image courtesy The Daily Mail.

This week we came across an article showcasing some interesting bike concepts and as always it got us thinking about the future of mountain bikes. Of course the article is chock-full of folding/collapsible bikes and all-weather rigs which aren’t really cutting edge anymore – there are actually several production models of both. There’s also the Mountain Monk, or what we’re calling the “BikePack,” that’s a FS mountain bike you can wear like a backpack as you hike to the top of gnarly DH runs – but that’s last year’s news.

Two of the concept bikes from the article include spoke-less wheels – and we’re not talking about disked wheels here. In fact, it might be more descriptive to call these hub-less wheels since they don’t have those either (at least not in the traditional sense). In each case the hubs are essentially over-sized and nearly as large as the tires themselves.

image courtesy tuvie.

Of course there are pretty significant engineering issues to overcome with designs like these – namely friction between the wheel and fixed hub – and you can almost forget about multi-gear set-ups. The second design shown appears to use cog system similar to the Gates Carbon Drive but we’re not convinced the wheels would actually stay in place.

The benefits of spoke-less designs would be decreased maintenance (no truing necessary), lower weight, and decreased drag. The blue bike design above (from Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman) also looks like it would be extremely stiff since the wheel system is effectively integrated into the bike frame itself, giving the rider wicked fast acceleration. Boardman’s bike also conceals much of the drive mechanism which should also lead to lower maintenance.

Although we probably won’t see spoke-less mountain bikes on the trail anytime soon, it’s great to see designers pushing the envelope. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

I once asked a friend why he thought horses were so spooked by mountain bikes and he said it was because mountain bikers look like predatory jungle cats running through the woods. That image has always stuck with me, particularly when riding tight, twisting singletrack that requires cat-like reflexes. Now a designer in Argentina has taken that idea to the next level, designing a mountain trike called the Pardo from the Spanish word for cheetah.

The rider lies on the Pardo face forward and pumps his legs to propel the thing down the trail (see the diagram below). Aside from the sensation of speed from having your face just inches from the trail, the Pardo allows the rider to pump both legs at the same time which probably feels more like a hop than a jog.

Steering seems to be accomplished through leaning and the prototype doesn’t appear to have a braking system. The front wheels look like standard 26″ mountain bike wheels and tires while the rear wheel is a smaller knobby wheel. While there isn’t a traditional suspension system in place, the curved plywood (?) looks like it should flex and soak up some of the inevitable chest hits. The Pardo is also foldable so it doesn’t take up too much space in the trunk on your way out to the trail. Even without brakes or gears this thing looks pretty awesome – sign me up for one when (if) they go into production!

Images and info via treehugger.com. Check out the link for more pics.