Make: Online: Bicycles Archives

Archive: Bicycles

November 18, 2009

DIY bike repair stand

We love bikes, just check out all our bicycle related entries. Unfortunately, sometimes our bikes break, and when they do it's a lot easier to repair them if you have a stand. Too expensive? Then make you own bicycle repair stand with a few parts form the hardware store.

I've needed a repair stand for a long long long time now. But....damn those things aren't cheap. Thankfully, I've got more than my share of blue collar blood in me....so I decided to build one. The process couldn't have been easier. I did a quickle google search on home made repair stands and saw some interesting solutions. In the end, I went with my own variation.

November 12, 2009

VR bike ride through Google Street View

Maker Aki Mimoto wrote in to let us know about his exciting new Arduino/VR/Web app mashup. He's wired up his wife's bike on a stationary platform to an Arduino using a reed sensor. Using the sensor data from the bike, along with data from a head mounted display (HMD), Ari is able to accurately pinpoint his position within Google Street View. Additional data from the HMD allows Ari to look around at his surroundings for a true VR experience.

Pragmatically explained, it means that I don't have to sit in the darkness or stare at my garage door while I'm huffing away. Hopefully once this is done, I'll be able to spend a few nights a week pedalling away downstairs and work my way across the US or Australia over the course of the year.

In the Maker Shed:

Arduino Family

Make: Arduino

November 8, 2009

The 'bike tree', an automatic storage system for cycles, can hold up to 6,000 bikes

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The 'bike tree', an automatic storage system for cycles, can hold up to 6,000 bikes... watch the video!. David Munk @ THe Guardian.co.uk writes-

It's not often something stops you in your bike tracks. But a spectacular "bike tree" invention from Japan bowled me over when I was in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago.

Fed up with bicycles locked to railings, piled on top of each other, blocking doorways and roads, a local council in the city installed the mechanical masterpiece. It's basically an automatic storage system for cycles and operates with computer tagging of bikes and either storage in a building or a basement structure.

There are a number of locations where these bike trees are now in place in Tokyo – some hold 600-odd bikes, others more than 6,000. The concept came from the massive Japanese steel company JFE, whose engineering works division first started them in 2007 but are now spreading.

November 2, 2009

Bicycle handlebar brake lighting

MAKE subscriber Justin Shaw has posted a project on Instructables for a bike brake lighting system that features lights on the ends of a bicycle's handlebars, controlled by an Arduino and a Pololu 3-axis accelerometer. He's even offering a $35 prize to the first person who follows his plans and posts proof of a successful build.

Bar End Brake Light: BEBL

October 26, 2009

How-To: Wrap bike handlebars

I recently got a new bike and needed to wrap my bullhorn handlebars with bar tape. Thanks to this tutorial on the Park Tool website about handlebar tape installation, I was able to do it myself with no problem.

October 19, 2009

Light-up bike pedals add bling to your ride

Need extra bling on your bike? How about some human powered, light-up pedals? Rather than drawing power from a wheel-mounted generator, each of these pedals actually has a tiny generator built in. Neat! [via Gadget Lab]

October 12, 2009

Paul Elkins' bikes, trikes, and mobile homes for birds

I love discovering a blog like Paul Elkins'. He's an obsessive designer and tinkerer who's made all sorts of bikes, trikes, boats, trailers, tree houses, stoves out of mail boxes, and even mobile homes for birds (see above). He writes of his life-long passion for designing and building:

I've been doing this idea hatching thing since I was a kid. I received my first serious sketch pad on Christmas morning when I was 8 years old. Each day I'd think of something weird and sketch it out, and every year, another book would appear under the tree. I have at least 26 of these sketch books now, filled with hours and hours of figuring and redrawing, making lists of pros and cons on an idea. Many hours were spent drawing cartoons and the human figure. These sketches led to paintings and other forms of art, but that's for another future blog. My real passion was and is design, with subject matter varying from bicycles, trikes, cars, boats helicopters, submarines, home design or whatever happens to cross my mind. Each idea has to be original, or an elaboration of something I've seen or read about. At 16 I built my first recumbent bicycle which was never photographed or completed. Several other recumbents were made as time went by. It wasn't until I was divorced and started to enter my 40's that most of what you'll see here really started to materialize. Some of these ideas have miraculously worked out great and I've spent many hours enjoying them, while others have not. For the ones that did, I have pride in knowing that my mind and hands had a part in their creation and existence. For the ones that didn't, I chalk them up as a lesson.

