Make: Online: Bicycles Archives

Archive: Bicycles

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:

0596513879-2 2.jpg
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.

September 4, 2009

Cargo bikes

Core77 has a two part roundup of incredible cargo bikes; very inspiring!

September 3, 2009

YikeBike - The world's first super light electric folding bike...

Meep meep... dev site here.

September 1, 2009

Custom-built planetary gear unicycle transmission

Wrapping up my trifecta of epicyclic gear posts today (1, 2) is this practical application from Greg Harper, a resident engineer at the University of Washington's Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, who put together a custom epicyclic gear train for his unicycle hub. Designed for speed, the hub gives 1.5 rotations of the wheel for each rotation of the pedals.

August 29, 2009

Planetary Gear Old-Fashioned Bicycle

Where do I start with this thing? It has some many elements of awesome! It's a model of an old-fashion Penny-farthing bicycle that has been brought in to the modern world with the incorporation of 3 cutting-edge technologies:

It was built, layer-by-layer, using laser sintering (SLS) rapid prototyping. It's a demonstration project by Italian firm CRP Technology to demonstrate their capabilities.
It's made out of WindForm XT, a carbon-fiber reinforced polyimide material that's usually used to craft high-performance motorsport racing parts.
It incorporates a planetary gearing system. Penny-Farthings have large front wheels so that they can travel further on one pedal stroke; by using this gearing, the front wheel can be a more-comfortable 20% smaller. Planetary gears are used in some 3-speed bicycles, but their beauty is hidden within the rear hub.

I love the options that rapid prototyping allows the designer - these handlebars are simple, elegant, and formed as a single piece.

The material used was flexible enough to make the seat, suspension spring, and the body all one piece, too. Alas, it's just a model - just 16 inches long. Here's hoping that someone builds a rideable version.

More details: