Over-engineering never looked so ugly: the A.3.W.

cowboysculptor

cowboysculptor

Been Around the Block
Anybody seen this? It's a three-wheeled concept bike by a French engineer named Julien Rondino. The gimmick: The three wheels are in line, like roller blades. Here's a link:

http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/2009/a3w-concept-motorcycle

Now, I'm all for innovation, and I would love for somebody to tell me why this is better, but I just don't see it. The concept is, more tire surface on the pavement = safer. And that rear wheel is supposed to not interfere with handling, but it looks like an in-line training wheel to me. Any engineers out there?
 
cowboysculptor said:
Yeah, you know the hardest thing about rollerblading? Telling your dad you're gay.
Click to expand...

Bahahahaha. I haven't heard that joke since highschool. I bmx, my bother skates (on a plank of wood). I have told that joke in so many social circles, but nobody gets it. Did you bike or board or what?
All the bladers would tear up the city, but somehow the bikers would get the bad rep. Pissed us hoodrats right off.
 
I'm sure this design works great on the drawing table.
...but how many of us have heard *that* before?

Cowboysculptor, I'm no engineer but I can tell you what he *thinks* is causing it to be safer.
The assumption is that in order to increase tractive surface in a hard corner, one must increase the surface area in contact with the road.
With a car, you simply put a fatter tire on to achieve this effect. With a bike, the rounder profile of the tire means that the shape and size of the tire have dramatically less effect on how much ground contact there is.
THis French innovator's brilliant solution is to completely reinvent the wheel. By adding a third.

What he doesn't realize is that there's a closely guarded trade secret known among bikers, for increasing traction surface.
It's called "Buying tires that aren't shit". :D


In all actuality though, the hideous design has one very specific advantage to it. It has a considerably longer wheelbase front to back, because the third wheel in the center provides some support that would otherwise be all devoted to suspension.
However, this doesn't seem like it would be much of an issue even until the bike were traveling at speeds in excess of what anyone would call "safe", which would make the point of the third wheel entirely moot anyway.
 
Catbird said:
The assumption is that in order to increase tractive surface in a hard corner, one must increase the surface area in contact with the road.
With a car, you simply put a fatter tire on to achieve this effect. With a bike, the rounder profile of the tire means that the shape and size of the tire have dramatically less effect on how much ground contact there is.
THis French innovator's brilliant solution is to completely reinvent the wheel. By adding a third.

What he doesn't realize is that there's a closely guarded trade secret known among bikers, for increasing traction surface.
It's called "Buying tires that aren't shit". :D


In all actuality though, the hideous design has one very specific advantage to it. It has a considerably longer wheelbase front to back, because the third wheel in the center provides some support that would otherwise be all devoted to suspension.
However, this doesn't seem like it would be much of an issue even until the bike were traveling at speeds in excess of what anyone would call "safe", which would make the point of the third wheel entirely moot anyway.
Click to expand...
+1
And what he also fails to realize is that 90% of the motorcyclists on the road today will never utilize the full potential of the current machines anyway. Also making the third wheel a moot point.
 
I'm not an engineer but if three wheels are better than two why not complete the logic and make it four wheels. They could be arranged in a rectangle and the tires made really wide for better grip and the rider could sit in the middle and be surrounded by a metal crash absorbing but stylish bodywork offering not just safety but weather protection as well. In fact if this was taken a bit further it could be so arranged as to be able to carry several passengers.
 
Well yea, but at that point you might as well just drive a ca... oh I get it now :p :D
 
Another important point is that user error, not limitations of the machine, are inherently to cause in most performance-related bailouts.
In other words, proper training and experience will benefit riders *far* more than a third wheel ever will.
 
Those pictures are a few years old now (and it's been talked about on other forums) and we still haven't seen anything more than some CAD drawings......

It has the potential to be "safer" in the sense that you couldn't highside it with the drive wheel being in the middle, but no wheelies so it's f*cking useless IMO ;D
 
You're thinking of Italians......

Or Swiss if you'd rather just sit on the fence and watch....

Or Belgian if you'd rather forget about it and brew some beer.....
 
But how do you do a wheelie? Anyone listening to the music in the video must do wheelies - it's mandatory.

Burnouts would be interesting too. Clearly these guys didn't think this through. The center wheel needs to be 30-40 inches I think, with a big heavy flywheel on it, and a zip cord to pull to provide power.

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