The Emigrant

I built this pennyfakething in two weeks as soon as I heard about the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition. I envisioned the bike I would build to ride west to Californy during the gold rush. Scavenging an old wagon wheel and an iron caster from a shop cart, I built a fork from railing and used saw handles for grips. Californy here I come!

For the rear tyre, I used the old pennyfarthing technique. I drilled two holes in the rim, then ran a few lengths of baling wire through some old worn gas hose. I ran it around the wheel a few times and then twisted it tight through the holes.

Johnny 8:13 PM

Duane Flatmo's "Badass", the bike that shouldn't be.

The front-wheel-drive, rear-steer bicycle is widely considered to be impossible to ride and has been tried and abandoned by just about every freakbiker I know.

The perceived impossibility has to do with the physics of what makes abike ride. Contrary to popular belief, gyroscopic forces play no role in a bike'sstaying upright. The secret is in the "trail" of the fork, or thedifference between a line through the headtube and the placement of theaxle. A wheel with no trail drives like a bus. A wheel with negativetrail is a smart caster. Rake causes trail, along with the curve in thefork.Because of the trail, a moving bicycle that falls slightly to one side hasits center of gravity shifted slightly to the other side, and all on itsown the bike falls back to upright. This is why you can ride no-handed.Rear-wheel steering is precarious on any vehicle, deadly at high speeds, and itreverses this relationship. As the bike makes a turn, in theory, thecenter of gravity is shifted *outside* the line between the wheels and thebike falls over. That is exactly my experience with every one I've everseen.

From wikipedia's "bicycle dynamics"article:

"Rear-wheel steeringBecause of the theoretical benefits, especially a simplified front-wheeldrive mechanism, attempts have been made to construct a ridable rear-wheelsteering bike. The Bendix Company built a rear-wheel steering bicycle, andthe U.S. Department of Transportation commissioned the construction of arear-wheel steering motorcycle: both proved to be unrideable. RainbowTrainers, Inc. in Alton, IL, offered US$5,000 to the first person "who cansuccessfully ride the rear-steered bicycle, Rear Steered Bicycle I".[29]Examination of the eigenvalues [studies of the physics of bike riding]shows that the rear-wheel steering configuration is inherently unstable."

And yet:

How is this possible? Well, the short answer is that Duane didn't know it was impossible when he built the bike. Like when the Coyote didn't fall off the cliff until he looked down. Bikes work this way. But I suspect the answer is "tuck". I learned from an old pennyfarthing maker thatone of the secrets that makes an ordinary ride is "tuck", the proximity ofthe rear wheel to the front. I suspect that he's brought the rear wheelin close enough that one can compensate for the bike's squirrelliness bysimply turning into the direction of the fall.Here's another bike that is technically rear-steered and allegedly somewhat rideable:

Johnny 4:04 PM

Witch Broom Bike

I had the pleasure of riding this bike at Burning Man. I don't know the builder's name or where he lives, although it's probably San Francisco.

Bikes have been around so long and so many designs have been tried that it's not often I come across one with a unique riding experience, that is a challenge to ride. It took years of freakbiking to be able to hop on this one and go on the first try, which I think astonished the owner a bit. I don't think many people can ride it well.

On a normal bike, you don't steer by pointing a lever in the direction you want to go. I found it easier to use one hand, twist my body to the side a little, and lean forward. It was like riding a pony. I bet it would kill your back on long rides, but as an amusement, this thing was a blast. I hope he doesn't mind if I make one for myself.

this photo was taken at Maker Faire by kitt.

Johnny 4:20 PM

Bumper Car Prototype

Here is my latest bumper car prototype.

Johnny 4:54 PM

Eolipile

Kimric Smythe is one of the crazy mad scientists who stuff The Shipyard where I work. He whipped this little duesy up in a week or two to have something to toodle around Burning Man with.

The rear wheel is off of an old Model T.

You can see much larger pictures at his photostream. Also, check out the steam jitney and victorian mansion on wheels.

Whatta guy!

Johnny 5:25 AM

'52 Freakin

Ray sent me this scan from the Bicycle Journal of 1952, quoting the LA Examiner.

Thanks Ray!

Johnny 6:13 PM

Vintage P-cola Freakin'

submitted by Nate the Writer

Nate writes: A friend of mine bought this in Pensacola Florida after every single rat in Nashville refused to sell him one!

Just goes to show, that a freakbike can't be bought, only made.

Back around 2003 me and my cousins made a few tallbikes down in Gulf Shores, AL (see the CFB post) and eventually they all got stolen. While Pensacola is nearby, this isn't one of them. This is clearly a flip-frame bike made in the 1960's after the Popular Mechanics article came out (see the CFB post). Wonderful to see this piece of freakbike history, and I hope Nate's friend is riding this thing around!

Extra Pensacola note: Folks have told me that there's another Payphone, a Paula Payphone, who is from Pensacola but now lives in Minneapolis. Seeing as my family is from the same area we just might be related! It's a long shot but if anybody knows Paula Payphone I'd love to get in touch with her.

Johnny 8:26 AM

Zany Bikes of Redmoon II

Redmoon has long loved the whimsy of pedal-power. Recently they've cataloged some of their food-service bikes in a page that advertises them for rent.

These aren't nearly all of their pedal-powered contraptions, not even including the previous posts with the red moon symbol in the sidebar. There's also a trike that distributes little paper doves, a bike with an animated running lion, and endless other strange automata.

Vino Machino

Here's the updated wine serving bike. The umbrella spins via flexible driveshaft and the decanter allows the rider to serve glasses of wine.

Piston Platter

This bike is designed to ride though a banquet with various dishes on the platters, which rise up and down as the bike moves.
Silverware spinner

Silverware Spinner

As the name suggests, the silverware on this bikes spins as the rider pedals.

Johnny 6:25 PM

Zig Anime

Zig Anime is a French clown troupe that I wanted to feature because they've clearly put a lot of effort into coming up with new and wacky bikes. In addition to the usual clown's compliment of swing bikes, eccentric buckin' bronco bikes, runt bikes, tallbikes, three-wheeled unicycles, and the token flip bike, they've come up with some really stupid designs. And I mean that as the highest compliment:

A swing bike that pivots instead! Dammit I was gonna invent that!

They do the act where they take off and replace the front wheel while riding. The bike comes apart and goes back together in different ways, and they juggle the pieces.

I like this one- an accordion bike.

This is a classic act that goes back to pennyfarthing times. His ordinary falls apart while he rides it, then he rides the pieces as a "ghost chopper".

Hardy har, a giraffe unicycle that walks on two legs.

This triple-high can have frames added or removed as part of the act. He sort of builds the bike as he goes.

This pushme-pullyou is controlled by whoever's weight is on the ground. It can go either direction.

It's kind of hard to tell here, but this is a tallbike you propel by humping up and down. You can see a video of it (and all of their bikes) on their website.

The crown jewel of their collection: A tallchopper with a big spring inside that becomes a lead sled when you bounce on it.

Click here to see videos of their show, where they demonstrate each bike.

Johnny 5:14 PM

Australia Freakin'

I traveled to Australia to bring my bike freakiness to a festival called Corinbank, put on by some of the founders of Rat Patrol Oz. Along the way I was impressed by the variety and cleverness put into the bikes in Australia. There are two prevailing clubs: Rat Patrol Oz located in Canberra, and Tongue of Fire from Adelaide. They didn't even know each other existed when TOF announced a tallbike tournament, so I suggested to RPOZ that they attend and much fun was had.

Here are some of the more impressive bikes from Rat Patrol Oz: