The Swift - a better recumbent. And more.
Like recumbent cycles,
this radical bicycle benefits from the comfort of a fully supporting seat. But the Swift is different because its ingenious
mechanical design overcomes the significant disadvantages that I believe have prevented
recumbents from achieving more market share as a viable alternative to the conventional
upright bicycle. In short, the Swift enables riders to enjoy the comfort and high
speed of a low-seated recumbent but with greatly improved usability and hill-climbing
performance.
Design Concepts to Improve the Bicycle
Most cyclists appreciate the potential comfort advantages of
a recumbent seating position, particularly for long distance riding. Low seated
recumbents are also particularly appealing to a proportion of cyclists, in
principle at least, who see them as faster than conventional bicycles. But to
go fast on a recumbent requires an uncompromising low ride height, typically less
than 20”, which results
in poor stability, visibility (seeing and being seen) and hill-climbing
performance. Despite the potential for higher speeds, these traits put off many
that try riding them. Most recumbent manufacturers therefore offer a range of
differing seat heights that achieve a compromise between speed and ease of use.
While the higher-seated recumbents may be easier to ride, they lose much of their
speed advantage, tend to look at speed and offer little improvement in climbing
ability. So, despite the comfort advantages of recumbents, the compromise that
has to be made on seat height and their poor climbing ability have limited their
acceptance as a viable alternative to the upright bicycle. The primary design
requirement of the Swift project was to permit switching of the seat height
while riding.
Some studies have shown performance improvements for a range
of riders, on exercise bicycles, through supplementing pedalling by using the
arms or upper body in some way. So the second design requirement of
the Swift project was to develop an upper body power system that is
unobtrusive, easy to use and compatible with conventional pedalling.
The Swift Unifies Two Design Ideas
The Swift’s rider can switch from an upright riding position
for much improved slow-speed balance and visibility to a low, fully recumbent
position for fast riding, on the open road. Crucially, either position can be
easily selected while riding using pedal and handlebar movements, without
operating latches or levers.
The Swift also includes the first supplementary propulsion
system that is viable for two wheeled use. Our tests have shown that the Swift ‘push-pull’
handlebar power system is very effective in reducing rider stress at high
levels of effort, such as when climbing or accelerating.
These two key features of the Swift design are
complimentary: for hill climbing and rapid accelerating, the upright riding
position is chosen and overall rider effort and fatigue are reduced by using
the supplementary handlebar propulsion system. For high speeds over flatter
terrain, the lower position is selected.
While the Swift is more complex than a conventional recumbent,
considerable development have resulted in a very efficient design: the riding
position selection and handlebar propulsion system doubles up as the actuation
system for seat height switching so complexity is kept to a minimum. We believe
that this is far outweighed by the ease of riding and performance advantages.
These not only make it superior to a recumbent but our tests show that it can
outperform conventional bicycles in terms of maximising a rider’s physical
power output with a reduced level of physical stress. In other words, the Swift is
er-gonomically superior to both conventional and recumbent cycles.
Intellectual Property
The Swift is currently proteced by two patent applications.
Furthe opportunies are available for
protecting recently developed inventions within the current design.
Transforming the Market
In the short term, any advantages over the conventional
bicycle are likely to be hard to sell to the mass market. But we envisage the Swift’s
ability to combine the speed of a low seated recumbent with the stability and
visibility of a high seater are a direct challenge to recumbents’ market share.
This competitive advantage is enhanced by the additional hill climbing ability
obtained from the handlebar propulsion system.
Estimates
vary but 20,000 units would be a reasonable working figure for
global recumbent sales. With sufficient
promotion, we assume a share of 3% of the global recumbent market in the first
year of launch, rising to 10% in year 5. That is equivalent to 600 and 2000
units respectively. In relation to conventional bicycles, recumbents occupy a
niche market and enjoy relatively high unit prices and a unit cost of around
$3,000 is competitive with the current market offerings. This gives projected retail revenues of $1.8m
and $6.0m in year one and year five respectively.
