Bicycles and skateboards have long been popular among children and adults alike, both for transportation and leisure activities. Inventors have found a way to combine the two, producing variations on the skateboard-bike theme. Despite the variety of designs, the skateboard bike offers a new riding experience while still providing mobility, speed and fun.
Features
All skateboard bikes, regardless of specific design, represent a merging of a bicycle and skateboard. The typical skateboard bike features a bicycle's front wheel and handlebar assembly, complete with hand brakes, connected to a hybrid skateboard deck. The skateboard portion only has the two rear wheels, with the large bicycle tire serving as the vehicle's lone front wheel. In that sense, a skateboard bike is almost like a standing, seatless tricycle.
Function
Riders grip the skateboard bike's handlebars and place one foot on the skateboard deck, pushing off with the other foot to build speed like a standard skateboard. Once forward momentum has been established, the rider then stands on the skateboard deck and cruises along, steering the vehicle with the handlebars in the same fashion as a standard bicycle. The hand brakes allow the rider to manage the vehicle's speed and prevent it from careening out of control.
Benefits
The skateboard bike presents an entirely unique riding experience. Users get to enjoy the feel and dynamics of skateboarding while at the same time benefiting from the superior control and safety of bicycle steering and braking. The skateboard bike allows those with no skateboarding experience to at least get a taste of what it's like without fear of painful falls and lack of control. Bicyclists looking for a new challenge may benefit from the subtle balance adjustments and feel of skateboarding.
Types
Some skateboard bikes feature construction with a second bar on the vertical handlebar assembly. This second bar slants down and leads into the skateboard deck. Other skateboard bikes feature only one vertical handlebar assembly, with the skateboard deck connecting directly to the wheel through a sturdy mount at the wheel's center hub. An even more radical design features no handlebars, with the entire contraption consisting of only a large bicycle tire mounted within a skateboard deck, making it resemble a unicycle more than a bicycle.
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