Saturday, November 10, 2007

Miguel's new ride; snow bikes rule!


Ok, so I know I need pictures on these posts or nobody will read them. I really like my new system of using old disc rotors to brace the disc mount - it's a nice way to re-use some metal instead of recycling it or throwing it away, it looks neat (at least in my opinion) and it's even a TINY bit lighter than using a piece of tubing (ok, ok, by like 2 grams, big deal). I did a good job matching this one up with the same path that the actual rotor on the bike takes, cool.

Switching gears a little, I've always wanted to build myself a snow bike - not the kind you'd ride in the Iditabike (ie, with actual pedals and wheels), but the kind you'd take to the top of a big hill and slide/ride down. The kind the Beatles rode in Hard Days Night (I think...) I thought that they weren't allowed on the chairlifts at any of the resorts around here, though, so I never got around to it. But now I found this yesterday: Lenz Sport Skibike video. Freakin' sweet, AND THEY LET YOU ON THE LIFT! I'm guessing Devin and his friends are at Keystone or A-Basin there. Regardless, that means Vail Resorts (cough, evil! cough) will let them on...

I don't really see the need for full suspension, myself - I used to ski a lot, and my legs seemed to do just fine for suspension. The front suspension, sure - your arms and hands are going to get pretty thrashed after awhile.

In any case, partially due to the fact that I haven't heard any particularly encouraging news about the belt drives from Spot, the Waltworks snow bike is taking over as stupid/weird project du jour. Right now, I'm at the thinking stage, but don't worry, I'll charge right ahead into the building-without-carefully-thinking-first stage soon. I've gotta find some crappy twintip mini skis first, then I'll start messing around seriously. Stay tuned, loyal readers!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

lotsa props on the recycled rotor disc brace. Very innovative and looks good too. The only thing I was wondering about was i did not think it was possible to weld aluminum(the rotor)to steel(the frame). Is it because its a fillet braze and not a tig weld tat allows it t work. just curious. thanks

Walt said...

Disc rotors are steel, man. It's tig welded on there.

-Walt