peetee wrote:Maybe it’s very hilly round there and that is an attempt to plumb in a water-cooled brake system. Which, of course, wouldn’t be needed if it wasn’t so damn heavy.
Correct of course peetee. I believe there is likely to be a similarly equipped bicycle bolted on the other side of the building as well, the weight of the bricks become problematic once you get it rolling on a down-slope.The water cooling is however notoriously inefficient for obvious reasons in sub-zero temperatures.
Terry Gilliam achieved greater success, moving even heavier structures utilising wind, rather than leg
power but also tragically neglected to factor in stopping distances into his design calculations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YUiBBltOg4
So 'an ideal winter bike' , as it is, I think not.
The icing problem might however be overcome by affixing the machines frames to the interior walls (just 'outside the box' thinking) and removing the floor (to enable wheel-drive), thus perhaps reducing these issues (due to wind-chill) once underway.
