Instead of wind driven toys like the man sawing a log, or turning a propeller, I would like to see a range of bicycle powered devices.
These would simply harvest a tiny amount of the drive used to power the bike, via a small internal shaft drive. The resulting loss of power by this diversion would be negligible.
We could have a figure bounding along the top edge of a tyre; a bird with flapping wings or a struggling fish who appears to be towing the bike in an effort to escape capture, or even a figure riding a miniature bicycle who keeps wobbling from side to side, but never quite looses their balance.
(if only I was an engineer with lots of money to waste)-- xenzag, Jun 22 2011 do you mean something like this? http://toys-and-hob...rices--sc1287958432 [xandram, Jun 22 2011] Bike-powered blender http://altenergypsu...owered-blender.htmlA practical "toy" for your bike. [Canuck, Jun 25 2011] Such a good idea that it must be baked already, surely!
My daughter would love a spinning ballerina...-- Ling, Jun 22 2011 It would make a lovely distraction from the busy traffic, oh, wait.-- marklar, Jun 22 2011 When I was wee I had an aeroplane mounted on my handlebars, the propellor spun in the wind. A real incentive to pedal faster! It was designed and manufactured specifically for handlebar mount. But I like the idea of a wheel running along the top of the front tyre so [+]. It could be designed to clip onto the leading edge of the front mudguard.-- pocmloc, Jun 22 2011 Very good. Make mine a galloping horse please.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 22 2011 [+] After re-reading this, I see it is not like my link!!-- xandram, Jun 22 2011 Having taken a peek at the link, I found a "Bicycle Wind Spinner - Poison Dart Frog " and was wondering however did they train the frog to ride the bike, or am I being naive and they just superglued its feet to the pedals///-- not_morrison_rm, Jun 22 2011 Is [8th] going to order a cat that can't run quite as fast as the wheel?-- TomP, Jun 23 2011 A tad Running man / following man pt. 2 [] All fun ideas though. +-- daseva, Jun 23 2011 When I was a wee lad, we used clothes pins to hold one end of a playing card between the spokes of our bicycle wheels. Made a nice effect.-- sqeaketh the wheel, Jun 24 2011 According to the builder's blog, the blender in my link was inspired by an "uncooking" class, so I guess I can't call this idea "Baked".
For my bike can I get a powered fan to cool me off while I ride?-- Canuck, Jun 25 2011 random, halfbakery