Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon
The cars are an example: They work better than they should, but wheeled vehicles propelled and braked by the riders' own muscles are plausible at late TL0
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Such vehicles are plausible to the extent that smooth and level roads are plausible. It takes a lot of work to build roads at TL0, so that if I saw a network of smooth level roads I would deduce not just wheeled vehicles but also population density and labour productivity higher than TL0.
Also, such vehicles are not plausible with a roller weighing at least about a tonne for each of the front and back axles. They would have too much mass and rolling resistance to be driven or braked by legs, you couldn’t steer them, and carving them round and smooth would be too expensive. A vehicle driven and braked by the rider’s feet (such as a velocipede) would need light strong (i.e. spoked) wheels and a way of turning an axle to steer.