BikeHacks

Ant AV Tricycle

 

Photo credit goes to Jonathan Igharas
 

Bicycles and tricycles are popular throughout cultures worldwide, and are utilized for many different purposes.  Jonathan Igharas is a recent graduate from Emily Carr University of Art & Design...and for his final studio project he designed the Ant AV Tricycle.  The Ant AV Tricycle is designed to be a vehicle in which DJ's and VJ's can easily navigate urban mazes and quickly set up shop in public spaces.

Inspired by bicycle and tricycle cultures worldwide, the Ant AV Tricycle was conceptualized to become both a vehicle and platform for urban communication and interaction, and a method to alter and transcend common perceptions associated with current pedal powered mobility and transportation.  By appropriating a utility tricycle from Beijing and re-introducing it into the context of contemporary urban street culture, this music inspired trike enables DJ's and VJ's to freely roam city streets and meander through the narrowest of alleyways.  Powered by a rechargeable marine battery and a power inverter, the Ant AV Tricycle is designed to house the essential audio/visual equipment to create sensory-filled social interventions and use public space as a play space.  

The trike also features sliding rails for quick deployment, and internal storage to allow for easy transit from location to location.  

Bike Chain DIY Valentine

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.  It seems like a holiday created by a pentaverate comprised of candy companies, flower sellers, jewelry stores, greeting card companies, and restaurants to squeeze money out of people.  This group might run a close second to the pentaverate described in So I Married an Axe Murderer:

A gift that comes from the heart and from the exertion of one's own sweat means more to me in the end than some corporate product thought up by marketing and advertising people.  So, if you have an old bike chain lying around (or perhaps you wanted to visit your local bike shop to ask for an old chain) there is an Instructable for turning the chain into heart to give to your Valentine.  

I will leave it to the general readership to come up with jokes concerning the old ball and chain. 

Photo credit to Instructables

Bike BrightZ - Zoobombing, Flying, Scottish Extra Terrestrials

A few more entries have rolled in recently for our Bike BrightZ contest. Remember, you can submit an entry by February 16th.  Just visit the original entry for details. People seem to have hooked onto the movie theme, but don't feel compelled to go that way. 

First up is Steve from Aloha, Oregon - not very many miles from where I grew up.  In my exchange with Steve I shared that I got a reckless driving ticket in the parking lot of the company he used to work for.  Those were back in the dark days of my life where I relied upon cars for enjoyment. The class I went to in order to have the ticket expunged from my record was almost like The Breakfast Club for reckless teen drivers.  I could have written something like this at the end of the tortuous 8 hours: 

Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong that bike rack jumping in front of my car. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are why I will never commit a moving violation again. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain us is bike rack terminator ...and an athlete...a speeder ...and a basket case...a red light runner ...a princess... a tailgater ...and a criminal...someone who likes to drive into high school football fields and do donuts.

After that day, I learned my lesson and turned to bikes.  I find it extremely ironic that I actually did hit a bike rack in that parking lot.  True story.

Anyway, Steve sent the following Zoobomb entry:

 

Next up is Elliott from Shoreview, MN.  He went with the flying theme . . .

And speaking of Elliott's, we have another E.T. entry from See Aye from Austin.  E.T. Bike home!

Carry a Bag on Your Bike with a Screw

Reader Hanspeter from the Netherlands submitted a hack that is simple and genius.  By putting a screw through a rear rack, any bag with a strap can be carried.  In Hanspeter's words -

My hack makes it possible to use almost every normal bag as a bike bag. It consists of only one little screw in the rear rack but because the screw extends on the down-side, my kids can still ride with me on the bike without getting their butts punctured. Also this way the bag hangs better.

Here is a bag as it rests on the rack:

 

And here you can see that it is just a simple screw that makes the hack possible -

 

One more shot of the hack in action -

 

With rough roads or high speed this might not be the best hack, but for slow paced errands around town this is a great hack.  And the footpeg I assume is for the kids that ride on the back . . . another great transport hack.  Thanks Hanspeter!

Front Light Bike Hack

I spotted this cool hack yesterday for a front light.  Take a look at the rather nice looking bike.

Upon closer look I saw that the rider had zip tied a piece of metal tubing under the front rack to act as a platform for securing the light. 

The only two downsides I can see are that it is a bit hard to reach (no biggie though) and it might get drenched with water coming off of that front tire (but most lights these days are water resistent). Overall a dope idea for sure.

Fly By Wire

Ok, so its 2010 and according to the projections of Popular Mechanics (Feb, 1951) we should all be zipping through the skies in flying cars by now.  Since flying cars haven't come to fruition yet, how about fly-by-wire bicycle lanes?  

 All image credits go to Martin Angelov

Check out this concept called "Kolelinia" by Martin Angelov, a graduate of the Sofia University of Architecture.  Instead of crossing lanes of traffic, crossing town, or even crossing from bike lane to bike lane on the streets with automobiles...Kolelinia proposes that bicycles be ridden on a steel wire that could be suspended above traffic.  

