An odd contraption.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I like to take long walks on the Centennial Trail, a paved trail that runs, IIRC, from downtown Spokane to Coeur d'Alene. At a guess, it's about ten feet wide and is shared by walkers, joggers, cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, and what-have-you.

Yesterday, I think it was, I saw an odd contraption:

It had three wheels, one in front and two in back, and bars connecting the front wheel to each of the back wheels. There was an upright bar at the front with handlebars at the top. There was no seat, but two foot platforms on the bars connecting the front wheel with the other two wheels. The rider stood on those two platforms and swung himself vigorously back and forth, causing the contraption to trace a sine wave as it moved forward. The swinging motion of his body was reminiscent of that of a speed skater.

I could not tell if he was actively steering the curved path or if the mechanics of the contraption caused the swerving without his actually steering.

I could not tell what physical device or principle of mechanics transferred the motion of his body into forward momentum. Whether alternating his weight between the two platforms operated a mechanism like the pedals of a bicycle, or whether there was a more subtle principle at work.

He moved slower than the hard-core cyclists on the trail, but faster than the casual joggers, though perhaps a fast runner could have kept up with him.

I felt no urge to try out such a contraption, but I am very curious about what it is and how it functions. When he passed me (twice in the course of my walk) there was nobody else in sight, so I don't know how hard or easy it would be for him to alter his sinusoidal path to avoid hitting anyone when the path became crowded, as can happen briefly when people moving different speeds and different directions on different modes of transportation pass each other.

 

If I had had a camera or a smartphone in my pocket, I'd have been unable to get it out in time to snap a picture.

Yep. That looks like it! Thanks, Evan. A hundred bucks sure seems cheap. I wonder about the build quality at that price.

I just watched their mini video showing the scissor movement. The guy I saw was not scissoring. He was making more of a skating movement. And that scissors movement will be extremely hard to maintain without a lot of practice, since it uses muscles most of us do not use normally. The basic shape of this Tango is the same as that of the contraption I saw. But I wonder if the Tango might be a cheap knock-off of something better.

Okay, I googled the Tango to look for similar contraptions, and found this, which I think is closer to what I saw.

 

Okay. I just watched their how-to-ride video with safety warnings here, and I guess I will not be getting one of them. I'll stick with jogging, walking, and stationary cycling.

 

I would imagine the hybrid would have the same drawback as an electric-assist bicycle: weight. If you run out of charge, you've got a very heavy machine to move under your own power. And you don't even have the cargo capacity of a bicycle.

I see these as an exercise machine more than serious transportation. It looks like a great workout, but inferior to a bicycle as a means of getting somewhere.

 

When I am exercising I stop for nothing. When I see other people exercising I give them the same courtesy. I wanted to ask the guy about it, but he was moving along at a pretty good clip and I didn't want to ask him to stop. I did shout "Interesting contraption" and he shouted back something that I did not catch, and then he was gone.

 

Is there something special about "sinusoidal"? I was just describing the path the contraption was taking.