mdz wrote: ↑01.10.2021, 09:25
Es tik nesaprotu kāds tai uzpariktei sakars ar pitonu. Moš jābūt galīgā pitonā lai ar viņu pārvietotos.
Intro
The python is a center-steered lowracer with 2x26" wheels, front wheel drive and rear suspension.
The ancestor of the python is the "airbike", another center-steered recumbent I have been riding since 1996 - and still enjoy to ride. Once you have learnt the steering principle, the bike can easily be handled without using your hands, therefore handlebars can be omitted.
However, any average mortal person can learn how to ride such a bike, it's just a matter of determination and patience, to different degrees. The latter usually is counted in days or weeks. After having gained full control over the machine (we are talking of months now), the ride on center-steered bikes is said to have a kind of metaphysical quality which more than rewards the candidate for all the pain and suffering he has gone through on his way towards perfection.
I took part in some races with the airbike and felt that I should have a faster bike. I decided to build a lowracer, but of course it had to be center-steered as well. The construction should be as simple as possible and the parts taken from normal MTBs. Homebuilding a lowracer for absolute beginners.
I began the CAD constructions in winter 2002/03 and in the same time built a prestudy bike, which I called "flairbike". The rear suspension and the seat construction of the flairbike work pretty well but I was not satisfied with the front part. Additionally the flairbike was not low enough for my purpose. The breakthrough was the idea of using a normal bottom bracket for the steering pivot. Thus the pivot has enough stability and the front part can be straight. As a bonus, the whole bike can be splitted in the middle simply by loosening the crank arms.
I started the building in february 2003 and the first roll out was only 2 weeks later, although I had to learn the MAG welding from zero. I did not spend more than 10 Euro for the material. And amazingly the bike looked pretty good.
When thinking of the long and straight frame of this new kind of bike, it reminded me of some kind of huge snake. So the name "python" was chosen.
Some people asked me if the python is steerable at all because of its negative trail. In general, bikes with NT are not stable, especially at high velocities or when applying the front brake. But the steering geometry of the python is different, because the construction behaves like a "hanging pendulum". This means that the drivers weight forces the front part into a centered position, thus stabilizing the system.
Meanwhile I spent more than 2500 km on the python and I really love this bike. I use it daily for commuting, recreation and even in urban traffic. And still have many plans with it ...
Bent but not Broken --- Jürgen, June 2003
