crazy bicycles

In honor of the Frankfurt Motor Show, record oil prices and the end of Burning Man – we’re doing a non car list as a green alternative.
Here are the strangest bikes we could find, propelled sideways, backwards, in reverse or by climbing up a ladder. Vote on your faves.


Posted by David Galbraith

 
Ziganime are a band of French entertainers, whose entire act revolves around the crazy bikes they make, like this one, where the back wheel is in a different plane to the front.
Like a giant scythe, or a prop from a Wagner opera, this bicycle must be enormously heavy.
Brad at Atomic Zombie has built countless great custom bikes. Even better, he sells the plans to build themn yourself at the website below.
The seat is where the handlebars normally are and vice versa. You steer it by wobbling your ass.
The deal here is that because of the reverse chain configuration and double decker friction wheel drive, you have to pedal backwards to go forwards.
This low rider is curiously minimalist in a designery non-lowrider kind of way. The extremeness of the geometry creates a frame which is almost an isosceles triangle.
Which side of the criminally insane/pure genius dividing line this creation sits is not clear. A wing like frame supports the two wheels, and you face (and pedal, amazingly) at right angles to the direction in which you move.
This unusual seven wheeled quad bike was created for Israel’s largest bike ride, the 1 day ‘Ride of Hope’.
Bob Stuart developed this seminal car cycle in the mid 80’s, while working on various ogther types of human powered transport. It creates a 30% efficiency improvement over ordinary bicycles and will keep you nice and dry in the winter, but ultimately with large cars on the road small fragile boxes, low to the ground, won’t ever take off.
This awesome 2 wheeler was built for the World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race.

“The concept for the vehicle was to have giant wheels, but only two of them, and side-by-side. In that configuration, the pilots can hang below an axle connecting the wheels, and thus not need to balance. With two wheels, the vehicle could have two pilots and each could pedal one of the wheels. That way steering could be accomplished simply by one pilot pedalling faster than the other. With only two wheels, the vehicle would roll like a can on its side with an off-center weight in it. The danger of course is that on a very steep slope the off-center weight might not be enough to keep the whole thing from rolling down the hill. This seemed like a perfect challenge for me: build something where the design is inherently dangerous, but do it well enough to stay safe.”

This is a springy bike you lean against and can then bounce along as if you are walking on the moon. In other words, its a 40 mile an hour Zimmer Frame.
This is another bicycle art piece by Max Chen. It creates a surreal ‘twist’ on the usual frame by mangling an original with heavy duty metalworking equipment.
Max Chen has a self contained dislike of tall people and the current trend for tall frames. He is more interested in creating reduced frames, such as this one, where the excess fat from the original frame hangs off like love handles after lipo-suction.
The busycle is like a pedal version of a Roman slave ship. 15 people sweat to pull their weight, and the driver at the front sits back and leads the way. Still, its fun.
As you climb the built in ladder, the bicycle moves backwards. It is an art piece by Olga Kisseleva, and like many art pieces it looks great, but is actually diminished by the hackneyed description of its meaning.
To ride the Bodyrite you are contained within a complex sling rather than resting on a seat. The result is that you get a completely different form of excercise than on a normal bicycle.



More lists...

