I want a space bike!

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Space bikes aren't yet available to the American consumer---they didn't even have them on Star Trek TNG, fer chrissakes! But thanks to the Retro Thing blog I see that some progressive companies are now marketing a cunningly hybrid technology torn at the same time from the annals of the past and future. It's called a velocar, a human-powered personal vehicle built around a recumbent bicycle frame. Recumbents have been around for a least a century, and velocars almost as long. Some historians, in fact, propose that the first velocars date to a much earlier era (Illustration 1). I'd guess that they originally failed because neolithic engineers could not effectively design a power-transfer train using only rocks, pointy sticks, and animal hides.

The concept of robust human-powered vehicles, however, was both sound and feasible. Now, 21st century entrepreneurs have improved on the historic mobile phallus motif by applying advanced materials to both prehistoric and modern designs (Illustration 2).

I'm partial to the Velomobiel Quest (Illustration 3), which is faithful to its weenie-type roots while purportedly applying many simple but powerful design concepts. One big improvement, if well executed, is the isolation of the drive train from the elements in order to avoid heavy maintenance requirements. Also, the tires can be changed without removing the wheels. Another improvement is the snappy road speed made possible by using computer-assisted aerodynamic design in combination with ultralight materials, including removable weathertight hardtops.

Illustration 3. Velomobiel Quest.

Obvious issues to investigate would be user safety and theft prevention, but these are already live issues for anyone who commutes by bicycle. Retro Thing commenters complain that the vehicle is too expensive because they're "just recumbent bikes with canopies," and that you can buy a new economy car or used luxury car for the $8K--14K price tag. I feel that these concerns are too dumb to rebut directly. But consider the benefits of a weathertight, ultralight human-powered car that has enough cargo space for some groceries or a small shopping trip to the strip mall.

After manufacture and shipping, these vehicles would eliminate the burning of fossil fuels and, therefore, local carbon emissions. Human-powered commuting would inject a significant cardiovascular exercise routine into driving chores. Insurance costs should be much lower because, presumably, a velocar driver can't achieve the same level of slaughter or property damage that a drunk can behind the wheel of an SUV or a town car. One other huge, but less tangible benefit: this vehicle is probably very much owner-hackable like any bike, and like most cars were through the 1950s. Sustainable transport could reopen a niche in the citizen-engineering world, recalling a time when many ingenious Americans were more interested in playing with carburetors and crankshafts than passive entertainment and recreational shopping.

One might wonder why the fuck we ingenious Americans would have to look to the Danes to market solutions for affordable, sustainable transportation considering that the U.S. has zillions of underemployed trainable workers, lots of low-interest cash theoretically available for lending to startups, and supposedly a surplus of entrepreneurs who would like nothing more than to make some money "putting America back to work again." Caveat: I do not consider "it's not as simple as that" to be a valid response. Thank you for your attention to this matter.