Square-wheeled bicycle does MJ’s moonwalk on the tarmac – and I still can’t get my head around it

When we think of wheels, the first thing that comes to mind is a circle. But for once, a DIY wants to mess with your perception of how anything on wheels can move in any other geometric shape. Yes, a square-shaped wheel for a bicycle, and it can still be pedaled smoothly – just like Michael Jackson performing Billy Jean!

An engineering feat worth applauding, the wheel on the bicycle doesn’t actually roll, rather the rubber on a conveyer belt-like platform rotates as you put the foot to the pedal. Picture a war tank moving on its metal tracks sans any wheels, only this time around it’s a bicycle and the wheel is square-shaped.

Designer: Sergii Gordieiev

While the bicycle messed with my sense of logic and physics at first, the ingenious custom built started to grow eventually for its actual rideability aspect. You can even take turns with it, so completely useable in a city – for intent and purposes of course. Coming on to the actual build, the engineer turned DIYer used discarded bicycle parts to craft the square shape of the tires with the frame to hold the chainrings in place. Then he added rollable wheels between them to make the rotation smooth with minimum friction. Topping it up with the rectangular chains wrapped in tire rubber completed the DIY.

While the metal used on the wheels makes it bulky, the weight is offset by shredding some of the body. This balances things, making the pedal-powered ride bewilder anyone passing by. Sergii labels this as one of his craziest projects ever, and other projects on his YouTube channel are not ordinary either.

As he cheekily puts it, “Please meet the almost normal bicycle but with one modification – square wheels.”

Is the design practical? Absolutely not, since on ascends the riders will have to sweat it out as compared to a normal bike that has lesser surface area something in contact with the surface it’s riding on. However, we absolutely love the build because of the clever approach the DIYer adopts to turn eyeballs on the pavement. He sure is winning some lady love around town for this bicycle’s swift moves. Smooth Criminal indeed!