[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]
Awesome!
It would be extremely cool to go offroad with it.
LOL, awesome!
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.
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!!!
Sending you to jail? lolwut
Who is driving? Bear is driving! How can that be?
Time to run over some older lesser bikes and pop wheelies.
@TerreurBV: Thats the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.
It needs a sun canopy.
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?!
@Amos
See Page Two, where they show steel being welded to golf cart rims to make giant spokes which are then welded to the drainage pipe.
Cheers.
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.
How does that perform uphill?
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 )
Here’s a single person offroad quadbike http://www.cyclelicio.us/2010/human-powered-quad/
@5318008
Nature-themed cosplay day?
You mean like a Furry parade?
Psst… hydraulic disc brakes… Otherwise sweet build. I want one. The welding looks great, as does the design.
@Amos… Forget the tires, it must suck to replace a chain!
The thing looks like a friggin’ tank! … Now that’s an idea!
it’s like an uber surrey. 450 lbs seems like a lot of weight to push around but i can understand why it’s that heavy. could you imagine riding a 112.5 lb bike?
Donk-cycle!
Please tell me they’ll be at The Great Handcar Regatta in September! (http://handcar-regatta.com/ , Sept 26th in Santa Rosa, CA, for the uninitiated). It’s mentioned as an “inspiration” so they’ll be there, right? Right? …Pretty please?
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.
how fast can it take corners? downhill for example? center of gravity looks pretty high.
lol @ mouseover