the q

3 Articles

Lighting Up Glue Stick Bicycle Tyres With RGB

October 31, 2022 by 28 Comments

Being visible to motorists is a constant concern for cyclists, but we doubt [The Q] will have this problem with his RGB LED illuminated tires made from glue sticks.

The project started with a set of 3D-printed tire molds that bolt to the standard wheels. A bot of melted glue sticks is poured into the mold, allowed to cool, and the mold sections are removed with the help of a heat gun after cooling. We doubt the weight and hardness make the tires particularly practical, but you can’t make normal tires glow from the inside. 

The idea to illuminate the tires probably came after molding, because they had to be cut off to fit the LEDs. [The Q] built a simple hot wire jig with a piece of nichrome wire between two screws and used it to cut a few millimeters from the inside of the tire and fit a sleeved RGB LED strip in the wheel. Power come from a set of three 18650 batteries housed with a wireless controller in a 3D printed hub-mounted enclosure.

Like [The Q]’s hubless and partial wheel bicycles, it’s a definite head-turner, with function following form. 

Continue reading “Lighting Up Glue Stick Bicycle Tyres With RGB” →

Trippy Bicycle Uses Multiple Partial Wheels

July 31, 2022 by 18 Comments

Bicycles need at least two wheels to be rideable, but [The Q] realized you don’t necessarily need the wheels to be in one piece. As long as you have at least two points of rolling contact with the ground, you can spread the load across multiple partial wheels. He demonstrated this by splitting the rear wheel of his bike first in half and then thirds to create an absolute head turner.

Since a conventional bicycle wheel with tensioned spokes would collapse if cut apart, [The Q] used single-piece aluminum wheels instead. The tires were cut into pieces, and the inner tubes were replaced with sections of thick-walled HDPE pipe that won’t collapse under the weight of a human. The tires and the HDPE “inner tubes” were riveted to the wheels.

To mount the additional wheels on the frame, [The Q] welded a set of extensions to the back with mounting points for the partial wheels. To keep them synced, timing is done with chains running on sprockets welded to the disc brakes. In the second video, he tries to also split the front wheels, but found the front forks can’t handle the torque and would flex dangerously when the contact point is too far forward. Instead, he settled for three wheels on the back.

Much like his hubless bicycle, it’s not designed to be better than a standard bicycle, but is excellent for attracting attention. Though at least in some situations, the all-wheel drive bike he built last year might come in handy.

Continue reading “Trippy Bicycle Uses Multiple Partial Wheels” →

Fat Tire Bike Turned Hubless

June 24, 2021 by 45 Comments

Bicycle wheels have looked pretty much the same for over a century, and for very good reason: It works. [The Q] decided to ignore reason for a bit and focus on looks, so he built a fat tire bike without any hubs or spokes.

To make this work, he fabricated two sets of ring shaped “hubs” about the size of the rims, with a series of ball bearings around the circumference for the rims to roll around. The original forks were cut short and welded to a set of brackets that bolt to new hubs. This further complicates the back end as there’s nowhere to attach the sprocket cassette. The original rear hub, cassette and disc brake was moved to the inside of the frame. This drives the rear wheel using a second chain attached to a large ring sprocket mounted directly on the rim. The front brake was simply eliminated.

While this new design won’t be taking on existing bicycles, we doubt practicality was a priority in the build. It’s definitely a head turner, and we can’t help but see an opportunity to go even further and build a TRON bicycle.

Just recently, [The Q] turned another fat tire bike into an all-wheel-drive extreme off-roader. For another pedal-powered head turner, check out the strandbeest bicycle.