For people who face physical challenges, riding a bike is usually out of the question. Now there’s a Quadricycle that could give them the opportunity to not only enjoy biking, but to also participate in downhill ‘gravity biking’ races.
This bike is powered by gravity alone
This bike has no pedals. It’s built with carbon fiber seating and top end suspension. The rider sits in a seat between all four wheels and a set of handlebars that allows him or her to steer while going downhill.
With enhanced features, this bike has already started to make an impact on the extreme sports market.
The idea for the bike came to designer Calvin Williams’ head after he fell 50 feet off a cliff and had to spend a year in a wheelchair. He invented his four-wheel bike to make extreme sports more acceptable to physically challenged people who may have never even been on a bicycle before.
Dubbed Project Enduro, a team of engineers in Wales has been working since 2004 to design this four-wheeled bike. The first prototype of the Quadricycle was launched in February.
The team is now testing a second prototype in Snowdonia, north Wales. This would take care of the design, comfort and safety issues identified in the first prototype.
The project is supported by the Welsh Government through European Regional Development Funding. The final product would be officially launched by December 2014.
