Monowheel, driving in one wheel

The bigger a wheel, the less you will be bothered by a bumpy road surface. The largest imaginable car wheel is a wheel that you sit in. We’re talking about a monowheel.

Dynasphere, crazy design from the thirties

The petrol car had only just won the competition against the steam car and the electric car. At that time there were still many small, quirky car factories in the United Kingdom where eccentric inventors kept themselves occupied with devising the ultimate car to conquer the English roads.

One of the most remarkable inventions was the Dynasphere by inventor John Archibald Purves. Although Purves did his most useful work in electrical engineering, he became immortal in coming up with perhaps the craziest car ever built.

The Dynasphere was in fact a wheel of three meters in size, in which the driver sat. Ideal for the bumpy roads of England in those days, it wasn’t difficult to find a buyer for this outlandish vehicle in a country where eccentric behavior was a lifestyle.

However, this Ferris wheel had some disadvantages, so it flopped anyway. For example, steering was difficult, and the driver regularly had to look outside to observe the traffic situation around him. But who knows, the monowheel might make a comeback. Our steering technology has improved considerably with power steering and the like. Although parking will remain difficult with this remarkable invention.

Monowheel bicycle

Somewhat more successful were smaller, more modern attempts. For example, the “monovelo” from China is now for sale. This is a human powered vehicle, in which you move by pedaling. Because this wheel is much narrower than the enormously wide wheel of Purves’ Dynasphere, it is easier to control.

Although an electric bicycle from, for example, Gazelle or Batavus is of course much more comfortable. Because this monowheel bicycle does not have a pneumatic tire, but a solid rubber tire. That’s a good thing, because changing a tire is of course not an option with this monstrously large wheel. And brakes? You just do that with your feet. so arrange some non-slip shoe soles. This piece of bizarre Chinese engineering is yours for a mere $2,500.