San Francisco-based artist Eric Staller built a bike for 8 as an art piece. As part of his Urban UFO series, he wanted to take his art out of the gallery and into the streets. It got so much attention he decided to commercialize it as a bike for 7.
Staller named it a conference bike because it's where "the boardroom meets the gym". It's not a tandem, but instead, all seven passengers sit in a circle. It steers like a car with Volkswagen steering.
So that even those who are cycling backward, or sideways, can contribute equally to the forward motion, everyone has pedals that are connected to a circular shaft (a universal joint) with a chain that goes to the rear wheels.
They're not cheap- about $13,000 each-, but Staller believes every village could have one. Some towns are using them as part of car-free city programs. In Germany, they're being used as a human-powered schoolbus. In Oregon, one school district uses it as a tool to fight sedentarism.
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/view/...
1 авг 2011