10 abandoned subway stations | 10 anti-masturbation devices | 10 antique phonographs | 10 best power strip designs | 10 classic jacob jensen gadgets | 10 classic reel-to-reel recorders | 10 console light guns | 10 dry land submarines | 10 enormous floating cranes | 10 failed automobile manufacturers | 10 flea circus contraptions | 10 gas guzzlers | 10 james dyson inventions | 10 luxury trains | 10 massive steam hammers | 10 money making machines | 10 mud huts yurts tents and an igloo with satellite | 10 neat camera hacks | 10 notable olympic flame cauldron designs | 10 obsolete web browsers | 10 rocket launch pads | 10 ski jumps | 10 strange snow vehicles | 10 transparent watches | 10 unboring ferris wheels | 10 unoperational operating theaters | 10 videos of ejection seat tests | 10 voting machines | 12 abandoned hospitals | 12 absurd olympic events | 12 advertainment video games | 12 alternative versions of famous monuments | 12 architects with architects glasses | 12 awful GUIs | 12 banned music videos | 12 batman vehicles | 12 bizarre military parade uniforms | 12 box guitars | 12 buildings inspired by the Farnsworth house | 12 cargo holds | 12 centrifuge gforce test videos | 12 classic pocket knives | 12 Classic Raymond Loewy Designs | 12 classic sony designs | 12 claustrophobic space capsules | 12 claustrophobic torpedo rooms | 12 clay car mockups | 12 concealed guns | 12 countries 12 condom commercials (videos) | 12 Creative Uses of a GoPro | 12 deceptive comic book ads | 12 dental training heads | 12 different food rations | 12 disposable gadgets | 12 diving suits | 12 DIY bicycles | 12 dramatic views looking down | 12 dry land swimming machines | 12 earliest models of gadgets | 12 ejector seats | 12 elegantly deconstructed machines | 12 enormous propellers | 12 examples of decayed Olympic sites | 12 examples of leaked gadgets | 12 examples of money | 12 examples of photo finish photography | 12 extreme examples of medical scaffolding | 12 failed apple products | 12 failed gaming consoles | 12 famous daredevils | 12 fetishy head frames | 12 floating airports | 12 floating staircases | 12 football helmet designs | 12 great modern fountains | 12 haptic interfaces | 12 hazmat suits | 12 health lies cigarette ads | 12 hyperbaric chambers | 12 images of hanging over the edge of skyscrapers | 12 inhabited bridges | 12 insane highways | 12 iron lungs | 12 Knife Bikes | 12 light therapy devices | 12 luxury airlines | 12 Magic Lanterns | 12 Mars Mission Failures | 12 mesmerising magicians posters | 12 mesmerizing kinetic sculptures (videos) | 12 mobile bridges | 12 movie industry camera cars | 12 moving building facades (videos) | 12 moving image machines | 12 Nasa Blueprints | 12 Norman Bel Geddes creations | 12 North Korean Propaganda Posters | 12 nuclear toys | 12 object covered cars | 12 of the worlds most fascinating tunnel networks | 12 pairs of dueling pistols | 12 periscope rifles | 12 pink tanks | 12 pleasure piers | 12 Pocket Sundials | 12 portable record players | 12 prefab ships | 12 primitive b movie style robots | 12 real escape pods | 12 real life cutaway cars | 12 real life glove boxes | 12 real life jenga buildings | 12 Retro Flight Simulators | 12 Retro kitchens of the future | 12 robotic car parks | 12 rockin guitar hero mods | 12 rooms in a box | 12 Safety Coffins | 12 satellites on the ground | 12 seized weapons caches | 12 sexist vintage ads | 12 ships with impossibly large cargo | 12 smoke hoods | 12 Soviet Bloc Computers | 12 space inflatables | 12 Space Rocket Launch Videos | 12 spectacular erections | 12 steampunk stirling engines (videos) | 12 strange tanks and armored vehicles | 12 times times square over time | 12 tiny Indian school buses | 12 tourbillon watches | 12 Types of Crash Test Dummy | 12 ultra complex surface analysis systems | 12 unbelievably filthy apartments | 12 unrecognizable before and after views of cities | 12 unusual cameras | 12 upside down houses | 12 US Presidential birthplaces | 12 very disturbing paintball teams | 12 vicious vintage dental tools | 12 videos of ships being launched | 12 videos of spiderman climbing real skyscrapers | 12 videos of welding machines | 12 vintage printing presses | 12 vintage walkmans | 12 wild west ghost towns | 12 wonderful water slides | 12 worst iPhone case designs | 12 Yves Behar Designs | 13 disgusting pepsi flavors | 14 cameras that look just like guns | 14 other examples of book burning | 15 abandoned theaters | 15 aircraft with lots of wings | 15 architects 15 chairs | 15 Blade Runner Buildings | 15 dieter rams classics | 15 Dr Kellog Contraptions | 15 Founding Father Invention Myths | 15 giant transporters | 15 high speed trains | 15 housing projects from hell | 15 human cocoons | 15 images of not so secret secret service buildings | 15 knockoff gadgets | 15 monstrous harvesters | 15 odd pods | 15 of the worst american foods | 15 Papua New Guinean superhero war shields | 15 payphones from around the world | 15 physicists in front of their blackboards | 15 pneumatic message networks | 15 radical beach buggies | 15 scifi movies 15 famous architectural locations | 15 skyscrapers on hold | 15 Solar Cookers | 15 spectacular eye testing gadgets | 15 splendid sidecars | 15 video projections on buildings | 15 videos of amazing rolling ball machines | 15 Videos of Sausage Making Machines | 15 vintage prosthetic limbs | 15 wall climbing robots | 15 witty pieces of text graffiti | 16 bat houses and bat caves | 16 concept watches | 16 Genuine Cyborg Technologies | 16 giant bucket excavators | 16 hilariously unimpressive computer ads | 16 impressive examples of bamboo scaffolding | 16 thanksgiving turkey fryer videos | 17 architectural light sculptures | 17 found object chandeliers | 18 brutalist buildings | 18 hovercraft designs | 18 radio telescopes | 18 really tiny projectors | 18 Spiral Ramps | 20 cipher devices | 20 classic 8mm movie cameras | 20 interesting boring machines | 20 railroad snowplows | 20 unusual tractor designs | 2007 countdown clocks | 3 forth bridge demos | 3d printed products | 8 Classic Nakamichi Cassette Decks | 8 extreme truck load videos | 8 inflatable military decoys | 8 inflatable shelters | 8 moving houses videos | 8 pointless uses of carbon fiber | 8 Sky Hooks | 8 super skinny buildings | 9 bathing machines | 9 depressing views of famous monuments | 9 diabolical teamaking contraptions | 9 diving bells | 9 early remote controls | 9 ghost towns of the recession | 9 good for you ads | 9 mine diagrams | 9 nail houses | 9 non submarine periscopes | 9 permanent temporary structures | 9 real wireframe models | 9 reasons why the highline sucks | 9 retro bomb shelters | 9 Roger Tallon Designs | 9 ronco gadgets | 9 screw drivers | 9 secure phones | 9 Strange Edison Inventions | 9 utopian architectural projects | 9 Vintage Monorails | 9 vintage x ray machines | a dozen vintage spy radios | a visual history of video recorders | abandoned pools | abandoned space technology | abandoned technology | absurd armored trains | accidental masterpieces, cooling towers | Aesthetic Prosthetics | aircraft factories | Alexander Graham Bell Tetrahedrals | algorithmic architecture | all 10 wienermobiles through history | all time worst apple products | amazing analog computers | amazing atomic clocks | american monuments under construction | anechoic chamber architecture | anniversary edition products | antarchitecture | Antique Surveying Instruments | apple II commercials (videos) | Apple monocoque or not | arab drifts (videos) | arabian mega skyscrapers | armor for animals | armored face masks | bad design gull wing cars | bank vaults | beautiful lighthouse lights | beautiful wind turbines | best apple concept mockups | best concept cellphones | best concept laptops | best gadgets at ceatec 2007 | best halloweenerd costumes | Best Hess Truck Ever | best interactive clothes | Best iPod Speakers | best keyboards | best lego stop motion videos | best lighting designs | best of ebay oobjects jan 25 08 | best of oobject jan 09 | best pet poop gadgets | best remote controlled gadgets | best Rube Goldberg Machine videos | best steve jobs speech ever (videos) | best time machines | best travel gadgets | big fun alarm clocks | biggest apple design ripoffs | biggest gimmick bottle openers | biggest tech product failures | bizarre drawing contraption videos | bizarre pedal powered things | black rat bikes | blatant ipod iphoneys | boombox bikes | brick sized cellphone ads (videos) | bubble cars | buildings in converted silos | buildings in old planes | bus stops as architecture | bus stops as art | cardboard robot costumes | cars from classic 80s movies | cars in space | ces video roundup | chinese factories | Chip Burka People | classic car user interfaces | classic gerry anderson scifi toys | classic microphones | classic pininfarina designs | collapsible gadgets | Collections of Insects | collectors with their collections | concept folding bikes | construction of the burj dubai | control rooms of all types | cool aircraft interiors | cool pocket sized gadgets | coolest vintage phones | craftsy weapons | crazy about tetris | crazy bicycles | crazy floating buildings | crazy japanese watches | crazy tesla coils | daredevil walls of death | dazzle ships | definitive list of subway architecture | dental chairs through history | depressing million dollar london property | different types of galvanometer | Disappearing Icons: Helter Skelters | diving helmets | diy frankenstein lab items | drug smuggling submarines | earliest wrist watches | early warning systems | election broadcast technology through history | equipment to conquer everest through history | every postwar olympic stadium | evolution of the New York skyline | examples of instant architecture | exoskeletons | extraordinary armor | extreme kitchen gadgets | extreme vietnamese street cabling | famous les paul guitars | famous writers typewriters | fantastic vintage tvs | Fascinating Domino Toppling Videos | ferocious oil drill bits | First images from atoms to the universe | flash flashlights | flying helmets | flying machines | flying saucers | formula 1 user interfaces | futuristic biometric devices | futuristic cellular structure architecture | futuristic german car factories (videos) | futuristic interfaces | futuristic megastructures | futuristic ross lovegrove design | geek hall of fame apple users | general store architecture | ghost particle detectors | giant airship hangars | giant cranes | giant molten steel handling equipment | giant screens | graffiti covered | great climbing walls | great diy lighting ideas | guess the airport from the aerial view | gun shaped non guns | handmade super mario bros | homage to the chrysler | homage to the light bulb | homemade helicopters | IKEA in Hell | images of the worlds largest crowds | impressive moving bridges | Impressive Parkour Videos | inappropriate rocket powered items | incredible