 

The idea is simple, easy to implement, and most importantly cost effective...and this one could actually work.  In 2009 Martin was awarded first price in the City Transportation Interchange Brief at the Line of Site international architecture competition.  Here is Martin in his own words:

Everything started in the summer of 2008.  I decided to participate in the international architectural competition "Line of Sight" on the "City Transportation Interchange" brief.  The first crazy idea which came to my mind was to make flying bicycle-lanes, using steel wire, something like ski lift but working on the opposite principle in which the wire is static and it doesn’t need electricity.  

Kolelinia is a concept for riding our own bikes on a new type of bicycle-lanes, based on steel wires.  Is it possible to achieve a completely new level of transportation with minimum resources?  This idea doesn’t isolate the bike stream from the streets, this only makes the connection for impossible zones between existing bike-lanes.  Could be a bridge type, a longer transportation line or a special designed and independent touristic line.  Of course it is too early to talk about mass use.

I can already think of quite a few places I'd like to see one of these...

Bike BrightZ - Rebel with a Zip Tie

As a hacker, you can imagine the delight I felt when I was told by the folks at Bike BrightZ that I had installed the light in a place they had not seen before.  What a compliment!

You might remember from this picture that I chose to mount the light on my rear rack so that light splashes on the ground behind me.  I chose this location because the other recommended locations on my whip are filled with cables. 

Concern was expressed by those at Bike BrightZ that installing the light on my rack did not allow the light to serve its intended purpose.  The light was designed to point at the ground.  They asked that I post a picture from their Web site to show it off so here you go.  There are two lights installed in this example.

However, I also wanted to highlight that I think my hack location works quite well.  To test out the effect I took pictures of the light in two different locations.  And by the way, I did forget to mention that the folks at Bike BrightZ also sent along cool releasable zip ties.  I had heard of these before, but I had not seen one.  They are pretty cool, especially for a zip tie freak like me. 

First there is the location on my rack.  I think it actually works very well because as you can see, it lights up very large space behind my bike. If someone was approaching me from the rear on a dark road, I think this would definitely catch their attention.  It is pointed at a angle, but not much different than the angle on a down tube if the light were installed per instructions. 

Then there is the standard installation on the lower stay.  You could say that the light is more concentrated, but I do not think it lights up as much of the ground as the rack install allows for.

I don't think there is a "wrong" way to install this thing, it is going to light up whatever you point it at.  You just might not want to point it at someone's eyes for fear of blinding them.  Also, I have already been contemplating how I might install one of these on my front fork so that it illuminates the ground in front of me. 

The issue is the the angle of the fork as it is would point the light up at about at 45 degree angle.  Thus I am thinking about using a wedge shaped object, like a door stop in shape, perhaps made of packing foam or something.  I am keeping my eye out for possible solutions in the garbage piles on NYC sidewalks. 

Caffeinated Lizards Attacking Earth on Bikes!

We received a few more entries for our Bike BrightZ contest.  First up, from Pittsburgh, PA is Chris. I had never heard of the drink Brawndo before, but maybe Chris holds stock in the company.

Anyone have experience drinking this stuff?  Opinions in comments if you have them.  I visited the Web site out of curiosity and the video below is actually pretty dope.  It does give me the impression that this stuff is sold outside arenas where WWF "matches" are being held. 

It also might be the answer to the long standing question of what caused Howard Dean's presidential campaign to derail.  I think someone must have handed Howard a Brawndo prior to the screaming fit that ended his chances of being taken seriously.  Credit for pronouncing Oregon correctly, but the 21 second mark is a classic moment of self destruction. 

And Andy, who submitted the tandem cargo bike hack, submitted following.  Alien lizards on bikes!  I dig it.

Corduroy Bike Chain Hack

I lock my whip up with an OnGuard Beast chain and to transport it I wear it around my waist. It took me a while to get used to riding with it, but now if I don't ride with it I feel funny.  It came with a protective cover around the chain, but I spotted this cool alternative just the other day. 

I am not a huge fan of Corduroy so to me, this is a fitting use for what was likely an old pair of pants.  If you have any lock hacks, feel free to submit them to us. 

Bike BrightZ - Breaking Away

Reader Ed, from Hanover Park, Illinois, is seeking to "break away" from the pack with his entry for our Bike BrightZ contest.

 

Is it just me, or would Michael Cera make a perfect cast for the role of Dave (Dennis Christopher) in a remake?

Hollywood seems short on new ideas recently so a remake of Breaking Away may well be in the works.  I had to do a double take when I saw a poster for a new Karate Kid movie when I went to see Avatar.  Jackie Chan replacing Pat Morita?  That's a swift sweep of the leg if you ask me.