Been hearing recently about CVT's (continuously variable
transmissions) for bicycles - from the ridiculous

<http://www.shop4patents.com/patents/biketrans.php>

to the pretty cool (YouTube link):

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPjhmTThPo>

But even the latter one is more complicated than a kickbike. Kicking
to work this morning into a 10-m.p.h. (16 k.p.h.) headwind, I realized
my scooter had a CVT - I could infinitely vary my kick's length to
deal with the wind, and quite effectively and comfortably.

Used my one-speed bicycle yesterday in a 16-m.p.h. (26 k.p.h.) wind
and found myself standing and dancing on the pedals, like when I used
to climb hills in bike races - way less fun than a scooter in the same
situation.

The bicycle is less useful than the scooter in more and more
instances, except speed- and luggage-wise. But, as Colin Fletcher once
said, describing a friend who inadvertently left his long camera
lenses home on a hike, "he couldn't change his lenses [when taking
pictures] now, so he changed his head."

~Pete HUMMERS O\_o <--kickbike