listening devices | incredible planetarium projectors | Incredible Roller Coasters | incredibly compact apartments | Incredibly Rare Classic Cars | industrial crushing machines | innovative lights | insane asylum plans | interesting balloons | interesting false teeth | interesting soapbox derby racers | Intimidating Samurai Armor Sets | inventors laboratories | ironic gun advertising | items to build an apple store | jailers key guns | jet engine test videos | jumping off notable architecture (and surviving) videos | Knock-off Game Consoles | Kowloon Walled City Guide | laptop stands | Lavish Home Theaters | lego like modular gadgets | life with a gas mask | light pipe architecture | linotypes from hell | lookout towers | lots of yellow submarines | macys parade ideas | massive record collections | mathematical lighting | mechanical animals | mechanical horses | mechanical marvel calculators | mechanical planetary models | medical manikins | memento mori timepieces | mercury arc rectifiers | mind reading devices | miscellany october 08 | mobile media devices | monster 80s boomboxes | most beautiful airport terminals | most beautiful land speed record vehicles | most beautiful spiral staircases | most blatant ipod copies | most complex watches | most extreme clothes | most extreme speakers | most extreme turntables | Most Interesting Scrap Yards | most wonderful telescopes | Movies of moving picture machines (videos) | moving walkways of note | musical instrument mashups | naked gadgets | nasty nerf weapons | nerds on segways | New York Retro Futurism | non Apple minimalist gadgets | nuclear powered transportation | odd spy cams | oil boom diamond kitsch | oil crisis car ads | oil spill cleanup technologies | old shoes | oobject 2012 holiday gift guide | oobject search for web birthplace at CERN | Oobjects perfect gadget bag | people riding bombs | Peoples choice CES 2008 day 1 | peoples choice gadget of 2007 | physical cutaway models | pictures of the lego house construction progress | pissoir designs | planetariums around the world | Pneumatic Trains | post modern cuckoo clocks | preposterous 18th century wigs | pressure suits | programmable roller coasters | radar consoles | radioactive products | real gotham city | real life video game scenes planes in the jungle | really cool pools | resqtec emergency devices | retro electronic board games | retro saturday morning cartoons | retro videophones | revolting gold gadgets | revolutionary arcade cabinets | Rock Cut Architectures | Rocket Sleds | Rope Bridges From Around the World | Santa Tobacco Ads | sci-fi costume fails | sextants | Shanghai vs Beijing architectural bakeoff | ships out of water | sinister bbc spy vehicles | Sky Captain gadgets & vehicles | skyscraper infographics | snowmobiles through history | soviet fighter plane monuments | soviet moon shot hardware | soviet satellites | space junk | spaceship like hot tubs | spectacular sewers | spectacular wind tunnels | star wars fanatics | start up sequences | stereo cameras | Steve Jobs vs America since 97 (videos) | strange musical instruments | stunning ray guns | stunning streamlined trailers | submarine construction and decommissioning | super sewer robots | Superhero Debuts In Comic Books | surreal underwater technology | survival kits | sword and gadget canes | tattoo machines | technology hq architecture | terrifying mining gear | The 10 most important examples of neon signage | the architect of detroit | The architecture of bunkers | the best designed toolboxes | the best of the hubble telescope | the escapades of steve ballmer | The Extreme Architecture of Lighthouses | the extreme hardware of oil and gas | the genealogy of fixies | the golden age of american concept cars | The Great SMS Swindle | The Life of the Nintendo 64 | the perfect laptop stand | the pigeon net | the wunderkammer through history | things made in suburban garages | thrones | time lapse wii videos | tiniest gadgets | top 10 interesting tool chests | Top 10 Moon Rocket Models | top 10 oddball foosball tables | Top 10 Soviet Technology Ripoffs | top 10 unusual burglar alarms | top 12 harley earl designs | top 12 videos of creepy automata | top 15 classic calculator watches | Top 15 modernist gas stations | top 9 examples of technological regress | top circuit bent kids toys (videos) | top supercomputers | towers of babel | toy robot commercials through history (videos) | trading places | transparent glass stairs | tricked out gadget suitcases | tube testers | typology of milk floats | ultimate headphones | ultra zoom cameras | unreadable minimalist watches | unusual gas masks | unusual rubber duckies | unusual suitcase kits | victorian submarines | video list of 3D printers in action | videos of extremely loud car distorting stereos | videos of plane landings from the cockpit | videos of self assembling machines | Vintage Analog Lie Detectors | vintage analog synthesizers | vintage erector sets to buy | vintage fans for sale | vintage hairdryers | Vintage Lunch Boxes | Vintage Massage Gadgets | Vintage Portable Televisions | vintage ventriloquists dummies | watches worn in space | weird lights | weird outlaw radio transmitters | wonderful altoids hacks | wonderful tensegrity structures | wonderful welding masks | world changing gadgets | worlds greatest elevator rides (videos) | worst general lee | worst keytar (videos) | WW1 Armor | Zeppelins under construction | zoobject cryptozoology quiz |