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Fifteen quid bike is made of the folding stuff
Carlton Reid Jun 23 2008, 10:45am
Comments (9)
Design student creates disposable bike, less attractive to thieves
Bike-sized cardboard boxes are the bane of every bike shop's life and now there could be a new cardboard menance on the horizon: a throwaway cardboard bike that could be produced for just £15.
The bike has been produced by design student Phil Bridge of Sheffield Hallam University.
Is the prospective Hexacomb bike a menace or a promotional vehicle?
Bridge thinks it's the latter, but said the high cost of bikes is attractive to thieves, off-putting to potential purchasers.
"I was looking at bicycles and how people use them and one of the main problems to me seemed that they were too valuable," he told Radio Sheffield.
"People don't want to invest in a bike which cost a lot of money and then leave it on the street where it could be damaged or stolen. So my main goal was to completely devalue the bike into something that everyone had that could be thrown away, left anywhere and you wouldn’t have any worries about it."
Pix and more details here.
Comments
“less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: MarkSutton - Jun 23, 11:06am
...more attractive to arsonists?
“Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: SJP - Jun 23, 11:31am
There are plenty of throwaway bikes already - these still get stolen, are still costly or impossible to repair, and inconvenient to have to replace.
I see absolutely zero benefit to the end user.
“Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: carltonreid - Jun 23, 11:50am
SJP. I knew there would be this comment! Too true!
“Re: Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: bikepedlar - Jun 23, 12:15pm
can it be used in the rain????
“Re: Re: Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: carltonreid - Jun 23, 12:17pm
Yes. Hexacomb is used for outdoor hoardings and stuff.
“Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: Hamish A - Jun 23, 1:35pm
I like the idea... in principal...
But what about brakes, transmission, tyres? Am I missing something or will there still be 'normal' mechanical elements of a bicycle in this design?
And is this actually going to see production or is it just another exam piece like the wooden supercar?
“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: Philip Hunt - Jun 23, 1:48pm
Will you still look good riding your cardboard bike in your lycra in the TDF?
Recently, there was a 1950s (?) timber bike on Antiques Roadshow made by a couple of ski enthusiasts from a single piece of timber - with timber forks!. Beautiful looking machine but very nickable because of its rarity and value.
Perhaps we could save money by recycling our bicycles - where do all the old one's go? Many are discarded with the hard rubbish or are rusting away in sheds. There is crew in Melbourne who recondition old bikes and send container loads of them to Africa.
Clever piece of design... is there a weight restriction?
“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: DocB - Jun 23, 2:56pm
Has something in common with Ratner's jewellery. That's not attractive to thieves either and we all know why.
“Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: less attractive to thieves...”
Posted by: Alan Bush - Jun 23, 11:26pm
Presumably the bike was designed for use on public roads and therefore would have to meet BS 6102 (or in the near future - BS 14764).
Personally I am not too sure how Hexacomb would do in the various frame and fork fatigue tests detailed in this standard.