If Jesus had a Bicycle

  Biking on the land to mainstream (haha stream)? Then this bike is for you! It's called WingBike and it's the project of (apparently) a guy. That's about all the info out there on the people working on it, except they may or may not be named 'Steven'. Here's a concept drawing:

   ...and here's a picture of it in action:

Plenty of construction shots here, as well as a bunch of other information on the project. Well, lets see this thing in action:

Looks like fun!

Not all attempts were as successful, however. 

Friday WTF: Home Built Child Carrier

   Look, we all hate our kids. If you hang in there, and keep reading this blog, they will turn out awesome. No need to build a deathtrap on your bike that fits a child:

   I can only assume there's another endangered child in the large thing on the front too. My estimated weight? Bike + carrier(s) got to be pushing 100lbs. Ah, safety!

Single Sided EVERYTHING

   Check out this interesting custom bike from English Cycles. Apparently it was a request for a customer that it be single sided! This brings up a lot of questions about twisting and forces at play, but also looks really darn cool!

Love that green!

  The handling of the rear hub looks particularly sweet, custom and expensive:

Belt drive rear end

   Why not have half a handlebar, you know, give it the full effect? See the full article plus some more pictures here. 

Cannondale Sells LeftyPatent to Volvo

   Industry insiders have known about the link between bicycle companies and agricultural companies for a long time. It's no surprise then, that Volvo, makers of cars and construction equipment, would be interested in patent sharing with one of the larger cycling companies. 

   One of Cannondale's most popular innovations has been the Lefty suspension system. 

Cannondale Lefty suspension fork

 The Volvo MC135C not incorporates the same technology as the Cannondale Lefty:

Volvo MC135C

   This is the biggest partnership since Cannondale sold the lefty patents to Honda in the '90s:

   

Honda Hawk

Friday WTF: Turbo Bike?!

   If you're going to make a turbo bike, why the heck is it a cheap 20" trek? In any case, don't let any loose clothing get too close to that intake! 

   Stay tuned for more updates as I forgot I had a blog until recently. 

USE Sub Fork

   Good to see some competition for the lefty! This fork is designed to resist dive, which is when the fork compresses when you hit the brakes. Does it work? Reviews are in and they are good!

USE Sub 

 
   The front wheel actually moves forward as the suspension works, so the geometry is supposed to be less effected by the compression of the fork. This should result in more predictable handling.

Mounted up

   Disadvantages? There are only a couple - price tag, at about $1200 it isn't cheap. And while performance under braking is supposed to be better than a standard fork, performance when not braking is said to suffer. Apparently USE has some really good customer support, and there's even a rumor of free parts upgrades for the life of the fork (!)

Pressure Heat Map Paint Job

   Some sexy Monday paint for you. So heat map testing is a pretty cool technology.It can show strengths and weaknesses in materials using color representations. Here's a couple examples:

Load testing

Some other kind of testing

   This makes for a cool visualization, but this Specialized has taken it to another awesome level!

S-Works with heat map paint

The warmer the colors are where the bike experiences the most stress. Awesome! Thanks to Chris Taylor her contribution of this image!