I had a prototype of my semi-prone bicycle design built and have taken it for several test rides. Here is a picture of the frame, alone; here a picture of the bike-and me-ready to roll through some tests. Bikehikes.com interviewed me about the design here.
The semi-prone bike rides smoothly and very, very quickly. I continue to tinker with various components and configurations so as to perfect the bike's control and comfort. Ultimately, I think I will have to have a new version of the frame made, as the current one seems to put too much weight on the front wheel.
Filing a provisional application for the semi-prone bike let me try a relatively new route toward seeking patent protection. As it turns out, the provisional application worked exactly as planned. After filing the provisional application, I did some in-depth research on the prior art and decided that I would have to carefully rethink the scope of my claims. I am currently focusing on a particular invention necessary to make semi-prone bikes commercially viable.
As the examples here demonstrate, several people have experimented with prone-position bikes.
Return to Tom W. Bell's Homepage.
(C) 1997-2009 Tom W. Bell. All rights reserved. Fully attributed noncommercial use of this document permitted if accompanied by this paragraph.
