Max's Scooter Page

People Powered

I bike to work in the warmer half of the year. That's nothing…

last updated 3/03

• There is a nice guy riding a custom-built trike around the world (he's not setting any speed records: that's not the point). Check him out at his most excellent Trike Trek page.
• There's a company building a people-powered line called Rhoades Car. I think theirs are more for getting around Boca Raton than commuting, but never say never. The Cadillac of people-powered vehicles.
• Recumbents seem to have the energy advantage. Like exercising in an easy chair, only… not so easy. Check out S & B Tandem.
• The baddest recumbent I have run across is the Windcheetah. This is a very speedy piece of work. I think there's a pun in "wind cheater", as in beating wind resistance, but that's just my read on it, and not the official line. Alert reader Jeff DelPapa wrote to point out that my reference to this as a welded frame was wrong... Loctite (a chemical company which makes adheisives, threadlockers, etc.) is a sponsor. The frame is "bonded" together.
• The Smithsonian has a great web offering in its bicycle special. This series is awesome, from the biggest tricycle ever (24 feet long…) to some speed record bullet bikes. Check out the Smithsonian bicycle special from September of 1996.
• Some physics students in the northwest have built a trike propelled by fire extinguishers. This Rocket Trike is "people powered" in a perverse sense only, but jeez, how could I pass it up? I am a physics teacher, you see.
• Here's a combination electric/people powered car. I'm just not sure whether an Omni Hybrid EV has ever been built, but it looks good on the web.
• EXCELLENT PAGE! And a gateway to all kinds of good people-powered stuff. It's the International Human Powered Vehicle Association. Not just bikes, but boats and other vehicles, too.
• Another excellent page: The people at Special Purpose Vehicles are doing some fun stuff. It's the Special Purpose Vehicles home page. They make trikes, recumbents, hand-cycles, etc.