This simple redesign for a fun bicycle involves removing the wheels from a bicycle and replacing them with basketballs. Basketballs are chosen for their size, and ubiquity.

The basketballs are placed in appropriately sized plastic soup bowls, and some simple bearings are inserted to line the inside of the bowl. The first basketball bowl is affixed to the front forks by some means.

The second bowl has a rectangular opening cut in the bottom of the bowl. A smaller wheel connected to the chain driven sprocket passes through this opening as it turns. This in turn powers the basketball, which has also been assembled to the rear fork.
-- rcarty, Aug 01 2013

If only the motive force could somehow come from the bowl/ball itself... Roaming_20Goldfish_20Bowl
[calum, Aug 01 2013]

Unrideable. A bicycle depends on lateral resistance from the tires to make a turn. If the tires can spin in that direction, you'll slide out every time you try. Not to mention that the front wheel is essentially unstearable, such that power from the rear (driving wheel) will mostly cause the bike to turn sideways and then immediately tip over.

It is vaguely possible that the you could make it work with a more traditional front wheel and a ball rear driving wheel, but it's still only going to be able to make very shallow turns.
-- MechE, Aug 01 2013


Ah, but if you could induce dribbling...
-- normzone, Aug 01 2013


Another means would be to use pedalling or bellows to force air into the soupbowl levitating the bike over the balls.
-- rcarty, Aug 02 2013



random, halfbakery