Reciprocating Lever Transmission
While there have been bicycles that incorporate a reciprocating lever transmission (RLT) in place of a traditional crank mechanism, there has never been a like the one being used in our design. The RLT that is used in our design incorporates levers that move dependent to one another, whereas previous RLTs’ levers move independent of each other. The benefit of having dependent levers is that as one is pushed down, the other pedal will return up to your foot. Users are able to utilize clipped pedals to gain power on the upstroke of the pedal, in addition to the down stroke which is the conventional power stroke. Another feature of the RLT is that substantially more torque is created in each stroke, due to the much longer crank arms. Previously designed RLT systems were limited in how much torque they could handle; because the RLT in our design utilizes multiple bevel gears to transmit power input from the cranks to the drivetrain.
