Hello Hyperbike!

Thanks to Popular Mechanics for turning me onto this recent invention! Back in 2007, an inventive engineer named Curtis DeForest created a contraptio nas a safe and effective alternative to the traditional bike. He called it the Hyperbike, and one look at the contraption will tell you why! Featuring three wheels, the vehicle is a full-body machine that utilizes hand and foot motions to generate speed. Since it does not require forward momentum to stand up, a rider is incapable of falling off, and can reach speeds of up to 50 mph.

DeForest also designed the prototype so that the rider’s center of gravity is below the spinning axis of the wheels – as opposed to above it, like in most bikes. This difference, along with its additional front wheel, increases stability, and also caught the attention of NASA. Impressed with its design and its possibility for use in low-gravity environments, the space agency invested in a new prototype. However, no updates have been made available on the progress of this development, and rumor has it NASA has moved on.

Too bad too! Tell me something like this wouldn’t be useful in a number of different environments. And I’m sure there’s plenty of military applications for something like this. Maybe add a gasoline engine, 800 hp, some missiles and some jump jets. Make a lovely Hyperbike, that would!