AndrewRitchie,inventoroftheBromptonfoldingbicycle,oncesaidthattheperfectportablebikewouldbe“likeamagiccarpet…Youcouldfolditupandputitintoyourpocketorhandbag”.Thenhepaused:“Butyou'llalwaysbelimi
AndrewRitchie,inventoroftheBromptonfoldingbicycle,oncesaidthattheperfectportablebikewouldbe“likeamagiccarpet…Youcouldfolditupandputitintoyourpocketorhandbag”.Thenhepaused:“Butyou'llalwaysbelimitedbythesizeofthewheels.Andsofarnoonehasinventedafoldingwheel.”
Itwasarare—indeedunique—occasionwhenIwasabletoputRitchieright.A19th-centuryinventor,WilliamHenryJamesGrout,didinfactdesignafoldingwheel.Hisbike,predictablynamedtheGroutPortable,hadaframethatsplitintotwoandalargerwheelthatcouldbeseparatedintofourpieces.AllthebitsfittedintoGrout'sWonderfulBag,aleathercase.
Grout’saim:tosolvetheproblemsofcarryingabikeonatrain.Nowdoesn’tthatsoundfamiliar?Groutintendedtofindawayofmakingabikesmallenoughfortraintravel:hisbikewasahugebeast.Andimportantly,thedesignofearlybicyclesgavehimanadvantage:inGrout’sday,tyresweresolid,whichmadethebusinessofsplittingawheelintofourseparatepartsrelativelysimple.Youcouldn'tdothesamewithawheelfittedwithaone-pieceinflated(充气的)tyre.
So,ina21st-centurycontext,istheideaofthefoldingwheeldead?Itisnot.ABritishdesignengineer,DuncanFitzsimons,hasdevelopedawheelthatcanbesquashedintosomethinglikeaslenderellipse(椭圆).Throughout,thetyreremainsinflated.
WilltheyoungFitzsimons'sfoldingwheelmakeitintoproduction?Ihaven'tthefoggiestidea.Buthisinventivenessshowstwothings.First,peoplehavebeensayingformorethanacenturythatbikedesignhasreacheditslimit,exceptforgradualadvances.It'sassillyaconceptnowasitwas100yearsago:there'splentystilltogofor.Second,itisinthefieldoffoldingbikesthatweareseeingthemostinterestinginventions.Youcanbuyafoldingbikeforlessthan£1,000thatcanbeknockeddownsosmallthatitcanbecarriedonaplane—minuswheels,ofcourse—ashandbaggage.
Foldingwheelswouldmakeallmannerofthingspossible.HaveweyetgotthemagiccarpetofAndrewRitchie’simagination?No.Butit'sprogress.
1.WecaninferfromParagraph1thattheBromptonfoldingbike_________.
A.wasportable B.hadafoldingwheel