Hi
A week or so ago I received a Russian Book called "velomobiles". There are lots of illustrations in the book and lots of text, mostly completely incomprehensible. But I like it, and have bought a German copy which should be slightly more comprehensible. Will report later when it arrives.
On the bike front I bought and fitted a new quick release headstem. Only part of the stem was usable and the rest I made myself by hacking apart an existing stem and a whole bike frame. The new stem is good and works well with the chopper style bars I have. It allows the handlebars to be released without tools in order to make the bike more "2 dimensional" for fitting inside a car or on public transport.
Today I was out and around riding the bike and I feel that the wooden construction thing breaks down a few barriers. People are prepared to stop and talk about it. One guy said he'd never seen a wooden bike before (must've lived under a mushroom or something) and so was perfectly prepared to stare at mine. People are prepared to accept amateurish bits on a wooden bike and won't so readily dismiss it as a recumbent. So maybe my next bike will be another wooden one. I have been thinking through the design of a hollowed out-beam bike which could be made quite quickly using NC routed parts. Some new parts I have arriving include a fork for Front wheel drive and A-Headstem and with thise I should be able to make a ripper wooden bike. The other way forward (making these bikes) I've thought about is to make a custom aluminium extrusion but this would involve some tooling costs and a minimum production run of a hundred metres of extrusion. Ok, all for now.
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| Part of the 1986 Russian Book "Velomobiles" |
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| and another part, "Cycling Utopia" drawing. |
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| Quick Release Stem |
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| Source of tube used for making headstem |
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| Near our local recycling centre in Roseneath Street, my bike with an artwork dedicated to signs |
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| The new stem fitted to the bike |
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