Hydrobike’s are not just a great way to relax but are also a super good way to work out.A Hydrobike helps you work out just like a normal bike, except that it runs on water.

It is common knowledge that its easier to ride a hydrobike than a normal bike because there’s less friction in the water.

But, the overall fitness quotient and fat burnt with the hydrobike is a LOT MORE than what can be achieved by any normal land bike.

Here are some obvious reasons why a hydrobike is good for working out:

1. Less muscle strain but more work done.
2. Travelling in the water eliminates risks of accidents.
3. The hydrobike will help you burn fat at a phenomenal rate.
4. You don’t tire out very quickly
5. Your leg and calf muscles get stronger and enable you to gain muscle strength.

Even though many contemporary fitness experts are not aware of the Hydrobike and the amazing fitness exercises which can be performed using it, some fitness experts are already advocating the use of the hydrobike for getting fit and staying healthy.

And whats more, the waters aren’t as polluted as our roads yet, which means that you can commute on a hydrobike without getting into too much vehicular smoke or pollution.

So, what are you waiting for?

Purchase a Hydrobike NOW

By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Bob Barrett pedals two miles across Puget Sound from Ketron Island to Steilacoom. “Here, you’re part of the Sound itself,” he says.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

“I don’t have a death wish. I’m not here to drown and I’m not risking my life,” says Bob Barrett, who’s been making his water-bike commute for nearly seven years.

Related

Nat Hong and Bob Barrett commute on Puget Sound by bike - water bike, that is - to their jobs in Bremerton and Steilacoom.

“This is pretty hard to beat in terms of a pleasant commute,” said Hong, who lives on Bainbridge Island and teaches at Olympic College in Bremerton.

The drive would be 80 miles round trip. But with his water bike, the trip to work is just 12 miles - including one mile on the water.

Hong said he used to be irked because he could look across the water and see the place he worked.

“It needled and gnawed at me. The long drive didn’t make sense.” He began water biking in September.

Hong, 54, rides a regular bicycle a half-mile to the water, hops on his water bike for the 12- to 15-minute ride, and has another bicycle waiting for him at Illahee State Park in Bremerton. He rides up a steep hill to his job.

For nearly seven years, Barrett has been riding his bike two miles across Puget Sound from his home on tiny Ketron Island to a marina in Steilacoom. There, he catches a bus to his job as a safety-and-training instructor with Pierce Transit.

Like Hong, Barrett says his commute is good for the environment.

“I don’t buy gas. I’m putting no pollutants in the water,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for a long time and it feels quite natural. I don’t have a death wish. I’m not here to drown and I’m not risking my life.”

The 125-pound, $1,400 HydroBike has two pontoons, adding stability. The pedals drive a propeller. Hong and Barrett figure they can cruise at 5 mph.

Barrett, 64, said he first saw the bike at a boat show and was intrigued. He said he’d buy it and ride it until it paid itself off, which included saving the $3-a-day ferry fare from his island home. He got hooked and has been riding it five days a week. His crossing takes 25 to 30 minutes.

He’s put almost 6,000 miles on his bike, and it paid for itself a long time ago. The other benefits are a bonus.

“Here, you’re part of the Sound itself,” he said. “I go slow enough I see birds and seals, and it keeps my health good.”

While Hong looks at the weather forecast before he ventures out on the water, Barrett said that in the more than six years he’s been water-biking, he has been turned back only six times by the wind. He wasn’t even deterred by a recent snowfall.

Hong said he developed his love of biking in Denmark, where he spent a sabbatical and biked everywhere. He said he didn’t have a car and biked nearly 4,000 miles that year just going to work.

For his local commute, Hong had considered kayaking to work, but “I’m just intrigued by biking.”

“I see a lot of wildlife. A baby seal pup came up right next to me. Winter birds on a calm day look like confetti strewn across the water. I have a wonderful view of Mount Rainier.”

Hong admits his wife worries about him and thinks he’s a little crazy. But he, like Barrett, wears a life jacket. And neither has fallen in the water.

“I don’t want to burn gas,” Hong said. “I want to try to stay fit as I get older, and I like being outside. I have one of those jobs where I do way too much sitting, and this is a good antidote.”

As for Barrett: “My wife makes sure my life-insurance policy is up to date.”

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

Bob Barrett’s HydroBike Interview

Hydrobike’s “Bullet Proof” Drive Design

In 18 years and over 10,000 bikes in use, only 50 failures have been reported.

This is a picture (taken in Sept of 1990) of our staff celebrating the end of a 1,000 hours, failure free, endurance test of the Hydrobike Propeller Drive.

The test proved that the drive could survive 10 times the average predicted service thrust load for 1,000 hours of continuous operation.

The Drive was installed in a 40 gallon stock tank filled with water and driven through a transmission by a 1 1/2 hp electric motor geared to simulate 250 lb of thrust loading. After the test the unit was dismantled and checked for gear, bearing and chain wear and for any signs of damage from this rigorous test. There were none!

Further proof of the Drive’s “bullet proof” design, is that after 18 years of operation and over 10,000 in service, there have been less than 50 failures reported.

Remarkable.

We’ve put together an exclusive interview from the original inventor of the Hydrobike, Ray Buresch. The HydroBike is the worldwide premier waterbike. We’ve been the world’s leader in water bike sales since it was invented in 1989. Since Ray’s initial prototype, 11,000 Hydrobikes have been sold worldwide and many locations have exploded for Hydrobike rental opportunities.

What was your driving force for inventing a product like the Hydrobike?

I was put in touch with an Aeronautical Engineering Professor at the University of Minnesota where I have my degree in Aeronautical Engineering in early 1989. He was working on human powered watercraft propulsion system, and had come up with a highly efficient propeller — theoretically, over 90% efficient.

With the concept of the propeller in my head, I began thinking about how it would be possible to design a bicycle for use on water. With the propeller design, it was possible to overcome the greatest barrier for water bike designers: The extreme loss of energy when converting the pedal motion to useful thrust when using a paddle wheel or oars. These very old devices are extremely inefficient. They can only convert nothing more than 20% to 30% of the energy, even for the most capable person operating them.

Knowing that I was ahead of the game with the propeller and propulsion system, I started the wheels spinning to create the first Hydrobike prototype. By the time we were finished I had 11 design and mechanical patents covering all the unique features of the watercraft.

What was your main objective with your design?

As stated above to be able to bike on water, emulate the bicycle. A bicycle is the most efficient way to travel on land, under your own power. I wanted to make that the case for a watercraft that would, in essence, be the most practical and efficient way for people to travel on water. I also felt that this would represent a great potential opportunity for a business. It was not too difficult to convince others of the commercial possibilities, so raising money to fund the venture was completely viable.

What did you use as your model? Was there a model?

We didn’t model the bike off of anything; we began with a series of original prototypes and commissioned a canoe designer to design the efficient hulls for the catamaran, as a twin-hull craft. We tried close to 10 iterations before finalizing the design you see today. We tested the drive unit for 1,000 hours running continuously in a water tank with 5 times the maximum designed load.

How different is your first prototype to the one that is on the market today?

We have not changed the basic design, but we have made many improvements to the structural integrity as they became apparent through many years of constant use by rental operations all over the world. For example, we’ve improved the design to cover even the most severe operational conditions, such as a salt water ocean environment.

Where did you do the testing?

Most of the testing was done on lakes around the Minneapolis area, although some of the later experience was gained in Florida and Hawaii. The latter gave us most of our practical experience because those were the places where we had year-round rental operations. We also ran a huge field test on the Hydrobike from the Gulf of Mexico to St. Cloud Minnesota.

When were you sure the Hydrobike was going to be a success?

I was pretty sure the first year, but at that time I didn’t realize how important marketing would be for a product without an outright competitor in it’s price range. We were competing with canoes, kayaks and paddle boats, and all of them had models, at that time, priced in the $200 to $400 range. During that time, we were priced at $1,899.00, plus shipping. Even high-end bicycles were less than $1,000.

So, our biggest challenge has been to bring down the price and make the public aware of the benefits you get when owning a Hydrobike. When we started, the Internet as we know it today did not even exist. We had to rely on print media, trade shows and word of mouth exclusively for the first 10 or so years with a minor portion of our sales coming from our website. We could not afford effective marketing and we weren’t able to build an inventory of bikes.

