Bowboard: Gravity propelled exercise conveyance
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 11/22/2013 06:03 AM [ Comments ]
Bowboard uses gravity and your body to make exercise stylishly functional and mobile; the innovative frame and spiral gearing propulsion design immediately catches the eye. The project is looking for backers via Kickstarter.
Greg Prior and Chris Miller came up with the idea while brainstorming for something fun that would get their kids outside. “We didn’t immediately have something but then later on Greg told me about a vision he had of his daughter riding a bow down the street. I immediately thought of a toy I rode as a kid…it was slow but I loved it.”
After sketching out the initial design that would become the first prototype the two were off and running. Miller says “at first I thought it would be easy and within a couple of weeks I had a garage full of machinery and supplies...but I had no idea what challenges were ahead."
The Bowboard has been through 5 full prototype versions. Each one had its own development life that included dozens of revisions to improve functionality and increase speed.
Today we have a resolved product and really know the ins and outs of its design and function like nobody else can. While it looks simple, some very sophisticated engineering is required to achieve what we have.
When someone steps on the Bowboard its patented technology converts this into forward motion. One of the benefits is that there are different ways to ride it. You can stay on for the entire ride (bowboarding), or you can ride it skateboard style with an alternating step and kick. When compared to other products the alternating step and kick gives the added benefit of producing an impulse from both the kick and the bow. Typical riding is to get up to speed using both the bow and kicking and then switch to bowboarding to cruise; which can be around 12 mph with a modest effort.
Check it out at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bowboard/bowboardtm-just-gravity-and-you?ref=live
After sketching out the initial design that would become the first prototype the two were off and running. Miller says “at first I thought it would be easy and within a couple of weeks I had a garage full of machinery and supplies...but I had no idea what challenges were ahead."
The Bowboard has been through 5 full prototype versions. Each one had its own development life that included dozens of revisions to improve functionality and increase speed.
Today we have a resolved product and really know the ins and outs of its design and function like nobody else can. While it looks simple, some very sophisticated engineering is required to achieve what we have.
When someone steps on the Bowboard its patented technology converts this into forward motion. One of the benefits is that there are different ways to ride it. You can stay on for the entire ride (bowboarding), or you can ride it skateboard style with an alternating step and kick. When compared to other products the alternating step and kick gives the added benefit of producing an impulse from both the kick and the bow. Typical riding is to get up to speed using both the bow and kicking and then switch to bowboarding to cruise; which can be around 12 mph with a modest effort.
Check it out at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bowboard/bowboardtm-just-gravity-and-you?ref=live
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