Quadracycle (Human powered) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A quadracycle is a four-wheeled human-powered vehicle

Human-powered transport

Human-powered transport is the transport of person and/or goods using human muscle power. Like animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming...

. It is also referred to as a quadricycle, quadcycle pedal car or four-wheeled bicycle, amongst other terms.

Human-powered quadracyles have been in use since 1853 and have grown into several families of vehicles for a variety of purposes, including tourist rentals, pedal taxis, private touring, mountain and industrial use.

Nomenclature

There is no consensus amongst manufacturers of four-wheeled, human powered vehicles as to what this class of vehicles should be called, although quadracycle is the most commonly-used term. Manufacturers who do refer to their products by class of vehicle call them:

Quadracycle - 11 manufacturers
Four wheel bicycle - 7 manufacturers
Quadricycle - 5 manufacturers
Quadcycle - 3 manufacturers
Pedal car - 2 manufacturers
Quad - 2 manufacturers

As well there are single manufacturers who call them Go-kart, Car, Car-Bike, Ecological car, Human Powered Vehicle, Pedal Kart, Quadribent, Quattrocycle, Surrey and Twin bike

History

The earliest recorded pedal-powered quadracycle was exhibited in 1853 at the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations World's Fair

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was a World's Fair held in 1853 in New York City, in the wake of the highly successful 1851 Great Exhibition in London. It aimed to showcase the new industrial achievements of the world and also to demonstrate the nationalistic pride of a relatively young...

held in New York City. This was about the same time that two-wheeled bicycles started to become popular. Quadracycles were one solution to the problem of low-speed stability in early cycles and were typically multi-seat models. Both tandem (in line) and sociable (side-by-side) seating configurations were used.

One early design, predating 1869 was the Andrews Quadracycle, built by Andrews of Dublin, Ireland. It was made from one inch-square iron and was propelled with foot levers that moved in a long horizontal ellipse

Ellipse

In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...

. The Sawyer Quadricycle was introduced in 1855 and featured lighter construction, wooden wheels, iron tires and front-wheel steering via a tiller. Like the Andrews Quadracycle it was moved by foot levers driving the rear axle. The Coventry Rotary Quadracycle was introduced in 1885 and used conventional bicycle-style rotary pedals instead of foot levers for drive. It was developed from a similar tricycle design and featured tandem seating for two. The Rudge Quadracycle of 1888 is described as the first modern practical four-wheeler. It had much lighter construction than earlier models, seated three riders in tandem and was steered by levers from the front seat.

Early in the twentieth century Massey-Harris in Canada developed the Canadian Royal Mail Quadracycle. This was used for mail delivery in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

as early as 1901. The Gendron Wheel Company created children's toy replica pedal cars up until World War II.

Modern quadracycles

Quadracycle use diminished in the late 19th century as a result of improvements in bicycle technology that made their four wheel cousins largely obsolete, although small numbers were manufactured through the 1950s for rental use in tourist areas.

A resurgence of 20th century quadracycle use occurred in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

where Charles Mochet introduced his Velocar

Velocar

Velocar was the name given to velomobiles made in the 1930s and 40s by Mochet et Cie of Puteaux, France....

pedal powered two-seat quadracycle in 1924. The various models of the Velocar featured wooden aerodynamic bodies and usually a three speed transmission. Production of final pedal-powered Mochet Velocar Model H ended in 1938, but Mochet went on to become a manufacturer of automobiles. The Velocar proved quite popular, especially during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

when the French population was under German occupation and gasoline was virtually unavailable for civil use. Restored Mochet Velocars are still found in France.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a resurgence of interest in quadracycles as personal transportation, driven by the 1973 oil crisis

1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...

, environmental concerns about air pollution

Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....

from automobiles and the search for emission-free alternatives.

Modern quadracycles can be generally placed in six categories:

Tourist destination rental

Quadracycles can often be found at tourist attraction

Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....

s where they are available to rent by the hour or day. Modern tourist quadracycles usually feature open seating for two or more riders in a sociable configuration. These vehicles are often designed to look like early 20th century automobiles with a bench seat, rack-and-pinion steering, and a canopy top. They are commonly called "surreys", due to their resemblance to horse-drawn wagons of similar appearance and the same name.

Examples of this type include:

International Surrey Company
International Surrey Company
International Surrey Company Ltd., also called "The Surrey Company", is a quadracycle manufacturer based in La Marque, Texas, USA. The company began production in the mid-1980s and specializes in providing products for the quadracycle rental market.-History:...

