Thank you all so much! I really appreciate all your feedback and comments!
vibr8shaun: Glad to hear you like my bikes!
My thought process often starts with a basic idea sprung from something I've seen and love the look of. Could be anything really, another bicycle, a motorbike, a car...a bird or some other animal or just shapes that I find beautiful. This spring I spent a lot of time at the shore of Sweden's biggest lake, a beautiful environment with lots of different kinds of birds, and while watching some of them and how they move in the air I got pictures in my head of bikes that would somewhat resemble that feeling of swift and effortless movement. Other times when I get an idea for a bike, that first idea can come from something I've already done and would like to try and change a little and make it better, or I want to see what I can make with a specific material as with the Whippet where I'd like to try if/how I can make an entire bike from thin steel tubes and fiberglass.
Whatever the first idea might be it sits in my head while I try out different lines on a paper until I have a basic simple line sketch of the bike I'd like to try and build. I often have more details laid out for myself than what shows in the sketch, like what colours I'm seeing for the bike or the shapes of different details, but I allow myself to change my mind while I build if I come up with somethin that I think will be better in some way and some ideas don't come until I've started building.
While I draw that first, and most often the only sketch of the bike I start with all the measurements of the parts I'll be using (wheels, cranks etc.) and the measurements that are required for the bike to fit the person I build it for, making sure that the distance from the pedals to the seat, and from the seat to the handlebars are ok and so on. It's a balancing act between function and aesthetics, where function comes first and then trying to find a way to make it resemble that picture I see for my inner eye.
Thanks again, and it's good you're not Escher, 'cause he seems to have a skull in his eye... :wink:
HotRodJen and max210: Glad you like it!
irzouts: Thanks!! The Pedersen is a one of a kind bike.
Oh well, friday afternoon...back to mathematics. Rock on!