A pentacycle ("hen and chickens" ) is a human-powered five-wheeled vehicle.

Origin

The original pentacycle was designed and patented by the architect Edward Burstow in 1882. It had a large central wheel directly driven by pedals like a penny farthing bicycle, with a " bath-chair type handle", and four smaller wheels for stability. This arrangement led to it being referred to as the "hen and chickens" cycle, as it resembled a mother

hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringer ...

surrounded by her four chicks. It was trialled by rural postmen in Horsham and, although liked, the design was not widely adopted. There is a replica in the

British Postal Museum The Postal Museum (formerly the British Postal Museum & Archive) is a postal museum run by the Postal Heritage Trust. It began in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive and opened in Central London as The Postal Museum on 28 July 2017. Si ...

Modern-day interpretation

Modern day pentacycles do not often share the same layout as the original pentacycle, usually using various other wheel configurations. A 2002 interpretation, specifically designed to use the disused

Aérotrain The Aérotrain was an experimental Tracked Air Cushion Vehicle (TACV), or hovertrain, developed in France from 1965 to 1977 under the engineering leadership of Jean Bertin (1917–1975) – and intended to bring the French rail network to the c ...

monorail track near

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Pakistani art graduate, spent almost creating a long pentacycle using a single front wheel for steering, a middle pair of wheels for drive and another pair at the rear.

Origin

Modern-day interpretation

References

See also