of buses, trucks and SUVs may not be able to see you. Besides you will be breathing in all the exhaust fumes at that level. I don\'t think the rider will be smiling if he has to ride this thing in wet weather, all the grit and dirt thrown up by the tyres hits him right in the face.
Vladimir Popov
Stupid and useless design, It will stress neck and back mussels to keep your head up.
zix
Oh dear, lots of haters here. Not that I would want a prone, but come on. Nobody bikes in heavy traffic between cars and trucks if they can help it, low or high seat height, prone or recumbent.
And the cargo recumbent weight distribution: Ed, did you actually look at the image video, or did you just fire off when you realised it was a FWD? The way that cargo bike is made, almost all of the rider\'s weight will be concentrated right down through the front fork. It might even have a tendency to tip over the front wheel when breaking, until you put some load in that cargo box. Traction problem? I don\'t think so...
Grant-53
The trike needs a larger diameter front wheel with a 10spd internal gear hub and disc brake and a windscreen. The prone bike is neither safe or efficient on the street. The rider can\'t turn their head easily side to side or see the eyes of a car driver. The rider has little to oppose the force the body exerts against the pedals. My choice for riding in traffic is an upright with a 3spd hub, a mirror, and a fairing.
Mr Stiffy
I have a canny knack of being able to pick colored contact lenses and dental inserts etc.. like a mile off.
Did anyone ever notice that the doing the face first bike riding looks like he has had the front four teeth knocked out and is wearing a dental bridge?
He is a fun looking guy tho\'.
waltinseattle
Zix, we are not haters, we have some been there done that experience and are merely having a well deserved laugh at a contraption well deserving it. Its like how you can spot a yard done by a \"landscape architect\" from 100 yards off....the utter stupidity of some elements and placements. And stupidity is the kind term here. An, alas, so many other common items have been put through the designer process and weve seen enough here to get the gist of it...green kids of the postmodern persuasion should be sentenced to use the sstuff they playfull design. Use it ubtil they repent their ways and get real. That would put some \'educational value\' in their school experiences. Or better yet, let them do a few class sessions in the gymnasticly perverse poses they propose.

Bikes are used wherever one needs to go. The better route is not always there. Perhaps the cargo delivery is on that lousy for a biker thoroughfare. Wrecks everywhere because of laughter.....and no zix the riders weight is not \"concentrated down through the front fork. Its \"concentrated\" (sic) directly under his center of mass as it always is, be he on a bike, in the bed, setting in a chair or car, walking, swiming.... And that is where the pedals should be if he is to stand and deliver his utmost horsepowerfull yet sustainable strokes. Basic mechanical physics and basic ergonomics. Two concepts it seems most designers never came across.

Haters? no... Realists !