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'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

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Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#101

Post by deltarholamda »

rhaps0dy wrote: post #12

What's the advantage of this over foot fins?

From the videos, not much IMO. Presumably the guys doing it in the videos have a fair amount of experience with it, and it looks... awkward.

Flippers have a great deal of fine control in all axis, and this doesn't look like it does. I'm a pretty fair diver, but when you see guys who dive all the time, they look like they were born with those flippers.

And free divers? I can't imagine them giving up their fins. They take advantage of the really long and strong muscles in the legs.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#102

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

julianeon wrote: post #98
rhaps0dy wrote: post #12

What's the advantage of this over foot fins?

I can think of a huge one. I live near a fairly dangerous ocean in SF where I’ve gone bodyboarding with a wetsuit and fins. I’m concerned that, if caught in a current, fins are not enough to propel me out of it. This would. The extra power and ease of propulsion could make all the difference.

I guess the logistics of the thing make all the difference here. Is this something you can detach from a surfboard and equip while being carried out in choppy waters? Could be either really useful or useless depending on that answer

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#103

Post by matt-attack »

DrammBA wrote: post #88
uncertainrhymes wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fair point. My (untested) assumption would be that it would be cumbersome and weird, and I wouldn't be 'swimming'. If I were to guess at their motivations, it might be 'what could make me go faster in the water and also be enjoyable'? I'd try it out of curiosity, sure, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't last beyond the novelty for me.

Biking is definitely cumbersome and weird at the beginning, and it wouldn't be considered "running" by any stretch of the imagination.

A bike is just a way for runners to cheat.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#104

Post by causal »

pge wrote: post #93
wood_spirit wrote: post #83

It’s obscure but there was such a contraption trialled by the seals and cia in the 1950s http://www.hisutton.com/CIA_Water-Air_1958.html Here’s a pedal powered smuggling submarine from the 1940s http://www.hisutton.com/Swiss-Pedal-Powered-Smuggling-Submar...

Interesting that the CIA conclusion for a device very similar to the article is "Not recommended for operational use due to its discomfort and very slight gain in speed over that of a swimmer equipped with fins."

Yeah I think for most uses I would still prefer fins for their agility. Cool idea though, and we probably haven't seen peak efficiency here.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#105

Post by giraffe_lady »

gklitz wrote: post #51
uncertainrhymes wrote: post #35

I 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…

> I swim because I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to get somewhere fast. I run because I enjoy it, not because I’m trying to get somewhere fast. But I also bike because I enjoy it, not because I’m trying to get somewhere fast. You seem to assume that because this thing is faster, it must automatically be less enjoyable. That’s not the case for bikes, why should it be the case here? In my opinion it sounds fun, and…

Fixed gear bikes are the most fun so it kinda is true of bikes.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#106

Post by ben7799 »

julianeon wrote: post #98
rhaps0dy wrote: post #12

What's the advantage of this over foot fins?

I can think of a huge one. I live near a fairly dangerous ocean in SF where I’ve gone bodyboarding with a wetsuit and fins. I’m concerned that, if caught in a current, fins are not enough to propel me out of it. This would. The extra power and ease of propulsion could make all the difference.

You just need to get familiar with the correct way to handle a current like that. It’s not to fight it.

Especially with a bodyboard and fins doing the right thing does not require a ton of strength and shouldn’t be stressful.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#108

Post by epiccoleman »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #48
vitiral wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You are not alone!

I was in swim lessons since I was like 3, on swim teams from age 8 to 18, I love the water. But I never cracked the code of floating.

I can _sort of_ float on my stomach, but this is not especially useful. And I definitely have some degree of buoyancy, I have to let out air if I want to sink to the bottom. But my default state in the water is to bob uselessly near the surface. Even with a big breath, even if I try to hold them up, my legs drag me down.

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#109

Post by itishappy »

peutetre wrote: post #25
bilsbie wrote: post #10

I wish we could find a good way to bike over the surface of the water. I haven’t seen anything that’s not slow and cumbersome.

Hydrofoil bike: https://manta5.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heSPbLHftKw

Foil boards are getting semi-popular for kiteboarding. They can be self-powered as well using a jumping motion. They also make e-foils with small electric props.

https://www.google.com/search?q=foil+board

Re: 'Underwater bicycle' propels swimmers forward at superhuman speed

#110

Post by kiba »

gklitz wrote: post #51
uncertainrhymes wrote: post #35

I 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…

> I swim because I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to get somewhere fast. I run because I enjoy it, not because I’m trying to get somewhere fast. But I also bike because I enjoy it, not because I’m trying to get somewhere fast. You seem to assume that because this thing is faster, it must automatically be less enjoyable. That’s not the case for bikes, why should it be the case here? In my opinion it sounds fun, and…

Running does make pedestrian locomotion more tolerable. Save me some money versus using electric scooters though I think electric scooters are still faster.
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