Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Bike fun

One of my biggest passions is self-propulsion, and just about anything that is pedal-powered.

And while some may consider my cargo trike to be a creative manifestation of this, there's a local guy that always takes this sort of thing to the extreme, and his name is Mike Watson. Mike dreams up some often odd yet fun cycling machines, like the BMX trike mentioned a few posts back, and a few years ago I bought his Rainbow Chopper. Mike has so many creations that he recently had a bit of a sell-off, just to make room in his backyard for more! Many of them can be seen at the HPVOoO site, like Goldmember, the shopping cart trike, swing bike (#1), and the "Two Tall" tandem.

Last Saturday morning Mike was in the neighbourhood to show of his latest thing, which for a change was rather subtle, but still fun. It's a regular bike with an extra-tall stem, so the handlebar is way up there for comfy cruising.



Note the golf ball on the end of the kickstand


Cockpit close-up


Mike on bike


Demonstrating the alternate "aero" position
(I suggested a chin rest...)

2 comments:

Tanya said...

I definitely like this extra tall stem modification. My beater bike has a rather small frame so I am leaning quite far forward onto the low handlebars, this would be an interesting way to solve that problem :)

Mark said...

heh - well, if you really do need more height a less-exciting option is a standard stem extender, available for both threaded and threadless headsets through your local bike shop.

You've probably seen one of these - it fits under your stem and raises it anywhere from 3-6". They're pretty cheap, but an added expense may come from having to replace the cables and housings with longer versions.

And some might say they make the bike look a bit dorky, but of course you could always get a brazing torch and go Mike's route. ;o)