A split-wheel bicycle? A half bi-tricycle??
While people are often scorned for doing something others consider redundant or unnecessary, we humans do seem to have a compelling need to give a new spin to existing things. And some times, people take the whole “reinventing the wheel” quite literally.
Engineer Sergii Gordieiev is a perfect example. He decided that cycles should exist beyond the conventional one to four-wheeled configuration. So he set about creating a functional bicycle that consists of not two full wheels, but one full circumference wheel and two 1/2 circumference wheels.
Why? Maybe because he thought of it, thought he could make it work, and he liked the challenge.
And yes, as awkward as it looks, it actually does works (video below).
Putting aside the practicalities of why you would want to use Sergii’s cycle instead of a “normal” bicycle, it is hard not to get caught up trying to figure out what to call it. Is it still considered a bicycle of sorts, like say a bi-halfcycle, since it still has only two complete wheels? Or should it be considered a tricycle (i.e., a split wheel trike), since it has three circumferences? Or maybe a hibrid cycle, such as bi-split tricycle?
But the gaps in the wheels are the key factor in Sergii’s bicycle innovation, so should we categorize it by the number of gaps as well as wheels and say it’s a bi-gap tricycle?
And what if someone creates a double half (1/2 + 1/2) circumference wheeled unicycle? Is it doable? Has it already been done? And would it be considered a split-unicycle or a double-gap-bicycle?
So many questions…
Enjoy the video of Sergii in action riding his cycle and showing how he made it. And while your at it, ponder the possibilities of Half-Gap Cycles of the future…
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