This delima led us to the licensing of our tooling and patents to one of our major suppliers, thus freeing up capital to fund internet marketing programs.

What are your future goals for the Hydrobike?

I believe we can double and triple our sales annually over the next 5 years by effective online exposure to the millions of people around the world who already can relate to the recreational, social, fitness, and sporting benefits and the just plain enjoyment of the owning a Hydrobike, but don’t have a clue that we exist.

I’m confident due to the market momentum from the 11,000 bikes on the water and what is evidenced by the number of referrals, sales and sales from people who rented a bike on vacation or who saw one and took the name off the bike and looked us up on the internet. This represents 70 to 80% of our sales today. With gas prices climbing (we are a green machine), emphasis on fitness by those early retirees, the future could not be brighter. On top of this is myself and my business partner, Steve Anderson (he rode the bike over 1,100 miles for 68 days UP the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico to St Cloud, Minnesota in 1994). We have more enthusiasm for the bike than ever before because we believe in it. We’ve heard the first-hand stories of people who have owned them for years without a single repair or ever buying one pint of gas! These are people, like Bob Barrett of the Seattle Washington area, who have commuted to work for the past 5 years for a total of 6,000 miles! He’s saved the price of his bike many, many times over, but that’s not his biggest benefit; he says it’s his attitude and his physical fitness as a result of riding his Hydrobikes almost every day of the week for up to 5 hours.

Steve & Ken’s EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. A Hydrobike ride from the Gulf of Mexico UP the Mississippi River to St. Cloud, Minnesota.Let’s start at the beginning of the beginning.

In 1972 Steve Anderson and his brother Bruce rode bicycles from St. Paul, Minnesota, 1500 miles to Pensacola, Florida.

In 1982 Steve Anderson and Ken Rogers rode bicycles 10,280 miles to all 48 contiguous United States from July 20^th, 1982 arriving back in Minnesota on February 5^th of 1983. Ken has recently published a book about the trip. Check it out at http://www.pedalingonpurpose.com/. Steve turned 30 years old during that trip and he and Ken shook hands and vowed that when they were somewhere in their 40’s they would attempt another adventure.

Well, Here is how the Mississippi River started, told by Steve himself.

I was a fastener salesman ( basically selling stainless steel nuts and bolts ) for 13 years. One day in the early spring of 1993 I saw a Hydrobike being demonstrated on a lake close to my home in Minneapolis, Mn. Being the good fastener salesman that I was, my eyes went directly to the nuts, bolts and screws used on a Hydrobike and I could see that they were stainless steel so I grabbed a brochure just to get their address so that I could possibly sell them some screws.

After reviewing the brochure and checking out the bike a little more, I noticed it was propeller driven, and for some weird reason I remembered my hand shake with my best friend and biking partner, Ken Rogers, and either an angel or a demon whispered in my ear ,” Hey, Maybe this could be your next adventure. Something on water instead of roads.”

A couple weeks later I was in the offices of Hydrobikes, Inc talking to the inventor of the bike, Ray Buresch. He wasn’t convinced that my stainless fasteners AT ALL, but he was interested in me.

Ten years prior to this meeting he had been a regular listener to the radio station Ken and I would call into every week (KSTP AM 1500). He knew all about our 10,000 mile bicycle trip.

Ray and his sales staff had just had a sales meeting the week before my call on him and the main subject of the meeting was a publicity stunt to set a record going DOWN the Mississippi River and if this was a good idea , who should they get to do it. EUREKA!!!! I am now standing right in front of him. He asked on that very day if I would be interested in setting this record and here was my response, ” Sure, But do you think these Hydrobikes could make it UP the river?” HOLY COW, that was all it took. Ray was excited and from that day forward to the day that Ken and I started riding on July 4^th of 1994 ,it is a story all in itself of all the things that had to come together before Ken and I could leave. ( For instance, Ken had to lose some weight. He was probably hoping I had forgotten the hand shake. ) Ken and I had to get leaves of absence from our jobs. (Talk about having to use sales skills when you have to ask the president of a national company for a leave of absence to take a Hydrobike trip)

Ken is in the process of writing about this trip. I think you will find the story to be very inspiring, scary, incredibly adventurous, and just a very good story of some real good buddies who set another spiritually and physically challenging goal.

