Water bike created by student

Student Tran Duc Tuan, Faculty of Traffic Engineering, Nha Trang University, has just created a water bike, adding a new product to meet demand in tourism and society.

 

In recent years, cycling on water has been a popular entertaining activity in the world but it is still new in Vietnam. Student Tran Duc Tuan researched, designed and created a bike propulsion system for the research of turning a normal bike into a water bike that can run on water when attached with more equipment, including floats, a transmission system and a frame.

 

Analyzing typical water bikes in the world and Vietnam, taking advantages and circumventing weaknesses of existing bikes, Tran Duc Tuan has gradually met such criteria as affordability, quick and convenient assembly. Different from other water bikes on the market, his product is easy and flexible in assembly so that the bike can be quickly converted to be used both on water and roads.

 

 

 

 

According to the student, water bikes are quite popular but still expensive, from some million to hundreds of millions dongs.  In Vietnam, some local manufacturers have water bikes made of composite and some travel companies have created or imported water bikes for marine sports in tourism but the prices are still high and the products do not meet demand.

 

His bike looks like a normal one but when assembled with some more parts, it is converted into a water bike running on water. Therefore, it can be called a 2-in-1 bike. The bike structure includes a normal bike attached with floating floats, propellers, a transmission cable and a metal frame. Its operation is quite simple. 2m floating pontoons keep the bike floating on water. When attached with the frame, the rear-wheel touches the transmission system. When pedaling, friction is created on the transmission system attached with propellers, driving the bike forward; the front wheel is attached with a steering rudder.

 

It takes about 15-20 minutes to turn a normal bike into a water bike. In spite of its simple operation, the creation of the water bike is not easy because it needs some parts and components that the student and his instructor themselves have to create or recycle with some adjustments.

 

Up to now, the water bicycle, after 1 year of research, has been basically completed and tested for further performance enhancement and cost saving. The product is known with high applicability, cheaper than existing products on the market, meeting the demand in tourism, sport activities and local everyday life, according to the instructor, Dr. Huynh Van Vu, Chief of Traffic Engineering Faculty.

 

V. Thanh

Translated by N.T