Surrey
Quadricycle International Quad-3
Rhoades Car
Rhoades Car
Rhoades Car, founded in 1992, is an operating division of Rhoades National Corporation, located in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA. The company was founded by David Rhoades and he served as its president until his death in late 2009 from heart disease at age 61. He was succeeded as president by Bill...

4W4P
Sirenetta

Pedal taxi

Similar to the surrey are pedal taxis or pedicabs

Cycle rickshaw

The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport; it is also known by a variety of other names such as velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, becak, trisikad, or trishaw or, simply, rickshaw which also refers to auto rickshaws, and the, now uncommon, rickshaws pulled by a person on foot...

. These tend to be four or even six seaters and are used as taxis, pedaled by professional drivers. Like the rental surreys, they are often found at tourist attractions and in the downtown areas of tourist destination cities.

Also like the rental surreys, pedal taxis are often constructed to resemble early 20th century cars and often feature awning coverings for protection from the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

.

Examples of this type include:

International Surrey
International Surrey Company
International Surrey Company Ltd., also called "The Surrey Company", is a quadracycle manufacturer based in La Marque, Texas, USA. The company began production in the mid-1980s and specializes in providing products for the quadracycle rental market.-History:...

Limousine
Momentum Quadracycles MQ4 Cabbie
Quadracycle Inc QuadraCab
Delphino (Limo)

Touring

Touring quadracycles are constructed specifically for the personal ownership market and are built to be lighter and faster than rental surreys. Typically, they seat one person or two people in side-by-side seating and feature independent pedaling and gear selection. They can have up to 192 gears, giving them remarkable hill-climbing capabilities. These touring quadracycles are used for long distance travel as well as local use; some are used for cycle-commuting to work.

Compared to touring or hybrid bicycles, touring quadracycles are more comfortable to ride, can navigate steeper hills more easily, deal with crosswinds better, and can carry a much heavier load than a bicycle. Touring quadrcycles have disadvantages compared to bicycles including that they are heavier, require more storage space, typically have slower cruise speeds, are more complex to maintain, and have a larger turning circle. Unlike bicycles (but like tricycles) a quadracycle is vulnerable to being rolled over on fast corners, and a very low centre of gravity and/or weight transfer by the riders to the inside of the curve is needed to avoid this.

Examples of this type of vehicle include:

Lightfoot MicroCar
Momentum Quadracycles MQ2 Leisure
Quadracycle International Little Deuce Coupe
Quadracycle Inc QuadraSport two-seater
Rhoades Car 4W2PCP two-seater coupe
RJK Ecological Car
Steppe by Steppe Quike
Ultimate Quadracycle CC-Sportster
Utah Trikes Quad

There are also plans available as well as some amateur-designed touring quadracycles made by combining two bicycles. These designs have had varying degrees of success.

Examples of plans built quadracycles are:

Skeldon Bike Co. Granny Bike
Atomic Zombie StreetFighter

Mountain quadracycles

Some quadracycles are designed to be the four-wheel counterparts of mountain bicycles and are optimized for strength and the ability to deal with steep and rough terrain; these are all single seat designs.

An example of this type is:

Crank-It Mountain Quad

Industrial use

There are quadracycles designed for local delivery of goods, such as spare parts in a factory environment or laundry at spread-out hotel complexes. They may have two seats and a pickup box or flat bed to allow loads to be transported. Industrial use quadracycles are also capable of pulling small trailers.

Some quadracycles in this category have also been designed for military applications, such as light logistics transport.

Examples of this type of quadracycle include:

Momentum Quadracycles MQ1 Industrial
Rhoades Car 4W2PLF
Rhoades Car Go Boy

Racing

Pedal Car Racing

Pedal Car Racing is a circuit racing endurance sport where teams of up to six drivers race single-seater human powered sports cars in races of up to twenty-four hours duration...

can be found in many parts of the world. The UK, France and Italy all have championships and Hong Kong has a 24 hour race every year. Racing pedal cars are lightweight machines built for the sole purpose of racing and are therefore unsuitable for road use.

Performance Art

The El Arbol quadracycle was built as a portable stage and sound system to make a point about the use of fossil fuels for transportation.

Security

Lacking the mass and door locks of automobiles, quadracycles are often secured in the same manner as bicycles with "U" or "D" locks, chains or cables to convenient stout objects such as fence posts, signs or bike racks.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.