I will try to keep updating this page to give you some glimpses of the trip itself. We went through, not around, every lock and dam in the whole Mississippi River system. Wait till I tell you about what we had to demonstrate on our Hydrobikes just so the lock masters would let us through.

Anyway, we’ll be talking and please check out our book on http://www.pedalingonpurpose.com/.

Thanks, Steve Anderson, FunWatercraft, Hydrobikes

• Read this manual completely before assembling and operating your EXPLORER

• Consult a competent medical authority prior to undertaking any exercise or fitness program that involves the use of the EXPLORER.

• ALWAYS wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved personal floatation device (PFD) when riding on the EXPLORER.

• The maximum load capacity of the EXPLORER I is 400 pounds; 600 pounds for the EXPLORER II.

• Do not carry passengers on your EXPLORER.

• Do not allow anyone to sit on the handlebars.

• Do not pedal the EXPLORER from a standing position

• Avoid swimmers, swimming areas, and boat traffic.

• Know and follow the boating laws and regulations of the area in which you are using the EXPLORER.

• Do not operate your EXPLORER after sunset or before dawn, unless your EXPLORER is equipped with lights.  Please follow the laws regarding boating in the dark in the area in which you are using the EXPLORER.

• Watch for underwater obstacles when operating the EXPLORER in shallow water.

• Ask about local conditions before using your EXPLORER in unfamiliar waters.

• Never use your EXPLORER in stormy weather or when there is lightning.  Seek shelter on shore if a storm is coming.

• Although the pedals are suitable for bare feet, wearing hard-bottomed footwear (sneakers or other water footwear) is recommended.

• Never wear loose clothing that could become entangled in any moving part of the EXPLORER.

• Never use the EXPLORER while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The EXPLORER brings bicycling to the water.  Water cycling is fun, safe and easy.  And like biking, it’s a wonderful way to have fun and get exercise.

Can be used for a wide variety of water activities:

• Sightseeing, adventure and exploration - - just like land biking
• Fishing - - Quietly pedal to the perfect spot
• Camping - - Takes you to where you want to go.
• Photography - - The EXPLORER is stable and well balanced.
• Swimming/snorkeling - - you can climb off and back onto the floats.
• Exercise - - Great for endurance, muscle tone and cardiovascular workout.

Comes in single (one rider) or double (two riders) models.

Moves in forward or reverse for safety and maneuverability.

Bike on lakes, rivers or even the ocean.

Faster than a paddleboat or a canoe:

• Cruising speed…………………….5mph
• Top Speed…………………………8-10 mph

Upright riding position provides comfort and full vision.

• And won’t get wet!

Stable:

• Well-balanced due to its catamaran design.

Quick and easy disassembly for storage.

Easy to Transport.

No harm to the environment:

• No noise, air or water pollution.

Low Maintenance.

Computer-designed drive system delivers over 90% theoretical efficiency.

Step 1:

The frame (including the drive train, propeller, pedals, chain and chain guard) comes pre-assembled.  Some basic assemble, however, is required.  The procedure for this assembly is easy and takes only minutes.

 Put the seat/seat post assembly into the bike frame and tighten the quick release lever.                                     

Do not replace the provided seat post with an aluminum alloy seat post.  This will damage the frame.

Be sure the seat is parallel to the top of the frame.

Step 2:  Put the rudder assembly into the bike frame.

• Depress the two buttons at the top of the rudder assembly tube and slide the tube into the bike frame, as shown, until the buttons appear and snap open again.

Be careful not to pinch your fingers with the buttons.

The purpose of the buttons is to lock the rudder assembly in its UP position.  See “Adjusting the Rudder” later in this manual for a description of the two rudder positions.

• Fit the rudder collar over the top of the rudder assembly, as shown; snug to hold  in place, but do not tighten.

• Assemble the handlebar into the handlebar stem.  Rotate the handlebar to your preference and tighten the nut with the provided 6mm Allen Wrench (gold-colored).

