PROGRESSION FROM THE 14TH CENTURY WOODEN PUSH BIKE TO THE TRENDY HYDRAULIC BICYCLE / VELOCIPEDE
Our 14th century push bike has progressed very slowly to the chain drive mechanical push pedal bicycle the fore runner of velocipede & now has come to a dead stop.
THE TECHNICAL ANGLE
An inquisitive mind is never content with the status quo. It is always looking for newer & advanced systems. If they are nor discovered or found anywhere, then this mind will invent them on his own. The mechanical aspect of the push pedal bicycle is not very alluring to me personally. The greasy chain, fully exposed sprocket & free wheels are invitations to stained pants, shredded pajamas, & messy hands when slightly loose chain slips off the mildly wobbly sprocket wheels. The mechanical advantage provided by this system is minimal too. If you want to keep moving ahead, you have to pedal hard & continuously, no question of any respite unless it is down hill. On top of all this you have to stop at a cycle repair shop to top up the Tyre pressure every ten days or so. This is a must, or else you will be putting in double the effort to move ahead on account of low pressure in your Tyre. The charm of owning & riding a push pedal bicycle is not as great as it seemed in the first place.
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE ANGLE
To lift heavy loads with a rope & pulley arrangement, you get huge mechanical advantage. At a certain point, two sets of six pulley arrangement will allow you to lift 100 kg with just 1 kg of effort. The load moves up but the 1 kg effort has to move large linear distances to achieve this objective. In our bicycle case the requirement is slightly different. We want to travel large linear distances at high speed with very little effort. With this objective in mind the author has come up with a hydraulic solution to the mechanical problem.
THE PRE-CHARGED ANGLE
It is now proposed to pedal & pump up hydraulic oil from an oil chamber into another high pressure chamber, even a series of chambers, with the help of a crank shaft and piston arrangement. The rotary motion of the pedals / crank shaft gets converted into linear motion of the piston. On the IN stroke the oil is sucked in, & on the OUT stroke the oil is pushed into the high pressure chambers. The movable wall in the high pressure chamber pushes down a long helical spring, thus storing up energy for future use. This exercise of charging up the power pack can be done at home, any time of the day, independent of the travel activity. To operate & ride the bicycle for errands, all you need to do is to open up the throttle & move ahead. The high pressure oil jet is forced out of a specially designed nozzle / venturi opening when you hit the throttle. This oil jet hits the blades of mini turbine & turns it at high speed. The splashing oil drips down into the oil chamber for collection & recycling. The high speed turbine is hooked on to a variable gear-less transmission which powers up the rear wheel of our HYDRAULIC BICYCLE. It is a new paradigm of moving ahead in life with a pre-charged power pack.
THE HISTORY ANGLE
The ancient man had already invented the mighty WHEEL. Now he wanted to use his invention for moving in comfort & faster. He put two wheels together and joined them with a cross member. This was the crude version of the bicycle. He seated himself on the cross member & pushed himself forward with his feet. It was very thrilling at that time. Then came the problem of maneuvering the damned wooden horse, which he solved by articulating the single cross member into two parts. Now he could turn one of his wheels left, right as desired. Of course a crude lever was nailed, to facilitate this function. Step by step he modified & improved his contraption till he finally came up with a giant wheel in front & a small wheel at the rear. He mounted himself over the big wheel and pedaled ahead in comfort but not very fast. Many more improvements had to take place before the commercial model would be ready as we see it today.
THE DOMESTIC ANGLE
My father was the eldest of the seven siblings & my mother was also the eldest of the five siblings in their families. In our little family we were four siblings, 3 boys & 1 girl in the ages from 8 to 14 years. We lived in a small town of Ambala Cantt, India. Bicycles shops dotted all over the military cum air base town. They sold many brands of new ones & refurbished ones too. Our parents decided that it was high time get us a big toy, so that running errands would become easier & faster for us, as children to help around the home. Lo & behold a refurbished ladies full size bicycle was acquired by our doctor dad from a nearby cycle shop, who promised lifetime repairs free of charge. A ladies bicycle is easier to manipulate, especially by small children trying to learn to ride the contraption. One could get on to the bike & pedal without sitting on the saddle, the scissors version of riding it. As tireless children we never gave up. We kept on trying, trying, failing & falling. On fine day one of us would balance for a long length of time & cover large distance without falling. Gradually all four of us got the knack of turning the handle towards the tilting side & thus straighten up the bike immediately. Short little kids trying to tame a full size monster was no small a task. After a full one month we all could sit on the saddle seat & kick the pedal as it came up. We additionally mastered the art of slipping out of the seat when the bike came to a dead halt without tipping over. Slowly we gained confidence to venture out into the real traffic on the roads & busy markets. Now the errands had a new meaning & became more enjoyable. The obvious question to our mother would be: do I go on foot or take the bike. It will be much quicker if you let me go on the bike, Mom. OK but be careful. Yes Mom, I will be.
THE LUCKY ANGLE
I still remember this incident very vividly. It was a talk of the whole neighborhood. One morning my mother asked me to mail a letter, registered post with acknowledge due, for her. It was promptly done, of course I used the bicycle to travel such a short distance of 250 meters. The lady bicycle was parked outside the main post office, unlocked. After the mailing job, I conveniently walked home out of old habit totally unaware of the parked bicycle. All day went bye, no one in the house noticed the absence of the bike. Next day my younger brother noticed the missing bicycle in the house & raised the alarm. Everyone assembled in the courtyard to solve the mystery of the missing bicycle. Who used it last? I had fully forgotten about the post office errand. Then it dawned on my mother that I had taken it to the mail the letter. Yes I had. Then I ran at full speed to see & hoped that the bicycle was still there. To my wonderful surprise it was still standing hiding among the next days fresh crowd of other bicycles. I happily picked up my long lost, now found lady bicycle & brought it home to everyone's raised eyebrows & smiles. I was already famous for my out standing absent mindedness & this was another feather in my cap.
Rohit Khanna - EASY RIDER -- IN-SIDER
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