8/11/2010

Only interesting bike in all of Moscow

Seriously.
Reverse steer

In a sea of disc braked mtbs and hybrids, there was this excellent reverse steer folder. I am pretty sure that it belonged to a street performer.

Reverse steer

If you were, as I was, expecting a sea of eastern block knockoff Raleigh D bikes, you and I were both mistaken.

Update from the Pfister in the comments:
"""
I rode that bike (or maybe a clone of it) in London about 10 years ago. It belonged to a street performer who would chalk two lines about 20 feet apart and offer rides for 1 pound. If you could ride the bike from one line to the other without dabbing he would give you 20 pounds. He was able to ride the bike around to demonstrate that it was possible.

I gave it a try, and decided to cross my arms to short-circuit any learned body english. But I still only made it about 10 feet.
"""
There you go, thanks Marc!

6 comments:

Marc Pfister said...

I rode that bike (or maybe a clone of it) in London about 10 years ago. It belonged to a street performer who would chalk two lines about 20 feet apart and offer rides for 1 pound. If you could ride the bike from one line to the other without dabbing he would give you 20 pounds. He was able to ride the bike around to demonstrate that it was possible.

I gave it a try, and decided to cross my arms to short-circuit any learned body english. But I still only made it about 10 feet.

Tarik Saleh said...

Excellent info, thanks Marc. He must have been packing up for the day as it was not clear what the deal was.

ALBERT said...

looks like you can rent one over in england and set up your own money making event.

http://www.erento.co.uk/hire/sport-leisure-art/bicycles/fun-bikes/5865627765.html

Traditional Bike Club Curmudgeon said...

I saw a very different looking "trick" bike being used by a street performer in Galway, Ireland, a couple of years ago.

Not only was the steering reversed, the pedal rotation was too.

No one rode it in the time I watched.

Low Balance said...

I used to ride cross-armed.
But then I haven't tried in a long time.
I could also ride standing up no hands.
No more. I remember a traveling carnival that showed up in town had one of these as a money maker.

Jonathan in Switzerland said...

Were you in Moscow this summer? That's too funny - I was there too.