Submitted by: dunno source via Submit a Kludge!
Anyone else hear the circus music in their head? Just me? Oh…
Favorite Comment(s): Fixer snash plays the straight man by asking, “How on earth do you pull the break? Might take some exercise to be able to pull the handle with no hands…..”
AND: Fixer Little Girl Blue replies, “One word: Kegels.”
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I’m not sure what i am more disturbed by, the idea of this contraption or where they decided to put the hand break
That’s a creative (and uncomfortable) way to mount the braking handle! It took me a while to notice where it is.
For clowns who can only juggle one object at a time?
This is a Skatebike, riding is fun, but the brake is useless.
i had one during the 90s.
Not sure that counts as a kludge–it was a commercial product.
yet another cheezeburger network fail
Whoa! :-O I made a comment below about Michael Jackson while this video comment was still in ‘awaiting moderation’ “jail.” Someone actually impersonates him at the end of the commercial!
Wow, Dogmeat! With that kind of thinking, you could be living the life of a failed sporting equipment inventor, if only you’d played your cards right 20 years ago…
Right now, I feel a little like the professor from Gilligan’s Island after they were rescued. He kept inventing things and having ideas that everyone already came up with several years before.
Haha! You know, when I was about 7, I thought there should be a machine that would let you watch any episode of a television show you wanted, just by typing in what you want to watch. Specifically, I had in mind watching color episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Just wait until THAT invention takes off!
How did I make it out of the 80s (or possibly early 90s) without ever hearing of this thing?
How on earth do you pull the break? Might take some excercise to be able to pull the handle with no hands…..
One word: Kegels.
I was going to say, “With your knee, just like you’re steering a car.” But this way has the potential bonus of no one knowing you’re doing it.
I’m not sure how this vid is related to skatebike, but thanks for sharing this with us
sorry… by vid I meant article. Still, interesting stuff.
google “kegels”
I think “strongend” is a more appropriate term in that case…
High-five!
^5!
It might be more “Mid-five!”
Kegels!? Not to pull the brake up! Smash the seat above the brake, maybe? Still funny, though.
You see, blkgrrl, you lower your … oh, nevermind.
Kegels don’t seem to do much for us men.
Epic win.
That pink thing protruding from under the saddle is not a brake – it’s a hook for hanging bags. The real brake (not visible in this picture) is controlled by the sphincter.
If your problem is hanging bags I can think of a much more comfortable solution than a hook. Tighter bike shorts, perhaps.
Eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!
This apparatus belonged to the late Michael Jackson, which he invented when he was a teenager. Experts agree that Michael was the only one to have ever successfully mastered its operation. With this device, he was able to learn moves that defied comprehension such as the Moonwalk. It also explains why he grabbed his crotch so much and belted out those high-pitched cries of pain.
It’s a skatebike!
I wanted one of those things so bad 20 years ago.
It’s supposed to look like that.
It’s actually called a “Skatebike.” They were all the rage around here in the early 80′s. We had a guy in our hometown who was a distributor. He managed to sell a few on the college campuses.
Ironically, as a unicycle rider, I never could get the hang of the skatebike. The balance is completely different.
RC Skatebike, they were a Christmas fad in the early 90′s.
Should a commercial product really qualify as a kludge?
ht tp://www.qu-ax.com/en/products/fun1/Balance-Bike
That was exactly my thought – it’s a commercial item and unmodified (my neighbour’s kids had a couple) I really don’t think it’s a suitable addition.
The kludge is in the tire color! Bloody red!
This is not a fix !
Such a thing is called “Skatebike” … something that afaik appeared in the early 90s.
Crotch Brake? Yea that’ll catch on….
Lol, you guys never seen one of those? It’s called a skatebike. They were quite popular around here (Holland) in the nineties. I never mastered to ride one for more than about 150 yards though.
That’s not a kludge, it’s a vintage skatebike. We owned one, but couldn’t get replacement tubes for the tire, so sold it just two years ago. We got a nice price for it. Collectors love ‘em.
Yyyeaaahhh you might give people the wrong idea when you brake…
dunno why or how they made it but i kinda want one now
this is called a skate bike…
Just you. Unicycles have the pedals mounted to the wheel. This kludge took a standard small bike seat & tubing, cut the tube which would go to a normal front wheel and replaced it with a short tube & mounting plate for the skateboard wheels. Great toy for a kid, but it is so PINK!
