remember dutch artist and engineer theo jansen’s large-scale kinetic sculptures? the ones that use the power of wind to move autonomously around sandy beaches? taking this creation as a starting point, californian collective carv has created the walking bicycle, a symbiosis of bike and walking robotic creature.
all images are screenshots taken from the above video
featured on youtube’s the Q channel, the walking bicycle by carv is not exactly the most practical product in the market, as it won’t take you from one place to another in record time. instead, it will sure catch the attention of those around you as they’ve probably never seen something like this — unless you are at burning man’s playa.
in the walking bicycle, the rear wheel has been replaced by a metal skeleton with four legs powered by the pedals. this structure, which is made of over 400 handmade components, took seven months to develop, with the assembly of the rods alone taking up three whole days. ‘we spent about 3 hours a night, on monday through wednesday each week, slowly progressing through layout, material buying, mockups, jigs, cutting, welding, and bolting,’ comments carv. ‘in the end we had over 400 custom made parts, and couldn’t believe the thing actually worked.’
project info:
name: the walking bicycle
designer: carv
showcased on: youtube’s the Q channel
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amazing
Too many moving parts to repair, too heavy for an everyday ride to the office, occupies too much space for a bike parking, slows you down, and most importantly VERY NICE!
now the other wheel.
This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
A ton of human thought and effort to create something for no other purpose that to be mechanically beautiful.
Cheers for increasing the gap between us and the animals just a bit more!
It is so funny like tarantula walking in the back!
Just because you can … doesn’t mean you should! Interesting feat of engineering … nothing more.
Wow! What a blast. Provocative and stimulating. Hmmm… what else?
Brilliantly, brilliantly creative.
Why this would even be featured is beyond me. Nothing new here or there than taking an already great invention, the bicycle, and making something worse out of it. This isn’t even an engineering marvel; to be that it would have to be able to make the bicycle better. This is just stupid people applauding another stupid person. Design boom you have just put another scar on your reputation.
Yes, poetic. Would be great to see so much effort and genius put through to solve real problems. Most people in the world lack access to potable water. Most people in the world lack access to basics like a blood test. Absolutely nobody needs a spider bike.
Could be handy for crossing certain terrain that a normal bicycle wheel can’t?
So funny to see people with too little imagination and not get this.
This is so funky, opens up a whole new vista to try things. I bet you he could make it climb walls next, explore Mars, whatever.