"Bicycle" Monorail more efficient?

[user removed]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

@Old Mechanic: Human lungs and legs don't like to P&G. The best way to extract power is at a constant 90-120RPM. This monorail, like a bicycle, can provide that given enough gears.

It's a thoroughly nifty idea, but there are a few glaring problems. Such as what to do when the guy in the middle of the peloton reaches his exit. If the pods looked more like ultra low drag HPVs, they would go faster without much need to draft.

Robert name a single creature on this planet that has an axle and wheel as a part of its anatomy.

As far as entry and exit, use a hill to slow the vehicles down, where people can enter and exit from a moving sidewalk. then the vehicles go downhill to regain speed.

regards
Mech

regards
Mech

[RobertSmalls]

P&G on a bike might make sense at a walking pace, but if you P&G at higher heart rates, you're doing it wrong.

OldMech,

There are none, and the bicycle is a huge improvement over going on foot. I'd love to figure out how to hook a horse's legs to a crankshaft, gears, and wheels. It might give the car a run for its money.

For entry and exit, I was picturing a second rail that you can access every few blocks. If traffic on the express rail was going 40mph, you'd need a really accurate, fast-actuating switch to move one rail car but not the next.

[Bicycle Bob]

I've seen a horse on a treadmill. It still puts out 1HP.

On a bicycle, coasting is a welcome break from time to time, but only if it does not cost any progress. On choppy terrain, it gets tedious. In a velomobile, which coasts extremely well due to streamlining and weight, city riding is often a series of short, hard anaerobic sprints, followed by long rests with no motion in the legs - most unpleasant. A streamliner really needs an electric system to smooth out the effort.

Elevated bikeways are a far better investment than "expressways" for cars in cities, but I don't think many people will pay to use the Schweeb. It is just not very convenient to use. Let's put a bike lane on top of that rail, and see which gets the traffic.

[bestclimb]

do I have to use the seat and back rest that some other schweeb was sweating on?

[cfg83]

bestclimb -

Originally Posted by bestclimb

do I have to use the seat and back rest that some other schweeb was sweating on?

That's what I am asking. In reality, I am sure they have an answer, I just want to know what it is. They have to answer the "Joe User" questions along the way.

It looks like a little greenhouse pill in the picture, so there must be a way to cool the passenger on a hot day. Super NACA duct power?

I wish I had that idea. I'd have a cool goomilllion to flesh it out.

CarloSW2

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

I'd love to figure out how to hook a horse's legs to a crankshaft, gears, and wheels. It might give the car a run for its money.

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://depletedcranium.com/one-horse...-makes-me-cry/

The one-horsepower vehicle with an actual horse inside | DVICE

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by cfg83

bestclimb -



That's what I am asking. In reality, I am sure they have an answer, I just want to know what it is. They have to answer the "Joe User" questions along the way.

It looks like a little greenhouse pill in the picture, so there must be a way to cool the passenger on a hot day. Super NACA duct power?

I wish I had that idea. I'd have a cool goomilllion to flesh it out.

CarloSW2

The seats are vinyl, and every pod will have a hook that holds a little bottle of bleach-water, a rag, and a sign that says "please wipe down the machine after using!". It will work about as well as it does at the gym, but the schweeb will smell ten times as bad as a gym.

[bestclimb]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

The seats are vinyl, and every pod will have a hook that holds a little bottle of bleach-water, a rag, and a sign that says "please wipe down the machine after using!". It will work about as well as it does at the gym, but the schweeb will smell ten times as bad as a gym.

Oh good, sign me up then.

I am waiting for vacuum tubes to whisk me across town.

[bikin' Ed]

I think it's a good basic premise. It is certainly not new--I've seen similar ideas in science magazines 10-15 years ago. It is certainly not perfected.

Looking at the video the crank seems to be set up for one speed only--not very efficient. As far as speed, the only way you are going to see sustained 40 mph is if you get a half dozen wold class athletes to draft together.

[RobbMeeX]

You could have setup sops with rail switches so people could get off and not hold the line. I'd like to give it a ride, but don't see it working out for being so radical.