Side saddle cycling

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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Aikon
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Joined: 4 Jan 2011, 11:00pm

Side saddle cycling

Post by Aikon »

Riding to work at Eurobike this morning I saw this, one of the most unusual bikes I've seen:

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thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by thirdcrank »

Another possible for a MickF End to End. Will it take a trailer? :wink:
Ayesha
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Joined: 30 Jan 2010, 9:54am

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Ayesha »

IIRC, they are called a 'Shay'.

Other versions were tandems with a bevel gear to a shaft driven rear.
pyruse
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Joined: 6 May 2011, 5:35pm

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by pyruse »

One has to ask. Why? What advantage does this offer? Or does it fall into the 'because i can be done' category?
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Mick F
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Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Mick F »

I too thought "Why?" and "What for?".
As for riding it End2End, somehow I doubt it. :lol:

Saying that, I saw a threewheeler shopping bike the other day. It was wide across the back axle, enough to take my alu box, plus it had gears and a rear hub brake. I must admit I was daydreaming about JOGLE on a trike ...........
Mick F. Cornwall
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Psamathe »

Reminds me of one of the aircraft in "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" film where there was one aircraft where the pilot was facing backwards. "The idea came to me one day whilst sitting in the bath" (or similar if I remember correctly. and he ended up flying to Scotland.

Ian
james01
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Joined: 6 Aug 2007, 4:48am

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by james01 »

pyruse wrote:One has to ask. Why? What advantage does this offer?


Sociability. If your cycling companion rides a similar-but-opposite machine you can ride two-abreast facing each other and have a good old chinwag. Much easier than that tedious head-turning needed on conventional machines when trying to converse. :)
I like the crude but ingenious method of getting the plane of the chain turned from semi-across the bike to align with the wheelbase; long chains can cope with considerable contortions.
tatanab
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Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by tatanab »

Mick F wrote:Saying that, I saw a threewheeler shopping bike the other day.
The word you are looking for is t..r..i..c..y..c..l...e

Here's one I cooked earlier. Photos before and after being doctored by a lifelong tricyclist. If you really do consider doing anything like this then reject all the Pashley/Kingston/Viking etc small wheelers They are enormously heavy at about 30kg. With aluminium parts this trike is a half of that. It is a Ken Rogers and uses an axle design that has been used form the 1940s to 1980s. The axle can be made to work with cassettes and indexing by using parts available through the specialist lightweight tricycle world. I still have the full width rack for the back, but I have removed the rear drum brake to allow fitting a cassette, and fitted 2 front brakes as is common tricycle practice. In order to get a half decent riding position I have fitted a 150mm stem. With 28mm tyres at 100 psi it rides very well until you hit a rough road surface (just the top taken off) after which you need a trip to the dentist to replace your fillings.
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Mick F
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Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Mick F »

Thanks, but that is basically a bike with three wheels.

I was thinking about something like this as it's more of a challenge and a bit stupid.
Remember, I did JOGLE on a Raleigh Chopper in 2010. :D

shopping-tricycle-ny-gw7005-972.jpg
Mick F. Cornwall
tatanab
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Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by tatanab »

Mick F wrote:Thanks, but that is basically a bike with three wheels.
Agreed that small wheelers and utility trikes are pretty much bikes with an axle fitted. Of course a 3 wheeled bike is a physical impossibility. However, this similarity does not apply to the lightweight specialist tricycle world where the steering geometry and bottom bracket heights are different to lesser two wheelers. Not that a bicyclist recognises this. http://www.trykit.com/
james01
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Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by james01 »

Mick F wrote:. I must admit I was daydreaming about JOGLE on a trike ...........


https://www.eta.co.uk/2013/05/17/the-cr ... motorhome/

think of the saving in hotel bills..
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Mick F
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Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Mick F »

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Wonderful! :D

I did consider a JOGLE with a cycle-rickshaw with Mrs Mick F sitting pretty on the back. She could carry on knitting or reading her Kindle, or just admiring the scenery. She was unimpressed by my idea, so it died a death.
Mick F. Cornwall
Ayesha
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Joined: 30 Jan 2010, 9:54am

Re: Side saddle cycling

Post by Ayesha »

I think the tennis ball idea is good.

Stops the chainring getting bent when he falls off.

This IMHO, is from past experience. :lol:

The BIG question is,,,

"Which is the front and which is the back?"
"I've never seen anything like it in my life."
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