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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the great-for-low-branches dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

For those of us who were children in the late 80s and early 90s, we may have dreamed of one day owning a gigantic tractor trailer that could transform into a colossal fighting robot. Or of simply having a toy that could approximate this change from one form into another. As adults, though, we have come to realize that this is wishful thinking. That is, unless we decide to build this transforming bicycle.

You're thirty years late, you bastards.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2019/11/13/bicycle-transforms-mid-ride/, and a video of it in action for those who want instant gratification.


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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @02:51PM (#920351)
  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:06PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:06PM (#920356)

    I don't see a way to "get it up again" after the transformation, at least not mid-ride.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:13PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday November 14 2019, @03:13PM (#920358)

      Retraction - video shows it! The power of stored energy, unleashed.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:34PM (3 children)

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Thursday November 14 2019, @04:34PM (#920397) Journal

    Looks very cool indeed, but is there any advantage to these modes over a standard bicycle? I can imagine tall mode *might* be handy in traffic, so you can see over cars and make yourself more visible, but any other advantages? Chopper mode just looks awkward and hard to steer. Does it have any advantages?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:00PM (2 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:00PM (#920406)

      Chopper mode is a more relaxed ride, tracks straighter and balances easier.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by EvilJim on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:09PM (1 child)

        by EvilJim (2501) on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:09PM (#920520) Journal

        I would have to disagree with that statement, although I was rather inebriated, think I rolled it three times... my reaction time was a bit slow to let go of the handlebars.

        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday November 15 2019, @02:21AM

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday November 15 2019, @02:21AM (#920587)

          I've never ridden a chopper bike, motor or pedal, but I did have one of the late '80s "highly maneuverable" early mountain bikes. For a very short time what they did to set these bikes apart was give them really low caster angles - close to straight up and down. It made it almost impossible to ride hands free, always wanted to dart off to one side or the other. Later "mountain bikes" went back to more traditional caster angles and were much less tippy. I rode that bike a LOT for about 5 years, and to make matters worse I installed some fashionable "aero handlebars" where you put your elbows on the normal handle bars and grab this thing that sticks out front, never did transfer the brake handles up there, so: no brakes for a couple of seconds when riding in the "down" position, and then I took it touring with 40lbs in saddlebags on the back - but, hey, I was 20 and immortal (apparently). Wiped out on the B5 between Hamburg and Berlin thanks to that setup - federal highway, lots of traffic, one lane of cobblestone and one lane of dirt, when the bike started to wobble I basically just put myself into the weeds rather than risking ending up on the ground in front of a bunch of West German tourists driving their BMWs far too fast for the road conditions.

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by tangomargarine on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:18PM (5 children)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:18PM (#920470)

    Ooooh, a single piston telescoped. I creamed myself three times while watching this /s

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @07:48PM (#920475)

      You're going to love the hackaday penis augments in the near future.

    • (Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Thursday November 14 2019, @08:57PM

      by Fluffeh (954) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 14 2019, @08:57PM (#920497) Journal

      I agree.

      "transforms"

      Rather liberal use the word.

    • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:26PM (1 child)

      by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:26PM (#920508)

      If this is transforming, then my dick is transforming when I get an erection.

      --
      "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday November 15 2019, @12:11AM

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday November 15 2019, @12:11AM (#920550) Homepage Journal

      Wrong perspective. Consider what ten year old you would have thought about it.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday November 14 2019, @08:37PM

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday November 14 2019, @08:37PM (#920487) Journal

    Speaking from thankfully indirect experience, a Graziella foldable bike with a loose mid section screw transforms mid ride too.

    --
    Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Sulla on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:41PM

    by Sulla (5173) on Thursday November 14 2019, @09:41PM (#920514) Journal

    I've always wanted a bike to transform from ugly to ugly

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:45PM (5 children)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday November 14 2019, @10:45PM (#920526)

    Isn't this sort of thing why we all come here?

    I mean, I get it, you're not really into bikes, and think this project looks a bit dorky, but still.

    Turning a normal bike into a stupid transformer-lite bike is a kind of cool, silly project I might like to do one day, when I have more time.

    There is no need to get all cynical. Is there?

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday November 15 2019, @12:07AM (1 child)

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday November 15 2019, @12:07AM (#920548) Homepage
      Well said - I thought it was great. I'm actually kinda jealous, I'd love one of those now. I pretty much walk everywhere, and the few places I bus to are very convenient for bikes, so it would have a practical side, and not just be cool. I wanted to buy a Sinclair A-bike a few years ago, their website was actively serving pages still, but the shop and email side were dead.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday November 15 2019, @02:41AM

      by MostCynical (2589) on Friday November 15 2019, @02:41AM (#920593) Journal

      No, there isn't

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @03:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 15 2019, @03:27AM (#920604)

      We want mech suits.

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday November 15 2019, @12:25PM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday November 15 2019, @12:25PM (#920662) Journal

      We all? I don't come for this type of things. But then, I would also not go to the cinema (or to a web site) for a Transformers movie either.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
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