Quadbike: Bigger Is Better

[Tom Wilson] has finished his latest human powered quadcycle. The BigDog, as its called, seats 4 persons in lawn chairs who pedal to their destination. We say latest, for [Tom] also made a slightly smaller version called The DogSled. Some improvements include being taller (8 feet total), larger (11 feet by 6 feet), and surprisingly lighter (over half the weight, bringing it in to 450 pounds). The build process is just as impressive as the bike itself; using pneumatic disk brakes to golf cart axles to even drainage pipe, its a perfect fit for burning man. Catch a video after the divide.

[Thanks Mowcius]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exz9EduZNLI%5D

26 thoughts on “Quadbike: Bigger Is Better

  1. Small animals and pesky neighborhood kids always get in your way? Well not anymore! Introducing the new patented Quadcycle! XD

    This is only good for one thing, and that’s sending you to jail.

  2. this is awesome on SO MANY levels.

    I want a single man version! Following the link for the DogSled shows some other awesome stuff.

    I must make it to Burning Man someday, screw Meccha!
    I hope they don’t close down Burning Man, I seem to remember them having legal trouble lately or something.

    SO SWEET!!!

  3. Are they intentionally going that slow (in the video) or is that the max speed? It seems like four people pedaling, with the proper gearing, would allow at least 30 MPH…

    Also, how do they make those crazy huge wheels?!

  4. Anybody into oddball people-powered contraptions should Google the “Kinetic Sculpture Race” held annually in Humboldt County, California. I grew up in Arcata and remember going down every year to watch the kickoff. It’s like nothing else. They’d often coincide it with the “All Species Day” parade, kind of a nature-themed cosplay day. Also we all used to smoke lots of pot. They probably still do I guess! And the trees are huge.

  5. Thanks, Spork!

    Oh, that’s what Jakob meant by drainage pipe… I thought it looked familiar! :P I didn’t know the stuff was that rigid, though.

    BTW, it’s plastic (polyethylene, I think) pipe, so it’s not welded. In fact, you can see the bolts going through the short tubes at the end of the spokes in the last pic. (Looks like it really sucks to change a tire :P )

  6. The narrow wheels and ridiculous ground clearance mean you can roll clear above things that would otherwise never be possible to pass, which is kinda cool.

    Too bad it seems too big to get through a garage door.

    And finally, it might be cooler to set the seats way down low, below the centers of the wheels.

    It makes me wish I had a better welder.

Leave a Reply to AnonymouseCancel reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.