Most technologies exist to make your life easier, safer, smoother. On the other hand, this one is designed purely to throw a spanner in your works. The Helyx Bike lets you steer with both the handlebars and your backside, making for a challenging (and very wacky-looking) ride.
A flexible bike that allows you to steer both the front and rear wheels independently
Vaguely reminiscent of the equally bizarre with its twisting frame, the Helyx bike operates on a simpler principle. The front end is more or less standard, but the rear end is on a twisting fork of its own, with the simple fixed-speed drive extending forward and the curved mainframe designed to take a load of a rider up to 100 kg (220 lb) without triangular bracing.
The seat swivels, fixed to the rear wheel, so in essence, you grab it with your butt cheeks and steer the back end with your hips. The results let you ride the bike more or less normally if you like, or swing the back end out merrily to make onlookers think your bike is about to self-destruct. You can almost think of it like a unicycle with a totally free-swinging outrigger; there will be gawping wherever you ride it.
Guaranteed to raise eyebrows
Its creator James Roberts says it’s not built to be fast or practical but to be the kind of challenge you once experienced while first trying to ride a bike. I’m not sure many people would look back on those days as halcyon times they’d love to re-live. Still, the sheer weirdness of the Helyx Bike will surely be enough to sell out the initial run of 100 bikes, and they’ll doubtless be popular with attention seekers, circus acts, and street performers, as well as all your drunk friends.
If you need to get anywhere in a hurry, the rear wheel is easily lockable, transforming the Helyx into a more or less regular bike. Recently we have seen more and more surprising bikes appearing on the market. How about this bike for your children, which is very flexible in a different way.
