Human locomotion - not bv legs alone
Three-wheel manuped
breezes bv tea - speeds
Fred Tatch might have a solution for this
country s energy crisis
Tatch's solution is a "human powered vehicle
(hpv) that he says runs more efficiently than a
10-speed bicycle and moves at speeds that almost
match an automobile s
He calls his invention a manuped. a modified
tn-cycle with 12 gears, seven sprockets, and three
chains He sits in a supine position amid all this
hardware and propels himself using both hand and
foot power Nylon stretched over a steel frame serves
as a trailer or passenger seat which rides between
the two back wheels
The machine weighs 30 pounds without the
trailer 55 pounds with
Story by Caroline Petrich
Graphic by Max DeRungs
The manuped compliments Tatch s premise that
two things move society — its means of
transportation and its attitudes During his time as a
University environmental studies major, he
concluded that changing the means was easier than
altering attitudes
Tatch, a former auto mechanic, has designed
manupeds since 1975 Although the patent for the
first manuped design is owned by former University
student. John Thomas. Tatch has redesigned the
machine seven times He now rides his eighth
manuped
A transportation renaissance
Tatch. 32 belongs to a new movement that could
be called a transportation renaissance He says the
movement began in 1974 when Chester Kyle
coordinated the Human Power Vehicles Association
The association provided an impetus for inventors
like Tatch to create a medium between bicycles and
automobiles
With his machine Tatch has caught the
courteous disdain of other hpv designers and
standard cyclists
One of the manuped s chief competitors is the
vector a similar machine designed along some of the
same aerodynamic principles Like the manuped it
rides on three wheels, but unlike Tatch s invention it
utilizes leg power alone At 51 pounds, it has only six
speeds and sports a foam-padded reclining seat
posh accomodations compared with Fred's
fiberglass and packing-bubbles seat
Vector riders have averaged speeds of 50 mph
and have clocked sprints at 62 mph The vehicle
traveled from Stockton, Calif , to Sacremento. Calif
in 42 minutes at 50 mph on the treeway
But Tatch outbiked the machine in 1979 at the
International Human Power Speed Races He
attributes his victory to the manuped s ability to lean
into turns more than the vector
The vector and manuped both incorporate
fairings' or streamline devices that cover the entire
machine The rounded airfoil decreases wind
resistance — a constant adversary of cyclists — by 90
percent says Tatch who just obtained a patent for
his fairing design
Though Tatch s fairing does pose some
advantages in cycling technology, critics like cyclist
Russell Morton call it dangerous ”
A question of visibility
Morton, a 10-year cycling veteran from Eugene
argues that the fairing inhibits visibility and invites
crosswinds to blow it over
“I ve always been impressed by (Tatch's)
unfaltering attitude with his manuped Morton says
As a device for commuting I find the manuped
dangerously low to cars, despite its aerodynamic
advantage "
"Mechanically, it seems like there's a lot more
things to go wrong," he notes, adding that people
would have trouble learning to coordinate the hand
and foot pedals
Tatch bristles with impatience at such critiques
People always complain " he scowls All I have to
do is go for a ride and people stare "
He refutes Morton, saying that visibility actually is
better The manuped s low seat compares to a
sportscar s seat level Tatch says, and Porsche
drivers have no trouble in traffic
A cyclist, who rides high and bent forward, is in
an unnatural position and must peer around to see
traffic, an unsafe maneuver, Tatch says He points
out that if a cyclist and manupedaler collided, the
cyclist would probably retain more serious injuries
Besides that, in his manuped, Tatch stands out in
traffic
“People know that it can't work and then see
that it does," he observes, matter-of-factly
"Most bicycle racers are very into what they do,"
adds Tatch who raced the entire Eugene Cycling
Club in 1980 and won despite a 30-second handicap
"They tend to be closed-minded The bicyclists
will continue with what they've got and someday
they'll see an old lady pass them by” — riding a
manuped of course
Tatch says he hopes the manuped will be
mass-produced someday, but doubts it will happen
soon Right now, it costs $2,000 to construct one To
build many, Tatch says it would take at least a $1
million investment, and it's real hard to find a rich
investor ”
Still rich investors can present some drawbacks
"I have to be able to deal with very rich people,"
Tatch says "I've always been one of the less affluent,
the working class Because of that, my feelings are
real strong that the business world would be
controlled by the workers
"You won't find people with a large amount of
money who agree with that frame of mind
Ik
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