Bullet Proof Commuter
Designing and Building a Custom Bike
Challenge
My sister moved back to Boston a few years ago and asked if I could design and build a bike for her that she could commute on year round.
Outcome
The result was a custom rust proof titanium frame, grease free belt drive, maintenance free internal gear box, self charging head light, and studded snow tires.
I found a bike frame fabricator in Taiwan that would weld a custom frame based on my design requirements. I created a CAD model and set of drawings in CATIA and worked together with the fabricator to implement the design.
A few months later the raw frame arrived from Taiwan and I sent it off to a friend in Colorado to have it sand blasted and powder coated.
After the frame came back from powder coating I assembled all the components. All the parts were selected for maximum durability and minimal maintenance.
The image on the left shows the custom fender mounts that I machined to replace the flimsy plastic ones that are standard issue. The wheel hub has a built in dyno which generates electricity as it spins to power the front and rear lights. The image on the right shows the belt drive train that, unlike a standard chain, does not rust and does not need to be oiled or greased.
