I'd give it a try, but the "crotch rod" mounting strategy looks awfully uncomfortable.
Engineering students have been building "underwater bicycles" for human-powered submarine competitions for decades!
'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
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Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#42> The nominal mode enables motion through the water at 3.6 km/h, and for speed-seekers, the SEABIKE can reach a maximum of 7.9 km/h – much faster than normal swimming speeds or even flipper-assisted swimming. https://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/seabike/product-68606-564117... Pretty fast, but "superhuman"? For short distances Michael Phelps can swim faster :)
Traveling at that speed for a long distance would be beyond human capabilities, wouldn't it? Super just means beyond, not way beyond. I blame Superman for this notion.
Not really. Most serious lap swimmers can do a kilometer every 20 minutes sustainably, akin to a marathon runner's pace (Sprint pace would be 100m/minute, with 50m/minute being what you would see in the fast lane of most recreational pools). So 3.6 kph isn't all that different, maybe a little faster than average but I assume they were also using a better-than-average bicycle person when doing the test.
There real advantage here is that you can use leg muscle. Distance swimming is all about upper body muscles, with legs being the afterburners only really used for sprinting. This machine would invert that arrangement.
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#43If it’s powered exclusively by a human then whatever the results, they’re not “superhuman”.
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#44At first glance, the idea of clip-ons in the water seems quite dangerous.
Really, why? Because you might drown? Try holding your breath and just floating, arms at your side and legs not moving. You will bob to the surface. Then quickly release your breath and snap your neck back to take a new one. Repeat. That's all it takes to not drown. You could almost do it as a quadriplegic (though I'm not 100% on "water balance" in that case).
This is not true if your feet are clipped to an object heavy enough to keep you under the water though
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#45How long till this is fitted with a motor, an e-propeller :)
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#46At first glance, the idea of clip-ons in the water seems quite dangerous.
Really, why? Because you might drown? Try holding your breath and just floating, arms at your side and legs not moving. You will bob to the surface. Then quickly release your breath and snap your neck back to take a new one. Repeat. That's all it takes to not drown. You could almost do it as a quadriplegic (though I'm not 100% on "water balance" in that case).
No, not all people are buoyant. Some people sink. I used to be able to float even with my lungs empty, but after losing 30kg I can now walk on the bottom of the pool will my lungs full of air.
Also, even if you are buoyant, it does not follow that being strapped to some device means you can't drown.
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#47At first glance, the idea of clip-ons in the water seems quite dangerous.
Can you elaborate on that?
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#48At first glance, the idea of clip-ons in the water seems quite dangerous.
Really, why? Because you might drown? Try holding your breath and just floating, arms at your side and legs not moving. You will bob to the surface. Then quickly release your breath and snap your neck back to take a new one. Repeat. That's all it takes to not drown. You could almost do it as a quadriplegic (though I'm not 100% on "water balance" in that case).
Some people (myself included) don’t float like this. I try basically every time I get in the water and my legs drift down to just after 45 degrees and then I slip under completely and don’t resurface until I give in and swim back up.
People who can float never believe me, but enough have now seen me in the water that I know I’m not “doing it wrong” I just don’t float.
The people who’ve seen me try it in water always say something along the lines of “huh, I thought everyone could float” we’ve done a few goes.
Most people float, I’m just not one of them.
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#49I swim because I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to get somewhere fast. This seems awkward and I bet you have to use your arms just to counterbalance the twist you'd get on each 'stroke' of the leg. So even though I think it's goofy, I bet I'd like whoever came up with this. Someone who put a ton of effort into building something they thought would be interesting despite a thousand people telling them it's goofy. Go…
Balancing this device must have been a good problem to solve! All I can think of is “where does the other end that stick go?”
Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Traveling at that speed for a long distance would be beyond human capabilities, wouldn't it? Super just means beyond, not way beyond. I blame Superman for this notion.
Not really. Most serious lap swimmers can do a kilometer every 20 minutes sustainably, akin to a marathon runner's pace (Sprint pace would be 100m/minute, with 50m/minute being what you would see in the fast lane of most recreational pools). So 3.6 kph isn't all that different, maybe a little faster than average but I assume they were also using a better-than-average bicycle person when doing the test. There real adv…
Perhaps the question must be then is Michael Phelps (or whoever) faster on it?
If he or someone else breaks the record with it, he's going beyond human level speed. Until then this may only have the potential to do so.
I imagine the first bikes were slower than the top runners of the time? I see potential for the idea.