• Place the stem into the rudder tube.  Be sure the handlebars are perpendicular to the rudder.

• Again using the 6mm Allen Wrench (gold-colored), tighten the handlebar stem.

• Attach the handgrips.

• Lastly, tighten the rudder collar.

Step 3:  Put the cross tubes onto the floats.

• Attach the ends of the two cross tubes to one of the floats with two black clamping knobs, as shown,keeping the knobs loose.
  • Align both floats the same and attach the other of the cross tubes with two black clamping knobs.

   

  Step 4:  Put the bike frame onto the cross tubes.

   

  • Locate the front ends of the floats.

   

  The front ends of the floats are inscribed with the raised warning about wearing personal floatation devices.

   

  IMPORTANT!  Be sure the floats are position correctly.  The EXPLORER will not provide optimum balance and stability when the floats are not oriented properly.

   

  • Set the bike frame on the cross tubes so the rudder is toward the front of the floats.  Line up the holes on the bike frame with the holes on the cross tubes, as shown.

   

  • For each of the four frame holes, insert a bolt through the bottom and attach the black clamping knob.  Hand-tighten only.  Do not use a wrench to tighten the black clamping knobs.  Hand tightening is all that is necessary.  Using a wrench or other tools may damage the knobs.

   

  Do not use a hammer or other tool to line up the holes of the bike frame and the cross tubes.  If the holes do not line up, make sure you have followed the steps properly.

  • If assembling with “SIDE-DECKS”, remove both knobs from one float, set “SIDE-DECK” on cross tubes, and re-attach knobs.
    

    Step 5:  Check all eight black clamping knobs to make sure they are securely hand tightened.
     
    Step 6:  Installation of Drive Train Lever.

     

    Fit clamps (three) loosely around the Drive Train (DT) with tightening screws positioned on the right side of the DT.  Note:  clamps tighten most effectively is screw is positioned on forward curve and on the right side of the DT assembly as shown.  The screw should FACE TO THE REAR of the bikes for easy access when tightening.

     

    • (1) Position the “Lever” mount against the back of the DT (facing) the rear of the bikes with the DT assembly in the down position.  The 2 inch key should be at the bottom of the mount

     

    • (2) Position the top of mount just below the 2^nd screw from the TOP on the backside of the Drive Train (just above the drive train strut bumper).  When installation of the drive train lever is complete, the DT lever Clamps will straddle the strut bumper.  Failure to do this will impair lifting of the drive train.  Very Important!

     

    • (3) Place the lever onto the mount allowing the mounting key to fit into the lever slot.  The bottom of the lever should be flush with the bottom of the mount.

     

    • (4) Slide the first clamp up to the TOP of the mount and lightly tighten

     

    • (5) Position the second clamp just above the BOTTOM of the mount and tighten securely, making sure the key fits into the lever slot.  Tighten the top clamp securely.  The third clamp should be positioned between 1^st and 2^nd clamps.  Installation is now complete.  The lever should fit between the frame and the side-deck when the Drive Train is in the up position.

     

    • (6) Recheck and re-tighten clamps after first use and then periodically thereafter.

     

    • (7) If the Drive Train becomes hard to rotate DO NOT use the DTL to force the Drive Train up.  (This may cause the DTL and mount to fail).  If the Drive Train is hard to rotate, place 1 or 2 drops of oil at the top of the friction lock and rotate the Drive Train 3 or 4 times to allow the oil to seep in between the friction lock and frame.  DO NOT OVER OIL!!

        

       

       

The EXPLORER can easily be transported.

NOTE:  The propeller drive train should be fastened in the UP position for transporting.

In general, there are three ways to transport your EXPLORER.

1. Trailer or Truck.

Set one fully assembled EXPLORER on a trailer or in a truck and fasten securely.

2. On Top of a Car.

Set one fully assembled EXPLORER onto a car-roof rack, and fasten securely. Make sure that the car-roof rack is rated for the proper weight of the EXPLORER and other miscellaneous gear.

1. Disassembled.

Disassemble the EXPLORER and transport the individual sections.

Two EXPLORERS can be transported in the same space required for one: