Interbent

The wheel is one of the oldest inventions of man and has been used for ages on all sorts of vehicles. While two-, three- and four-wheel vehicles are widely used in daily life, one-wheel constructions are rare and quite extra-ordinary.

 

This post lists monowheels – one-wheel vehicles with with rider(s) and engine inside its circumference.

One-Wheeled Car:

Dynosphere, a funky car designed by Dr. Purves consists of a wide-rimmed latticed wheel with a power plant inside its circumference, where the driver sits. There is also room for a companion in the seat alongside him.

The motor is geared to the track so that, when the engine is started, the motor pulls the track toward it and so starts the wheel in motion. Center of gravity is low to prevent the wheel from tipping over.

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Monocycles and Monowheels

A monocycle is one big wheel with rider and engine (if any) inside its circumference (not to be confused with a unicycle, which has the rider above the wheel).

First monocycles:

The Greene & Dyer monowheel (1869)

Harper’s monowheel (1892)

Contemporary monocycle

Mono Wheel Motorbikes

McLean Monowheel

Mono-Wheel Bike

WheelSurf monowheel

Star Wheel

A 22-foot-diameter rolling by Paul Cesewski , participant-powered ferris wheel. The inner wheel is a bicycle ferris wheel powered by three riders, within a larger wheel, which looks like two giant bicycle wheels side by side with the rims connected by stancheons.

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One-Wheeled Tank

One-wheeled tanks of the future that was never built:

Housed inside the armored body, the operator will steer the single main wheel by means of two small auxiliary wheels at the rear. A turn of the handlebar lifts one stabilizing wheel and lowers the other, shifting the balance of the machine and turning it to one side or the other. An internal gear mechanism, operated by a motor inside the body, drives the wheel ahead at remarkable speed.

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