um...

 

i dont know what else to say, really...

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on December 16, 2011 at 9:13am

If I lived next to the river up north by Ravenswood, a recumbent version would be the way to commute to downtown:)

Permalink Reply by Seancarl on December 16, 2011 at 10:13am
Permalink Reply by igz on December 16, 2011 at 10:44am
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 16, 2011 at 12:49pm

I wonder what we would be talking in watt-hours/mile for a pedal-boat compared to what sort of energy is required to move a bicycle.  I bet that such a pedal-boat would consume about 5-10x as  much power to go the same distance as it would be to ride a bike  The amount of friction to push a boat across the water is  quite a bit more than a lightweight bicycle encounters rolling on narrow tires.  And we aren't even talking about comparable speeds either.  I'd venture that a pedalboat would take 5-10x as much effort/mile while going 3-5  times as slow.  I cant imagine a pontoon boat such as the one in the original posting going much more then 5-6MPH even if a powerful rider was really pedaling hard.  I'm sure the electric assist would help -but it would help a bike go pretty fast too if it was powerful enough.

So one would have to pedal much harder for a much longer time to peddle down the river and back  Sure it would be cool to pedal along the river but I don't think it would be a very doable commute from Ravenswood to downtown and back.  It would take a couple of hours and by the time one got downtown they'd be exhausted and a sweaty mess -not to mention smelling like the Chicago River...

Permalink Reply by knowbody on December 16, 2011 at 12:59pm

Almost pulled the trigger on the Shuttle-Bike last summer. Looks a lot like what you have pictured there. That was before deciding to work with Ralph Frese designing and building his dream of a folding canoe instead. Something in me also wants to make it able to convert into an airship one day.

Permalink Reply by Paul Bracht on December 17, 2011 at 4:23am

Would love to have a pedal powered blimp. That would make me the coolest. Could you imagine a midnight marauder ride via pedal powered dirigible. The police come and we all launch. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 17, 2011 at 4:44am

+1 Paul Bracht!

I want a pedal-powered blimp!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flying car? -nope, a blimp that is pedal-powered!  It probably wouldn't work very well on a really windy day...

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on January 6, 2012 at 7:44am

Just gonna leave this over here...

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