Comments on: Finally, an alternative to Big Pedal.

Finally, an alternative to Big Pedal.

jimmythefish — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:19:02 -0800

Presenting the FLIZ velocipede, for anyone who's wondering what you get when you cross a German hipster and a wheeled banana.

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:26:23 -0800

what you get when you cross a German hipster and a wheeled banana The Human Velocipede? sorry I couldn't resist

By: Hicksu

Hicksu — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:30:02 -0800

So you stay hunched over the whole time?

By: etherist

etherist — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:38:59 -0800

Are you having us on?

By: Purposeful Grimace

Purposeful Grimace — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:46:13 -0800

I'm seeing a significant amount of flame flex, that can't be good. Also, is 95% of your weight suspended by your junk? I'm failing to see the point of this.

By: NailsTheCat

NailsTheCat — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:46:26 -0800

But... but.. the beauty of bicycles is that you are continually pedalling, powering your vehicle and achieving a constant speed. This requires (as the video demonstrated) you to skoot along for a bit, put your feet up, cruise, put them down again to regain loss speed, repeat. And no sitting up with no hands so you can mess with your music player of choice.

By: Purposeful Grimace

Purposeful Grimace — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:46:40 -0800

Flame flex. HAH. Frame flex, of course.

By: NailsTheCat

NailsTheCat — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:52:34 -0800

Somewhat related, I was just remarking today how my 2 year old's "balance bike" (a Strider) is seen as a bit of a revolution in cycling, while they strike me simply as modern day velocipedes (see this "Dandy Horse"). They are awesome though.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:53:20 -0800

This makes no sense.

By: goethean

goethean — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:54:31 -0800

That is hardcore.

By: oulipian

oulipian — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:58:58 -0800

It doesn't look like you could fit your head through those two bars while wearing a helmet. It also seems like it would be difficult to turn your head to see behind you. I wonder how safe it is, and if they've done any testing as to how it might perform in an accident.

By: NailsTheCat

NailsTheCat — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:00:06 -0800

is 95% of your weight suspended by your junk? Well, pretty much 95% of my weight is my junk so I don't see that makes much difference. *High five!*

By: rtha

rtha — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:03:47 -0800

Saw a couple of things like this at a Sunday Streets event (where they close some streets to cars for a Sunday) a few months ago. They looked wildly uncomfortable. Little kids pointed and laughed.

By: WorkingMyWayHome

WorkingMyWayHome — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:11:25 -0800

God, that does look uncomfortable. I watched the video and just thought, why?

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:36:21 -0800

> see this "Dandy Horse" I so want this phrase to come back into fashion, referring to impractically complex or obscure modes of transportation.

By: DyRE

DyRE — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:40:12 -0800

Reminds me of "it" from South Park.

By: djrock3k

djrock3k — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 20:53:07 -0800

This has got to fuck you up something wonderful in a crash (Oh yeah, one day you will fall. All cyclists do) Big Fail point. Did you see that thing flex? Germans :^)

By: Pogo_Fuzzybutt

Pogo_Fuzzybutt — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:02:32 -0800

It is designed - like beds 79 inches long - for short people. I'm 6'4". This thing looks like hurting.

By: 5_13_23_42_69_666

5_13_23_42_69_666 — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:22:07 -0800

brings a whole new image to the words "banana hammock"

By: vidur

vidur — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:40:28 -0800

I got a backache just looking at that thing.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:35:59 -0800

We will never talk of this again.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:44:15 -0800

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should, now go back to your workshop and try again."

By: steganographia

steganographia — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:35:34 -0800

This has got to be the most idiotic de-invention of the bicycle in some time. Well done, everybody.

By: MuffinMan

MuffinMan — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:36:33 -0800

Oh, I don't know. This is fairly special.

By: steganographia

steganographia — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:51:31 -0800

The only idiotic element of the indispensable Clag-Gone is the somewhat superfluous derailleur.

By: MuffinMan

MuffinMan — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:54:34 -0800

WELL HOW WOULD YOU IMPLEMENT 3 SPEED CLAG NUT REMOVAL?

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:22:18 -0800

Now you know why the Germans invented both the words Verschlimmbesserung and Schadenfreude.

By: dubold

dubold — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:08:42 -0800

I'm really thankful to live in such tremendous comfort and security, here in the 21st century, but I do think that one of the side effects has been that as a species we have come out of this huge history of suffering and loss, of struggle, of grim brutality, of starving winters, but no outlet for the coping mechanisms we've developed to deal with those things. Now that we've got a lower infant mortality rate and have managed to keep the land wars over the horizon and out of sight, and we're not stabbing each other to death over affairs of honor, the only recourse is to pour out all those feelings of rage and frustration and loathing in the comments section. And that's why God made Youtube.

By: MuffinMan

MuffinMan — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:11:24 -0800

God invented You Tube so we could wonder how people could ride bicycles so small. And funny cats.

By: scruss

scruss — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:34:27 -0800

Everything that is wrong is wrong with this.

By: panaceanot

panaceanot — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 05:01:48 -0800

>And that's why God made Youtube. Herp Derp the comments and you too, can manage to 'keep the ~~land wars~~ messy stuff over the horizon and out of sight'

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 06:08:11 -0800

That dude's constricted nutsack is making me unhappy. Also, how the hell are you supposed to wear a helmet with that thing? You'd be like a little kid with their head stuck in the bannister.

By: rocket88

rocket88 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:23:17 -0800

This is what happens when form overwhelms function.

By: cmoj

cmoj — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:24:34 -0800

I would say no to that were it offered to me.

By: dubold

dubold — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:28:56 -0800

Herp Derp the comments and you too, can manage to 'keep the ~~land wars~~ messy stuff over the horizon and out of sight' thanks, that is going to come in handy. I just don't understand the annoyance. Okay, so that doesn't look something I'd prefer over my standard-geometry upright bicycle, but I'm glad there are people out there trying to innovate. Until stormtroopers clad in banana suits force us to ride these at gunpoint, what's the big deal? Having a kooky bicycle is, like, standard-issue inventor stuff.

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:45:17 -0800

I think that some of the annoyance comes from the spectacle of ostensibly-smart people putting so much time and effort into taking a bicycle, arguably the best machine ever invented, and making it much less practical and comfortable. There are some really neat alternative bikes, such as recumbents, which solve the problem referred to in the third link (the pressure that standard bicycle seats put on a man's taint, not to put too fine a point on it, at precisely the spot where the main vein and nerve for the penis passes through, although there are also special seats that help with that as well). Boing Boing used to post a lot of things like this that look different and interesting but don't seem to have been thought through very well. That having been said, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw this at RAGBRAI in a year or two.

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:40:50 -0800

This makes no sense. posted by desjardins at 10:53 PM That is hardcore. posted by goethean at 10:54 PM

A nearly-perfect Metafilter moment.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:59:23 -0800

That is not a German hipster, it's a German megadork. That is not a wheeled banana, it's a public wedgie. Also, aside from the public humiliation, the thing seems purpose-built to catch your feet in the spokes. The world was better before this was invented.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:01:57 -0800

I'd rather be seen riding a Razr scooter than stick my head into this suicide device - and it'd probably be a whole lot more efficient (for transportation).

By: mazola

mazola — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:14:14 -0800

It's silly, but it's stupid!

By: cthuljew

cthuljew — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:16:56 -0800

I'm a biker who doesn't wear a helmet but does wear headphones. I am not stupid enough to ride that device.