Editing Talk:1673: Timeline of Bicycle Design

I have deleted the entire paragraph with the Alternatively, explanation that this could be an analogue to the process of meiosis and pregnancy... It seems extremely far fetched to me... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:01, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

Seconded. This is a bizarre comic, and there will be a bizarre explanation, but that is clearly not it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.181|141.101.70.181]] 13:04, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

That 1860 bike looks like the {{w|American Star Bicycle}}, but the year doesn't match. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.49|141.101.79.49]] 13:10, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

(Moved here from explanation:)<br> The randomness of the designs reminds me of the strange designs produced by the genetic evolution AI in the game BoxCar2D.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.78|141.101.80.78]] 15:05, 27 April 2016‎

This comic strongly remind me of http://boxcar2d.com/ [[User:Dorus|Dorus]] ([[User talk:Dorus|talk]]) 14:24, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

I third the above comments. It could also help explain the title text, as the 1955 panel shows a broken and failed cycle, which can happen when a detrimental mutation (like weak wheel linkages) is selected by the AI to be passed on. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.52}}

Would have seconded it, only looks like I'm fourthing it, instead. Also I adjusted 1925's transcript description as the numbers were wrong.  (I also suspect it's related to the stabilisation applied to the [https://postalheritage.wordpress.com/tag/pentacycle/ Pentacycle], only without visible in/out-of-page stability. (Because the third dimension doesn't exist? Well apart from 1900 that looks to be a bicycle version of the [http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/cycling.html Rudge], with a solid insert to the spoked wheel ('poor man's disc-wheel' kit?) obscuring all but the spurious over-wheel drive-chain and the rider's head.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.137|141.101.98.137]] 15:09, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

Can you include the 'Alternatively,' explanation down here so I (and presumably others) don't have to wade through the page's history?  We could list all sorts of far-fetched explanations, it has definitely happened on other comics. {{unsigned ip|108.162.242.135}}

I have a feeling that this is related to the idea that nobody can draw a bicycle. For example, [https://www.behance.net/gallery/35437979/Velocipedia this artist created 3D renderings of bicycles drawn by strangers]. [[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 14:51, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
:I'm not certain there's a relation, unless it's Randall pointing out that it's rather difficult for him to draw a bicycle while maintaining a simple stick-figure theme? Regarding that guy's experience asking strangers to draw a bicycle: Most people do not draw very well. At all... Many people can't even draw faces very well & we look at faces *all the time*. We're predisposed to spot faces even when they're not there, yet most people get the proportions wrong. I'm not sure why he was surprised that most people couldn't draw a mechanically accurate representation. Bicycles are moderately complex machines that many people feel overwhelmed by, to the point of omitting otherwise advantageous equipment, such as multiple gears. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.25}}

Does anyone else think the 1980 bike resembles a horse-drawn carriage minus the horses? Specifically, the two long parts Megan is holding look like reins. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.122|108.162.246.122]] 16:06, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
: This one rather makes me think of a chopper, only without the engine. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.49|108.162.229.49]] 16:49, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
:: Indeed, there is a movement for both chopper and lowrider bicycles. I have seen both and the 1980's bicycle looks almost like a lowrider bike I saw in Arvada CO probably in 2014. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.89|162.158.255.89]] 17:29, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

I came here thinking I did not get the joke. After reading the description I see I am not the only one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 16:23, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

: Same here. I think the joke is just Randall exaggerating actual bicycle designs. Either that or it's "The Evolution of the Bicycle" in an alternate reality. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 17:30, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

Is the point of the timeseries that while most things in biology evolve gradually over time (think all of those Evolution of Man t-shirts), undergoing great changes in form, we basically hit all the possible bicycle designs in the first 20 years and it has gone along essentially unchanged ever since? There are specialty bikes made possible by new frame materials, but they are all "Safety Bicycles". The takeaway of the comic could be either about the simplicity of the solution to the bicycle "problem", or about the difference between engineered design and the natural selection. [[User:Peregrinus|Peregrinus]] ([[User talk:Peregrinus|talk]]) 17:27, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

The 1955 design reminds me of the movie "Rubber". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612774/ Is that too tenuous of a connection?
[[User:ChrisPwildcat|ChrisPwildcat]] ([[User talk:ChrisPwildcat|talk]]) 19:11, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
: I definitely made the same connection. (Wow, the scene where the tire stares into its own reflection & remembers all of its actions so far... I felt empathy for that tire. WTH?) The 1955 design definitely implies that the wheels are trying to kill Cueball. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.25}}

This reminds me of certain videos I watched about evolution, in sequence, the picutres could be describe various models (some of them apparently unfit, thus discontinued) of bicycles as if they were derived from the laws that govern evolution (random mutation and natural selection). [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.242|198.41.243.242]] 21:42, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

Could the 1955 design be backwards cheese rolling? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.44|173.245.54.44]] 21:54, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

(Re: 1955) "This is obviously the most ridiculous of all of these designs" - clearly, someone has really badly misspelt the word "awesome" here. Please fix. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.92|141.101.98.92]] 08:12, 28 April 2016 (UTC)
:And the text I quoted is no longer in the article. Muahahaha, the power of the talk page! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.92|141.101.98.92]] 15:58, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

Someone using the 2016 bicycle wouldn't be very welcome in Skyrim (milkdrinkers...) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.79|108.162.219.79]] 14:36, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

This could be an example of a (badly parameter-ed) genetic algorithm. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.244}}

The 1980 design is reminiscent of a long-wheelbase recumbent bicycle, which was originally designed in the 1930s and enjoyed a resurgence starting about this time.[[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 20:13, 28 April 2016 (UTC)