Unicycle’s require balance and coordination.  Monocycle’s require agility and balance.   Like the Unicycle there is one wheel and one seat, but there the similarity ends.  Amazingly enough a new type of pedaled riding vehicle has been invented for those that were bored with only the trillion or so types of bicycles and unicycles available.

The Monocycle was presented at the XXI Century Man Exhibition by Ben Wilson.  Wilson has created a vehicle with a single seat inside of a wheel complete with handle bars and pedals. 

Patents for pedaled monowheels have been around since the 1860’s but no one has actually built a working model.  Supposedly, there is a monowheel in production in China, but no one has seen it.

The Wilson Monocycle is essentially composed of an outer tire and an inner wheel.  The seat, pedals and handle bars are on the inner wheel.  The two are connected by strategically placed ball bearings.

Pedaling turns a small rubber wheel that turns the inner wheel on the tire.  With the weight of a person, the wheel actually turns the tire while the inner wheel remains somewhat stationary.

Most of the previous monowheels or monocycles, were actually created as motorized vehicles.  In 1904 Garavaglia invented one of the first monocycles.  Unlike Wilson’s model, it appeared that a small side wheel was used as a stabilizer.  Several models even added a propeller, a few to the front and one to the back of the Monowheel, but all of them motorized. 

In 1923 Cislaghi patented a motorized monocycle and started the Motorouto Co. to produce them.  In 1931 a Swiss engineer named Gedes drove one of these monocycles on his way to Spain.  Although it is unclear if he actually made it to Spain, the monowheel is definitely moving.

In Cislaghi’s patent you can see the method of turning by leaning.  In the photograph of Gedes on the monocycle, he appears to be leaning into a curve because his body is clearly not in alignment with the monocycle.

Ben Wilson appears to have the only human powered monocycle or monowheel recorded.  Everyone else wanted to motorize the concept to greater or lesser degrees of safety.

He doesn’t actually plan on manufacturing any pedal powered monocycles anytime soon.  He simply wants to bring a new set of  variables to the cycling dialogue.

Well, he has certainly thrown in new variables, but will the pedal version work any better than the motorized version which quickly became extinct? 

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Entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm under Technology.

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