The grim future of Bicycles

[outskirtscustoms]

They've done it. China has learned how to make a bicycle 100% out of plastic. It's only a matter of time before they will be in the local Walmart. :roll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmxjLpu2BvY

 

[yoothgeye]

They've done it. China has learned how to make a bicycle 100% out of plastic. It's only a matter of time before they will be in the local Walmart. :roll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmxjLpu2BvY

That's not China, that's England, and if you listen to Jeremy Clarkson, England doesn't produce anything good anymore... haha.

Plus, after watching the video, I'm not too worried about those ending up on shelves anywhere... ever.

 

[deven_science]

I'm not sure where China comes into play in this video. I find being able to print the part with bearings inside amazing! It's not a bike for me, but neither are mountain or muscle bikes, so there we are.

 

[Spokeshave]

So we'll be gluing up rats instead of welding.

 

[Wilcycle]

I saw this in the flesh at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London over the Christmas break.
It look really cool at the museum, but looks very under geared and wobbly in the video.
No doubt about it though ALM (additive layer manufacturing) is the future.
You just need to make the rims strong enough to pump up the tyres :lol:

 

[Voyager Al]

It will be a long time be4 its in production.
30 some years ago I wa involved in a fiberglass company.We built a complete car out of fiberglass, wheels included. It ran. It now sits in a warehouse at the original company who had it built. Some things just cant (or dont want to ) be built. Powers that be put a stop to alot of good ideas. Like the air powered car. Governments get involved, and that can foul up the simplest things. Rant over.....

 

[SSG]

In the 80's some company sold a bicycle made almost entirely out of plastic, but I don't think they sold too many. You see them on ebay from time to time. There have also been bicycles made of fiberglass (bowden), carbon fiber, Solid wood and bamboo. Recently someone built an entirely wood bicycle (except tires of course).

 

[outskirtscustoms]

China mass produces anything plastic. It is cool that they can just print an assembled piece. I just wonder how long it'll last.

 

[yoothgeye]

China mass produces anything plastic. It is cool that they can just print an assembled piece. I just wonder how long it'll last.

I think the bicycle they made in that video has made it's first... and last ride.

 

[jwm]

Think of dot matrix printers from the 80's, and the crummy looking type they produced. Or early digital cameras, and the blotchy looking prints. I saw a demo from a new printer the other day. It looked like a gray sheet of paper. Turns out it had the entire gospel of John printed out on one page. When you looked at it under a high power magnifying glass you could see every letter printed out crisp and clean. This little bike is the dot matrix printer. Who knows what this technology will be able to produce in thirty years. Cool stuff!

JWM

 

[yoothgeye]

Think of dot matrix printers from the 80's, and the crummy looking type they produced. Or early digital cameras, and the blotchy looking prints. I saw a demo from a new printer the other day. It looked like a gray sheet of paper. Turns out it had the entire gospel of John printed out on one page. When you looked at it under a high power magnifying glass you could see every letter printed out crisp and clean. This little bike is the dot matrix printer. Who knows what this technology will be able to produce in thirty years. Cool stuff!

True true, but when they hand me the entire Bible printed on one sheet and a microscope, I'll just grab my old NIV or NASB open it up and leave the full page alone.

I can see this "printer" doing a lot of cool things, but bicycle will never be one of them, they just used it as an example that most people could relate to.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

It would be awesome if they figured out how to do it in steel or aluminum.

 

[jerrykr]

Neat video, thanks for posting it!

This is a long read, but there are many important new ideas in the article.

http://www.economist.com/node/18114221

These machines can "print" parts whose design and shape are impossible to manufacture with casting or machining techniques.

This whole thing is new and very similar to the introduction of plastic composites.

Initially in composites 30 years ago, everyone tried to reproduce and improve existing metal parts in composite materials. It didn't take too long to realize that replacing metal designs was not composite's real advantage. Parts were then designed to be made in composite materials taking advantage of the new properties of composites in conjunction with metal parts to create new products impossible to achieve in metals alone. One example is the Boeing 777 airliner.

The bike exercise is just that, an exercise to show and learn what might be possible. It's very likely that some of the bicycle parts we commonly use today might be better engineered and produced with these printing technologies. That does not mean that it makes sense to make all of the parts of our bicycles this way.

"grim future"? I'm not so sure.....
.

 

[jwm]

At the risk of sounding banal- we have to appreciate things for what they are. I'll always have a love for old bikes- especially Schwinns, and part of that love is the old technology. Single piece cranks, caged, or loose bearings, adjustable cones, coaster brakes- all have been improved on. Still, they worked, and worked well. They're still in service on seventy year old bikes, and they'll stay in service for decades to come. There is a feeling of accomplishment when you get those wheels just spot on perfect so there is no play in the bearings, yet the weight of the valve stem causes the rim to turn till the stem sits perfectly at six o'clock. Now we have three piece cranks, sealed bearings, threadless headsets, multi speed internal hubs- no adjusting, no lubricating, just slap it in, hop on and ride. I love all the new stuff too. When I built the Dragonfly bike I used all that stuff, and It's great knowing I don't ever have to mess with any of it. Like Jerrykr said, the future may not be so grim. I won't be around forty years from now, and that's kind of a bummer- It'd be cool to download a bike from the web, and watch it take shape in your den while you're busy adjusting the cones on a hundred year old B6.

JWM

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Found another video, this time in METAL! Stainless steel with bronse coating. and the detail is amazing. I bet the machine is expensive but you could design and make anything. This thing blows my mind. Maybe there is hope. Might be a good stock to invest in too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9VOwqtOglg

 

[jalopyjimmy13]

crazy stuff :shock: