Whymcycle

A Whymcycle is a vehicle with an off-centered hub on the large rear wheel and is powered by the rider making a bouncing motion on the platform.

History

An Ingo-bike is a vehicle similar to a kick scooter, with a large rear wheel. Invented in 1934 by the Huyssen brothers and called the "Exercycle", then produced by Ingersoll-Rand Corporation from 1934-1937, under the name "Ingo-bike". A group of Ingo-bikers in the late 1930s traveled from Chicago to Miami in 30 days. Re-introduced as a children's scooter in the 1960s with the name "kangaroo scooter". And finally, produced since the 1990s and called "whymcycle", by inventor/substitute teacher Peter Wagner.

Name

The term 'Whymcycle' Wagner coined by taking the common word 'whimsical',which means imaginative, fanciful or eccentric; socially eccentric, that is. Also, the Ingo-style bike he makes has an eccentric rear axle for propulsion, as well as being a rather fanciful mode of transport. To complete the trifecta of this bike's nomenclatural origins, Wagner's middle name is William, which he abbreviates as 'Wm.'. Hence the bikes he makes are:

# Wm.'s cycles
# whimsical - imaginative,
# whimsical - eccentrically powered and socially off-center to boot.

Variations

Nineteen years of production has resulted in 121 'Whymsies', thus far. The term has come to apply to all of the styles of creative cycles he makes, from handcycles for other-abled riders, to assorted cycles: front wheel drive, recumbentbikes and trikes, quadracycles, tall bikes, high wheelers- big and small,as well as tandems and sociable trikes of various stripes. Kinetic Sculptures, that is , all-terrain amphibious human -powered machines, which have been built and raced on the West Coast since 1969, are also some of the machines Wagner builds. See 'That's A Mower, Eh?', 'Kinetic Choo Choo', and his race car tired amphibious Whymcycle, #115 in fact, 'Bounce For Glory'.

External links

* [http://www.flickr.com/people/27047646@N00/ Flickr: whymcycles]
* [http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=72157594587108763&nsid=27047646@N00&lang=en-us That's A Mower, Eh?]