Brilliant. Except it’s not a kludge, genius.
You men have to admit: NOT having a crossbar upon which to smash your nonos — an altogether too vivid and painful childhood/adulthood memory for some — is a definite plus with this design…
Having to apply counter pressure to that same region in order to brake is hardly a great trade-off.
My friend had one of these, he was the only one who could ride it. I think he got it from Germany, it was surprisingly quick.
Look Ma, no hands. I’m steering with my butt cheeks.
I so want one of these.
Also includes amazing hands-free braking device! (note: model varies depending on choice of pink or blue tire)
Handlebars are overrated…
I had one of these, and never learned to ride it. You steer by leaning, but it’s much harder than it looks. And where *would* you put the brake lever?
Lever brakes are overrated — ever heard of bicycle foot brakes? You just press the pedals backwards a bit.
At least in Poland, all bikes during communist times had these, but sadly, it’s the case no longer. All the bicycle gear is imported nowadays, and so all bikes have hand brakes instead.
Pedal brakes were superior. They were stronger yet you could easily brake only slightly. They were more reliable, didn’t require maintenance, there were no cables hanging around, and on regular bikes there’s no risk of toppling forward as when using front-wheel hand brake.
It’s a CLOWN bike!!! Roll that thing of a cliff with it attached by…
A: Duct tape
B: Zip ties
C: Rope
D: All of the above
Please respond: CRS (Clown Removal Services) takes all replys in confidence.
This isn’t a kludge…they were sold like that. I had one in the late 80′s/early 90′s. It was awesome!
FAIL. not the person that made this, the training wheels
How is it I missed these? I’m sure my kids would have asked for one and I think it would have been a much better request than the “pocket rocket” (super-mini motor bike) that was the rage in the late 90′s. It looks like fun!
Perhaps not a kludge, but it could be pretty exciting for someone riding it down a bumpy hill.
Everyone starts somewhere, I suppose. Who knew so much effort went into being silly that someone made training wheels for it?
*Try* riding a unicycle and then say that. I’ll wait.
I would totally ride that, how do you steer?
these things owned
i had so much fun with mine ^^
till offcourse i broke it in half cuz i was a tad to harsh with it ><
I still have my SkateBike, and the original box. It was made by Worlds of Wonder; the same folks that brought us Teddy Ruxpin. I take it out once in a while to impress the grandkids. They like it more than my unicycle. NOT a kludge.
Hmmm . . . just because it was made commercially it isn’t a kludge? Not sure about that. Some of history’s greatest inventions have been cobbled-together patch-ups like that.
As a personal aside, I don’t remember these at all.
OMG! Skatebike! I had one of those back in the 80′s! That’s a blast from the past I thought I’d never see again.
I always wanted a skate bike in the 90s! The neighbor boy had one and I was sooooooo jealous.
Didn’t have much talent anyway, when he allowed me to try it out.
i’ve ridden on one of those – texas
I love that, in order to brake you have to grab your crotch.
(I’d do that even if i didn’t need to stop.)
Well, there’s the significance of Michael Jackson (TM) in the ad — see above.
I have one of these…if anyone is looking to buy one.
Wow, I just saw one of these for the first time yesterday
it seems this ride was invented to cruse the beach and the mounting of the break well, the handle gets taped to the shnoz of the rider to insure a quick complete stop when the Viagra kicked in or if the rider sees some thing of real interest. mostly a California thing
KOOL
Aahhhh… The teeth we lost on that thing… Memories :’)
hahaha no not a unicycle training wheel idiots
its a skate board bike
we got one at circus
even if it was a unicycle training wheels it has the wrong seat for a unicycle
Beleive it or not, I used to have one of these when I was a teenager (25+ years ago), although on the model I had the brake was on a short section of bar you held in your hand (initially). The bar was later welded to the rear of the seat to make a sort of handlebar under your rear end. (This was after a certain amount od asphalt rash…)
Sorry, no photos available at the moment, I’ll see if anyone else has any I can submit.
Wow… you have to have some very talented crotch bits to stop this thing…
I would love to have one of these!! Does any one sellthem checked the internet, and ebay to no avail.
I want ONE BAD!!!