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Ideally most of us would prefer to see some sort of psuedo gravity on any Earth-Mars mission or transit if a base or colonies is established. But the question is just how much is enough. Some, call it .1G would most likey make housekeeping and basic ship or cycler operations a whole lot easier. But do we need to go to one full Martian G? Can we get away with less? Or do we need more? Opinons please.
As stated the big killer for such devices as bicycles on mars are the P-suit type used. A suit that relies on retaining pressure like the ones currently favored by NASA makes the use of a manually powered bike impossible IMO. Using a P-suit that actively supports the body (lets face it we might as well call it a SkinTight) will allow the use of bikes in a Martian enviroment but I do see some problems. One is the inertia problem when braking and suspension control. The suspension problem can most likely be over come with adequate dampening. Braking might be a bigger problem. The image of some one flying over the handlebars is not funny. The other is the physical exhaustion problem but at lower speeds (10-15 KPH it might not be too bad, 20KPH is easily sustainable for some one in adequate shape on Earth) The sinking into the dust problem. That is something that we will not realy know for sure until some one actaully goes there. Plus it is likely to be varied over the Martian surface. There are comercially available electric powered bicycles sold today and they might be a viable option. Another option might be tandems
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