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While you can buy a Kickbike, you can also make you own hacked scooter. This comment was posted to the Kickbike post:
Weekend warrior in Manhattan on a scooter; I sold the kickbike and now I ride a 16″ wheeled scooter; just about as fast and nimble ; a bit smaller for getting on and off trains ; ride the rest of the time in NJ where I live ; back pack hung on handlebars carries stuff I buy or my jacket if I get too warm or food; foot boards don’t need grip tape / tread tape ; even wet foot boards have traction if you wear skateboard style shoes [ very mild tread / flat sole , no lugs , no funny heels etc]
I followed up with “duggy” and got the following picture and description of how it was put together.
Directly from duggy, description and how it was made:
Notice slotted fork in front and lowering shackles in back and the 1″ sawed off the bottom of the head tube as well as new foot deck welded between the tops of the foot rails instead of on top of the rails ; originally very similar to a Xooter.
My wheels are custom laced alloy rims; stainless spokes; sealed precision bearing hubs.
Construction Notes:
1. Cut an inch or so off bottom of head tube
2. Slotted fork
3. Lowering shackles on rear axle bolted and welded
4. Removed 1/4″ thick plastic deck board on top of foot rails
5. Welded sheet steel [ from home depot ] between tops of rails [ level with rail tops ]
6. Hi rise stem [ stem angled upwards ] with extra long quill [ part that goes into head tube ]
7. BMX bars [ high rise and back angled hand grips ]
8. Alloy rims
9. SS spokes
10. Sealed precision bearing hubs
11. Extra long brake pads
12. Knee rest
13. High pressure smooth tires [ low rolling resistance ]
Riding Notes:
a. High intensity head light
b. Red tail light with elements lighting sequentially in a circle
c. Air horn ; bell ; electric whistle ;
d. Lock
e. Tools
f. Clear safety goggles [ replace sunglasses at night ]
Sometimes a standard bike rack just doesn’t cut it. Cyclists in NYC are quite creative when it comes to creating customized solutions for cargo issues. The common plumbing clamp and zip ties are two of the oft used devices to secure apparatuses to standard racks.
This rider used plumbing clamps to secure this basket:
Zip ties were used by this rider to secure his crate:
A Chinese food delivery guy pulled up in front of me one time and I saw that he wanted a larger platform for delivering his precious cargo. He took what looks to have been a discarded metal shelf and secured it to his rack with wire and zip ties:
If you want something a little more stable than zip ties and wire, you can go for a metal bracket that is secured with screws:
This is a more conventional solution that I am interested in looking into. I like the thought of being able to fold them in and out and I’m thinking my backpack might fit into them. That way I could ride with my backpack in the basket to avoid SBS (sweaty back syndrome) and when I lock up or need to haul my bike up to my fourth floor walk up I could just toss the pack on my back.
The thing is, the computer is simple, but the building part assuredly is not. Best of luck to any intrepid non-electrical-engineer-types that embark upon this hacktastic journey. It is not for the faint of heart. At this point, I’ll continue to buy my computers pre-built.
The post last week on the Kickbike garnered quite a bit of attention. Many people left comments and I exchanged emails with a few of them, resulting in a news scoop. From the smoky back room of FBUSA I was told that the following information (and pictures) is yet to go public, but we have been given permission to post it. Enjoy the inside scoop and when you see a bunch of adrenaline junkies hurtling down hill on these things, remember you saw and read it here first.
We got the idea after seeing a link to www.gonzlab.com. And then we discovered there is no standing downhill speed record on a scooter in North America (57mph in Australia). And then we built this one, and then we called X-Games………..and now we are building five more with some slight changes including a steering damper and other soon to be shown goodies! Helmets and Leathers required.
Again, we are not going to sell a gravity version of our performance scooter, but we are going to grab a lot of media with it. We are going to field a team of 6 racers for demo events and marketing—-if we are lucky we will be able to find others that want to have a go at a 3.5+ mile downhill hitting speeds over 50mph.
50 mph is some serious speed. Let’s just hope the frame is sturdy so there is not a repeat of this spectacular wipe out Bren Posted a while back. The carnage takes place around the 45 second mark.
Via Great Green Goods comes a great use for bike tires . . . jewelry. The jewelry is made by Christiane Diehl and you can view more pictures on her site.
Michael was inspired by the Nintendo Wii to come up with Reactiv - a responsive cycling jacket.
The jacket uses an accelerometer that senses movement to change the colour of the LEDs in the back from green (accelerating) to red (braking). It has amber LEDs in the arms which are activated by a tilt switch behind the elbow. These light up when the arm is lifed, indicating the cyclist is about to turn.
I myself burn through jackets pretty quickly. This mostly has to do with carrying my bike up four flights of stairs on a daily basis. This leads to grease stains and tears pretty quickly. Nevertheless, this is a super dope idea.
What I want to see next is a jacket that can express the anger of a cyclist. Like when a car cuts him or her off, or when jogger with headphones in both ears is oblivious to the world around them, or when a dog running around without a leash almost takes you out, or a Rollerblader who takes up the whole path by going back and forth, back and forth , or a pedestrian who does not look where they are going . . . .
On my daily commute a few times over the past months I had seen someone riding what appeared to be a hybrid bike/scooter. Dude was always coming at me so I never really got a good look at what he was riding. While walking around the other day I found the mysterious contraption locked up and got a close up view of what I now know is called a Kickbike. The animated picture is from their site, www.kickbike.com. Here is a a picture of the full ride, complete with front basket.
The lower platform has their logo, but none of the standard grip tape that you commonly find on skateboards.
The rear brakes are right near the back of the platform.
I guess this is a cool idea. I still actively ride a skateboard though and can tell you from personal experience that pushing extensively with your foot to propel yourself can lead to an awfully sore foot. I guess over time you would become conditioned to the pushing, but it would be a learning curve for sure.
If you are the rider of this particular Kickbike, or if there are any of you out there who ride one and you stumble across this post, we’d love some feedback on what it’s like to ride one via the comments.
One of Bikehacks favorite sites is bicycletutor.com. It is run by Alex Ramon and we recently interviewed him. Enjoy!
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live? How’d you get interested in biking? Etc.
A: I was raised in Kitimat, BC. My Mother taught me to ride on a 16″ K Mart bike when I was five years old, in the grassy field behind our apartment. The first time I rode without her assistance, I was so excited and proud that I turned around to wave at her. I crashed right into a telephone pole!
I guess I liked crashing, because after that I became obsessed with BMX and motocross. We couldn’t afford new bikes, so I had to build my own out of parts from the dump. When I was 7 I built my first ‘real’ bike out of 3 broken down Raleigh Rampars (those big old black bikes with the plastic gas can and shocks).
When I was around 10 I turned my attention to BMX freestyle (mostly flatland). I was a bit of a loner, spending all my time either in the parking lot practicing old school tricks, or in my room drawing bikes and drooling over the latest issues of BMX Plus! (good old Radical Rick). My biggest idols were guys like Eddie Fiola and Woody Itson.
When I was 16 I got my first job as a salesperson at Cap’s bicycles in Vancouver. I learned a lot about brand names and the business, but I was not happy with the way they operated (kind of like McDonald’s for cyclists).
Later I moved back to Kitimat and was hired by the local bike shop where I worked for two years. My boss was a genius with bikes, but also had a day job at the mill, so I was left to manage the shop most of the time.
When I moved to Vancouver Island my first job as a mechanic only lasted 6 months. The shop I was working for was owned by fundamental Christians whose main concern was profit. The mechanic’s area was carpeted!
Finally in 2000 I was hired by Fairfield bicycle shop in Victoria. At that time it was probably one of the best bike shops on the west coast. We focused on commuters and family bikes, trailers, etc. but we also sold and serviced recumbents, electric bikes, unicycles and more. I was most obsessed with our collection of 3-speed hub parts, and I specialized in overhauling and repairing them.
In 2002 we expanded and I was responsible for setting up and stocking the new shop. This took several months and pretty much burned my out. I decided to move to Vancouver and finish my college education. After I finished school I was hired as a clerical by the Vancouver Public Library, where I am still employed.
I miss working with bikes A LOT, which is why I built bicycletutor.com. I don’t claim to be a technical genius with bicycles, but I hope that these tutorials will help beginners have the confidence to fix their own bikes.
As for my riding habits, I stopped BMXing many years ago when I developed bursitis in my hips (as a direct result of so many wipe-outs). I don’t own a car so my bike is used mainly for transportation. I’ve also developed a passion for cycle-touring. So far I’ve toured a fair bit of Vancouver Island and some of the surrounding islands. My dream would be to cross the country on my bike (which my Father did a few years back).
Q: What are a few of the most important things you would recommend to the average commuter in terms of keeping their steed mechanically sound?
A: Chain lubrication is most important. A dry chain will accelerate wear on both the chain and rear sprockets. It’s also good to maintain proper tire pressure if you want a more effortless ride.
Q: If a kid walked up to you with $20 and needed bike tools, what would you hook the kid up with?
A: Some chain lube, tire levers, and a set of 4,5,6 Allen keys.
Q: What is the dumbest thing you have seen someone do to a bike that you had to repair?
A: I’d have to say the worst thing I’ve seen is WD-40 being used as a chain lube, although I don’t blame people for it as it’s been a popular misconception for so long. The second worst thing I’ve seen is stripped out bolts from people using the wrong tools.
Q: Car mechanics are famous for being untrustworthy. You know, they are often accused of fixing something that does not need to be repaired or overcharging for services. In your opinion, is this an issue with bike mechanics, or are most of them honest? What are some good questions to ask mechanics to keep them honest?
A: Granted, there are some shops that are more concerned with profit than the customer’s needs (like a lot of high-end shops). However, in my experience, most mechanics are quite helpful and honest. I guess the best way to judge is to assess their attitude. If they are acting snobby or try to convince you that you need a new bike (especially if that’s not what you came for) then I would go somewhere else.
A good mechanic will try and help you fix your problem as economically as possible. For example, let’s say you’ve got a department store bike with a bent steel chain ring. A dishonest mechanic would try to sell you a new crank, whereas an honest mechanic might just bend it back as best as possible for a minimal (if any) fee. Honest mechanics are usually willing to go the extra mile to make a satisfied customer, because they know that trust will pay off in the long-term.
Q: Our site is primarily about incorporating hacks to your ride and associated products? What are some “hack” tools you have come up with. You know, tools you use that are not really tools but do the trick?
A: I don’t have a lot of ‘hack’ tools because I was fortunate enough to get all of my tools for cost pricing. However, I have a few ‘non-convential’ tools that I can’t do without. I use an awl for poking a hole through the inner lining on fresh cable housings. I also have a screwdriver that sawed off, and then ground a concave curve in the end to help push in the springs on sidepull brakes.
Q: What one tool can you simply not live without?
A: There’s a lot of tools I couldn’t live without, but my favorite would have to be the 8/10mm ratchet wrench from Park Tools. It just saves so much time.
Q: What would you recommend that someone going on a long ride take along?
A: A spare tube, tire levers, patch kit, rag, and a small multi-tool that has allen keys and a chain break built in.
Q: What advice would you give to budding bike mechanics?
A: Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or admit that you don’t know how to do something. It takes many years to become a knowledgeable mechanic, and even then there is always more to learn.
Q: What is your favorite bike hack?
A: I’m always amazed by the many different bike trailers people build on their own. I recently saw a wheel-barrow converted to a bike trailer… awesome!
Q: What’s the ultimate bike mechanic breakfast?
A: A 4-egg ham and cheese omelette with a bagel, tomato juice and coffee.
