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Comment by mdasen | Hacker News Reader

I think e-bike technology is going to get adapted to all sorts of new uses like this. I think there's a lot of opportunity to create great vehicles for people that will offer a good accessibility.

https://rootedinrights.org/video/disabled-bikers/

This video shows bikers of many different abilities using many different kinds of bikes and it shows how versatile bikes can be for different people.

I'm kinda curious why it's a quad-wheel system rather than a tricycle. At 2:28 in the video I linked, there's someone paralyzed that uses a tricycle to go off-roading (two wheels in the front, one in back with a hub motor). I'm not saying there isn't a reason for the 4-wheeled system, I'm just wondering what if offers.

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Far more stability, right? I assumed that's why 3-wheel ATVs are banned pretty much everywhere.

Having the front be single wheeled leads to the a lot of instability because turns change your center of gravity. I just bought a recumbent bike and I had to search extensively to find a nice two-wheeler because the 2 front wheel 3-wheelers are quite popular, just like the motorcycle equivalent. Most bikes and motorcycles with three wheels have the same steering linkage you'd find in a car.

> Having the front be single wheeled leads to the a lot of instability because turns change your center of gravity.

Cue Mr Bean and a Reliant Robin: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mr+bean+reliant+robin&iax=videos&i...

Be very careful with two wheel recumbents, I've got half an Ikea's worth of steel bits in my right leg on account of one. The danger is in when your foot slips off the pedal even for a moment and hits the pavement on the downstroke, you'll brake with just that one foot and it is a feed-forward mechanism that you can not break out of. Nasty, to put it mildly. If I had foreseen that particular failure mode I'd have either foregone the bike entirely or I would have placed something underneath the cranks to catch my feet should I ever go there. The lower the bike the higher the risk of this happening.

Thanks for the advice! I've picked up a tall one, and I'm definitely going to keep your story in mind when choosing my clipless pedals to hopefully minimize that risk.

Mine was a Zephyr low racer. http://users.skynet.be/ligfiets/phC1/Lrpiste/zephyrrace1.jpg

> Far more stability, right? I assumed that's why 3-wheel ATVs are banned pretty much everywhere.

Those were single-wheel in front, two wheels in back. I guy from my high-school rolled one and broke his wrist, back in the day.

That was a really heartwarming video. I'm guessing that The Rig has four wheels in order to support carrying things (they mentioned in the video being able to strap a chair or coolers to the back).

regarding 3 wheels vs 4, I see 4 wheels having some advantages. If you picked a tricycle configuration you'd want two wheels up front and one wheel in the back for stability. If you have steering and drive in the front, you have a more complex system that doesn't get good traction going up steep hills. If you put drive up front and steering in the back you lose good handling at speed. If you put steering up front and drive in the back, you only have one wheel drive.

From growing up on a farm, tractors with tricycle gear in the front don't work as well in the snow, and I'm not certain why this is. I think it's because you have to break three paths through the snow rather than two. In addition, a four wheel setup in snow tends to go in a straight line. If you get tricycle gear stuck in a rut, you're going sideways and it can be difficult to maintain a straight line.

I have cp, and used to have a trike. I loved that thing to bits, but I'd never use it in the city. Way to wide for bike lanes and riding it on the sidewalk is illegal.

Also, lets be real, this assumes side walks and bike lanes are even available.

Seems like they wanted to leave the back for carrying loads, which you can't do as a trike.

It is an exciting time for sure. E-bike technology could change the world massively for the better.

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