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Enjoy walking on treadmills, but feel like you're not going anywhere? The solution is the wheeled treadmill! This fantastic vehicle takes the limitless power of your walking motion and transmits it to two rear wheels. A front wheel provides steering.
Now, you can go to the corner store and back
while exercising!
Treadmill bike
http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php
Baked and they are even renting them , funny video [Pellepeloton, Mar 18 2007]
rowing bikes
http://images.googl...Search+Images&gbv=2
Google Image Search [BJS, Mar 19 2007]
A drive mechanism
http://www.me.dal.c..._03_10/shaft_3d.jpg
I suggest using something similar to this. [BJS, Mar 19 2007]
Non-stationary treadmill reference
http://tom-servo.ho...iews_s02_ep208.html
[nomocrow, Mar 20 2007]
Moving treadmill
http://www.youtube....watch?v=mxX1eNllUqU
Bet you didnt see that coming [GutPunchLullabies, Jul 08 2007]
Another one.
http://www.youtube....watch?v=XUuwEq98ByM
[jutta, Nov 17 2008]
Treadmill scooter in action
https://gfycat.com/amusedzanybigmouthbass
[xaviergisz, Jul 01 2019]
Almost exactly this
https://lopifitus.com/
[Voice, Feb 26 2023]
[link]
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You could throw in a bit of learned
balancing skill and call it "The Bicycle" |
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a) it's Baked.
b) someone already proposed exercise machines that go places. |
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Umm, isn't this baked insofar as the fact that humans can walk directly on the ground? What is my reason for paying 300 bucks or whatever so that I can walk on something that allows me to move forward as if I were walking without anything? |
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Croissant for utter futility! :) |
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I like it, and I like the three wheeled design of it. It should allow you to move faster than you would be going directly on the ground, and you should be able to coast without the tread surface moving. |
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If I designed it, I would make it so the handle bars could lean to the left or to the right but the tread surface would not lean. |
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You could also make it with different speeds, and different incline angles. |
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[Smurfsahoy], That would just be stupid to design it as if you where walking without anything. It should be designed to have most of the same benefits of a bicycle. |
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I thought about doing a similar thing, but with a rowing machine or elliptical cross-trainer to work more muscle groups while I'm on the road. Would probably have to face the opposite direction that one would when rowing a boat. |
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Rowing bikes are already baked. |
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[BJS], I understand that it can allow gliding and mechanical advantage. But that's not really the goal here. It's being sold by the OP at least to be for exercising, and gliding along down a hill doesn't really help you lose any fat. In fact, it would make you lose less fat. |
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So come to think of it, it's even worse than I thought. I am paying hundreds of dollars for a device that makes my exercising require less energy?? That's exactly what I don't want to happen when I am exercising. |
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Plus, getting to the corner store faster just means that I buy my beef jerky there faster, and put those pounds back on again. |
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That may be your goal Smurfsahoy, but it's not everyone's goal. Some people exercise just for fun, and some people exercise for transportation, and some people exercise just to wear down their muscles so they can grow them back better. |
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You can walk on a sidewalk to the corner store and back, why walk on a treadmill? Unless the treadmill is made faster/more efficient, in which case it ruins the point of the treadmill - to exercise. If each step you take on the treadmill takes you approx. the same distance as a walking step, then no one would want to waste their money on something like it when they could just step out. Besides, you'd need special traffic lanes, and parking, and all kinds of stuff. If the point of the treadmill walker is to help you get there faster, well, the treadmill is pointless - take a scooter or a bike, or a skateboard. Even roller blades. You'd get the same function for a lot less cost. |
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People don't always do things because it is the cheapest or fastest or most efficient or "makes sense" in some way. |
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Some people just do things because they can or because they're crazy like me. |
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Okay, for fun works, I guess. |
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Transportation - it is way less efficient than other machines (like bikes) that sell for less anyway, if your goal is getting someplace quickly under your own power. |
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Wearing down muscles, etc. (other bodily effects of exercise) - all of these are worse with the gliding treadmill. You need to strain yourself to break down muscles, and coasting down hills in your treadmill-mobile does not do that. Thus, it won't accomplish this goal as well, and yet costs infinitely more. It also won't tone your frame as well as walking, it won't get you in cardiovascular shape as well as walking, etc. etc. |
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I meant this device to be marketed to the same folks who bought "The Step". |
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There are many ways to use your body to go places, some are more efficient and others are less efficient, it just depends on how you do it. |
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Because biking is different than walking. There's no other way to exercise those muscles, or anything in a circular, continuous fashion, in that posture, etc. Plus you're sitting down when you bike, which is rather important. And the transportation thing is a valid argument for bikes, since they are pretty much the most efficient land vehicle you can buy that works under human power. |
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With a treadmill vehicle, you're doing literally the exact same movements as walking. Thus, there is no muscular diversity or advantage between this and walking. That's the crucial difference. And it's inefficient for transportation. |
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Okay, so it's too efficient for exercising, and it's too inefficient for transportation. So theres no reason people would want to buy it. I get it now. |
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Actually, yes, that's what I am saying. Well, more like, |
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"It is too efficient for exercising, and also not any different than walking (which is free). And it is too inefficient/expensive for transportation." |
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The not being different that walking part is very important, since diversity of exercise is a big selling point of many otherwise pointless machines, and this one does not have that excuse. |
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This would let you walk barefoot to the store. It could even be carpeted. Once you get to the store, it's "no shoes, no service", but naturally you would think ahead and bring them to put on when needed. |
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The treadmill bike in that link is funny. I had to watch it all the way through a couple of times to be sure that it's a fake. There's no transmission from the treadmill to either wheel, but they do the video so well that it's hard to notice they are always coasting. [Later: See discussion below.] So they, at least would think this idea is silly. |
