Cavallo (bicycle)

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The "Balsbike" from 1979
Hercules Cavallo 1983 as an attraction at a charity event

The Cavallo of Hercules is a type of bicycle , with his drive should realize a new concept. The bicycle was not driven with the feet via pedals , but by body movements via a construction with four joints of the frame and the bicycle saddle . Two frame tubes acted as connecting rods on the crank arms of the drive gear. The movements required for locomotion were reminiscent of riding a horse , which gave the vehicle its name (Cavallo is Italian for horse).

The Cavallo from the two-wheeler manufacturer Hercules was originally a development by the German mechanical and aircraft engineering engineer Hans Günter Bals. In 1956 he tried for the first time to realize his idea of ​​a movement involving the whole body in a children's bicycle. After building his first bike as a one-off, he designed a first prototype for adults in the 1970s. Constructed as a "four-bar frame", it enabled a wheel drive for the first time by using the whole body. Arms, legs, stomach, chest and back - everything was involved in driving the bike in a physiologically natural, round movement.

In 1978 the new development designed by Bals was presented as a "riding bike" in the current sports studio . Hercules acquired the license and produced a first series under the name Cavallo . However, due to serious changes to the original design, the bike lost its dynamic potential - and with it its chance for serial marketing. It was therefore a first series. Individual examples of this technically interesting vehicle that are still in existence are now sought-after collector's items. The license agreement with Hercules was terminated and Bals took over the development and production under the name Balsbike and later Swingbike again itself - in the smallest, partly handmade editions.

From the movement pattern, Bals later developed a therapeutic stand-alone device - the swing trainer - and together with his son Christoph Bals, a graduate engineer for mechanical engineering and medical technology, the relactiver for use in physical therapy and sports.

Bals held onto the vision of the wheel for over 50 years and further developed the mechanical principle. In 2009 he went into series production with a new edition of the swing bike .

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