March 5, 2005 The bicycle took on its modern form around 150 years ago and has been the world's best selling form of transport ever since. There are nearly twice as many bicycles sold each year (more than 100 million) than automobiles (around 50 million cars, 60 million vehicles in total). So maybe there's a niche market waiting for the next major innovation in bicycle design. That's what Boston inventor, Michael Killian is hoping now that he's been granted US Patent # 6598892 for his sideways bicycle.
Michael says, "it's the first radically different bicycle in 200 years," and while we figure there have probably been a few other radically different bicycles in that time that we've missed, the Sideways Bike certainly is remarkable.
The rider sits sidesaddle on the bike and travels sideways on the machine which has both front and rear steering.
Michael tells us "the ride is very graceful and akin to a snowboard, with swooping circles and curves."
If you figure you'd like to try out the sideways bike, Michael would love to hear from interested parties and he's also been busy designing even newer and more radical machines, which you can see at his web site.