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But the eleven-year-old girl of this house thinks it's a great idea. [ ] |
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Clever, especially if you can walk in the opposite direction to the motion of the treadmill with respect to the ground. This will either look like Jacksonesque "moonwalking", or like you're frantically running away from something whilst being drawn irresistably towards it by some evil force. |
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[baconbrain], I think the treadmill bike is real. I believe power is transmitted from the tread to the rear wheel by friction... it looks to me like the back of the tread is actually in contact with the rear tire. |
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Carpeted treadmill? That's an awesome idea! Without the wheels, of course. |
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//power is transmitted from the tread to the rear wheel by friction... the back of the tread is actually in contact with the rear tire.// |
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I'll be dipped. That must be it, [lanky]. Good eye. I watched the vid again, and can't see it for sure, but that makes sense. Of the video, anyhow. |
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But that makes their bike "geared" exactly one-to-one. So it's no better than walking, speed-wise, and adds weight and friction. And a bike that won't fit in a bus. |
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This could be an excellent way for sufferers of OCD to get some exercise outside. |
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Don't like to have your shoes touch the sidewalk? This is for you. |
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Also good for people with delicate feet and knees who can hurt themselves walking on a concrete surface. |
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I still see a potential advantage of this versus walking, apart from the bare-foot thing: |
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1) I've been put off running due to the high impact it puts on my joints. The hardness of the treadmill could be tailored to minimise this impact, making running a safer sport. |
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2) I agree with baconbrain, the thing needs gears - preferably CVT. That way, you can have a constant effort mode of transportation regardless of terrain. |
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I still think I'd prefer cycling, though. |
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By the way [IJK], 12 ideas in 3 days? It's not a race mate. |
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This was done on MST 3K about ten years ago. They called it the "non-stationary treadmill," and even had a working model. |
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I like it if we can add an engine...The cockpit is a tread mill with handle bars a sterio and a mini-DVD. You walk but the engine multiplies your walking velocity by a factor of five. You do 3 mph walking on the treadmill and the engine and drive train accellerate you to 15 mph....These things would sell like hotcakes at an IHOP convention. And, you make them with racing stripes and so they can lean when cornering so you don't have to hold on. Eventually, we will have wildly popular "Tread Mill" races. Since they are basically human powered and just amplified by engines...what about "Tread Mill" competions at the Olympics? |
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// Since they are basically human powered and just amplified by engines... |
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You could argue that about my car. I provide motive force by pushing my foot down, and that motion is "amplified" by the engine... so lets have car racing in the olympics. |
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"By the way [IJK], 12 ideas in 3 days? It's not a race mate." |
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It isn't? Then why am I so behind? |
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//It isn't? Then why am I so behind?// |
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It's got something to do with a large quantity of rabbits and one exquisite quality turtle, or an amalgamation of both. I'm not sure. |
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However, I see it's now 15 ideas in 4 days, and none of which are doing particularly well. I'm no Baker-Si-Fu Master but I get the feeling you should wait for the ideas to come to you naturally, rather than actively trying to find them. |
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This idea on its own might have done better without the torrent of prolificism that came with it... |
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This is actually about the normal rate that ideas come to me...actually, for every idea that I posted there were several others I considered posting but rejected while typing it up. |
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But there are a couple ideas I'll admit I've had for a long time before, like the EFP shotgun and the inside-out umbrella. But the overwhelming majority of my old ideas are lost like tears in the rain. |
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As for how "well" the ideas are doing...I've only just joined so I really don't have a frame of reference. I'm not concerned with it, though...if people find some amusement from some of my postings, that's great. Otherwise...eh, whatever. |
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I wish I had your inspiration! |
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To be honest, sometimes we get Newbie Idea-Maniacs here who post shed loads of ideas but inevitably gets mfd'ed out the park or boned into submission, mainly because their ideas are either ill-conceived, offensive or contrary to the rules of the forum. Yours, however many, are not any of these things so I have nothing for which to complain. Sorry if I sounded rude old chap. |
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I always thought of my old ideas as attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. Distant and incomprehensible. |
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Hey IJK, chech this out! (linkerdoo) |
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I'd like to ride one of these wheeled treadmills on top of a bigger treadmil. It would be like, ironic and stuff. |
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I've roller bladed on a treadmill before, I was really just holding on while it was going at full speed, its not even wide enough to really roller blade anyway. |
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I wonder if they make extra wide treadmills for obese people or something... |
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Did you know that there was an invention made, about 20,000,000,000,000,000,000 years ago, that solved this ever-so-common and limiting problem? It was basically this: A bunch of small beams, connected together with a sort of jelly. The beams were also connected to strands of material which, when exposed to the proper substance, would change shape, causing the beams to change position with them. The necessary substance was in supply, and near enough to be used quickly. The entire system was covered in a protective outer layer, which helped hold it together. This whole thing was then attached to a person's ankle. It has been called many things, you may know it as a "foot". |
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[xaviergisz] I saw that thing on TV for the first time about a
week ago! What I couldn't figure out: is the treadmill
mechanically connected to the wheel, or is it a
generator/battery/motor arrangement? |
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I don't think it is mechanically connected or even a generator that is electrically connected. |
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My guess would be the treadmill *consumes* power. |
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