Bicycle Bricolage

August 20, 2005 9:14 AM

Bicycle Bricolage Bicycles built from found items.
posted by mecran01 (18 comments total)

Now if he could take pictures of bugs with it, I'd be impressed. Though on the bright side, it is perfect for burning man.
posted by TwelveTwo at 9:53 AM on August 20, 2005

Man, I love eccentric tinkerer/inventor webpages. Great post. Where does this guy live? Seattle? Have any MeFites seen him tooling around on one of his bikes?
posted by LarryC at 10:34 AM on August 20, 2005

I'm guessing portland, oregon -- that town's got the craziest bike culture I've ever seen.
posted by TonyRobots at 10:54 AM on August 20, 2005

I love this kind of stuff also...I'm not on my home computer so i can't get to my links for sharing, but this guy is only one of the many bicycle maniacs the web has to offer(google "chunk 666" for a prime example). The real hot spots for this kind of activity seem to be Seattle/Pac. NW, Minneapolis, and various parts of Canada. It's amazing(and sometimes scary) what people can/will do with a few bikes, a hacksaw, and a welding torch. I love seeing bike links on the blue...keep 'em coming! VIVA VELORUTION!
posted by cloudstastemetallic at 10:58 AM on August 20, 2005

I've been beat to the chunk link....
posted by cloudstastemetallic at 10:59 AM on August 20, 2005

My current collection of bents is more than 25.

Well, he's got me beat. I thought I was a stud with nineteen bikes, but shit, 25 bents and those awesome goggles too...
posted by fixedgear at 11:08 AM on August 20, 2005

thanks, this guy is awesome; it looks like he really knows what he's doing, mechanically, ergonomically, and energy efficience-wise, as well as being thrifty and creative. imagine if our cities were full of these things!
posted by ism at 11:15 AM on August 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

The Boston equivalent of Chunk 666 is SCUL. Some of the more interesting "vessels" are here, here and here. I've been encouraged to show up at a ride and told that there are always plenty of choppers available, but I have a strange attachment to unskinned knees and intact teeth.
posted by nev at 11:34 AM on August 20, 2005

19...I currently own 8, and my wife has demanded that a few of them go up on e-bay. Parting with such sweet sorrow...but at least it will make room for the touring bike i've been wanting for a few years now. Can't wait for the day i call(or visit) Vanilla and place my order.
posted by cloudstastemetallic at 11:48 AM on August 20, 2005

404
posted by delmoi at 2:33 PM on August 20, 2005

chopzone more goodness.
posted by mecran01 at 3:14 PM on August 20, 2005

Bike Rod n' Kustom's always got the sweet bike rods and choppers, and ChopperBicycle.net's got a way more active forum than ChopZone.

And it's nowhere near as impressive as Fandango_Matt's, but here's my current project and my daily ride. (Which has since gotten more pinstriping and, er, a flat tire...)
posted by arto at 5:59 PM on August 20, 2005

I built a SCUL chopper about 4 years ago, for halloween. It was a 16" wheeled kid's huffy with a 26" 'suspension' fork from another huffy (fork alone weighed 8 pounds) and a 27" front wheel. There was a two foot length of pipe for the seatpost, and the BMX handlebars were rotated and flipped forward so there would be room for your knees to move up and down.

At first it wheelied and flipped over if you pedaled it, so I put a 12 tooth cog on the 16" rear wheel, and that helped. Then It only flipped if I tried to pedal up curbcuts.

Eventually I grew too tall for it, my knees would hit me in the face if I tried to ride it at all.

I found a new owner by leaving it unlocked in front of the community bike shop where I worked, and waited for attempts at theiving. The first 5 or 6 thieves gave up, and I had to retrieve it from where the ditched it and return it to the front of the shop. A 12 year old girl who frequented the shop was the first to manageably ride it, and made off with the 'prize.'

The bike's name was Sparky, and it was a blast.
posted by blasdelf at 9:43 PM on August 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

That's a great story. I totally want to get a clunker and trick it out now. -->the one cool thing about the chopzone (pepsi blue!) is the DIY book, which I plan to order. We've got two low-end bents, but I'd like to make my kids some groovy bikes.
posted by craniac at 10:58 PM on August 20, 2005

*sniff* 404 not found. :(
posted by yoga at 9:31 AM on August 21, 2005

Still not found... any other links?
posted by bloomicy at 5:31 PM on August 21, 2005

Not sure why it's 404'd. Maybe exceeded bandwidth?
posted by craniac at 9:59 PM on August 21, 2005

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.outsideconnection.com/gallant/hpv/joe/
posted by craniac at 10:02 PM on August 21, 2005