High mileage trikes and more

October 6, 2009

Stepper motor bike light generator

Over on DinoFab, Dean shows off his latest bike improvement, an LED light system that uses a generator built from an old printer stepper motor. He points readers to this article about how to generate electricity using steppers.

Stepper Motor Powered Bike Light

How-To: Simple bike trailer

Instructables user cmachia made a simple bike trailer from some scavanged wood and two bike tires to fill a need to haul more stuff than fits in a backpack.

October 5, 2009

Bike builders compete to build best commuter bike ever

The fine folks over at Core77 have a bunch of pictures from the launch of the Oregon Manifest Constructor's Design Challenge. The top 12 designs will be on display for the duration of the event.

We're looking for the next-wave transportation bike! OREGON MANIFEST has challenged frame builders from around the country to design and build an innovative, modern transportation bike in this technical trial of engineering dexterity and fabrication mettle.

Over 30 custom bike builders will be developing considered, integrated, and spectacular solutions for the everyday rider. The top 12 winners will be displayed at the OM Bike Union for our full 6 weekend run!

[via Core77]

September 29, 2009

Square bike

Square bike... at the Math Midway (more photos)...

September 24, 2009

Bauhaucycle

This baby was designed by one Michael Ubbesen Jakobsen. From baubike.dk:

The BauBike is inspired by Bauhaus design. It is constructed around the geometric shape of the square and the equilateral triangle. The design is stripped down to clean lines and raw material. The design follows a set of formal rules, limiting the geometry to straight lines in a pattern of 60 and 90 degree angles in proportions following the principle of the golden section.

[via Recyclart]

September 23, 2009

Electrobike Pi

Spotted this sexy commercial electric bicycle in a back issue of Popular Science at the barber shop today. It's called Pi, and the company that makes it is based out of San Francisco. The magazine article claims it uses a Nu Vinci continuously-variable transmission but the official company specs now only mention a Shimano 8-speed. Sounds like they're still working out the kinks. Something to keep an eye on, though.

September 22, 2009

DIY bamboo bike frame

We have covered making a bamboo bike once or twice before. OK, maybe more like 3 or 4 times! What can I say, we <3 bicycles! Here is yet another DIY bamboo bike frame, however the construction of this one is a bit different. What really caught my attention on this build was the use of paper templates for cutting all the miters. It's a really cool technique that allows the bamboo to hide almost all the structural metal parts, making this the ultimate Gilligan's Island ride. Very cool!

In the Maker Shed:

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MAKE: Volume 11 includes a special "DIY Wheels" section, with plans for making a mobile drive-in movie theater, a cool chopper out of an old bicycle, and a pedal powered iPod charger.

September 21, 2009

Forkless bike from Finland

Olli Erkkilä created this custom concept bike as his graduation project from the Institute of Design in Lahti. [via Core77]

September 15, 2009

Camper bike

Artist Kevin Cyr made this crazy-awesome camper bike. Also, check out his camping kart, a tent that pops out of a shopping cart.

Camper Bike [via Dinosaurs and Robots]

September 14, 2009

Sweet custom bike spotted on Market Street

Lane Copley sent us this link describing his encounter with a gentleman named Raymond Duarte and his tricked-out ride while selling Girl Scout cookies with his stepdaughter in SF.

September 12, 2009

Chainsaw motor assist bike

Last weekend I saw this neat bike at the beach. The frame doesn't look like anything special, but the wheels, tires, brakes and other components have clearly been upgraded. Attached to the lower end of the frame is what appears to be a chainsaw motor, which drives a heavy duty chain set on a gear on the left side of the rear wheel. It seems that the traditional features of the bike are all intact. The gas tank probably holds enough gas to ride for several hours. Though the exhaust is directed down and away from the rider, it's probably a loud ride.

I shot several pictures, but have no info on the build.

September 11, 2009

Airless bike tires available now

More than one commenter on yesterday's post about tweels in development for the military expressed curiosity about the possibility of non-pneumatic bicycle tires. Turns out you can buy them, online, right now, from here, and here, and probably some other places that don't turn up in a Froogle search. I have not tried them myself but I'd be curious to have comments from anyone who has.