Bambike in the Telegraph, UK

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/6825000/Pictures-of-the-day-16-December-2009.html?image=8

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/6825000/Pictures-of-the-day-16-December-2009.html?image=9

'Bambike' handcrafted for the 'Tour of Nilgiris'

I decided to associate myself with TFN (Tour of Nilgiris) by sponsoring a bamboo bike to the most sporty person on the 8 day / 900kms cycling rally. I was also invited to flag off the event from Koramangala, Bangalore. (Pictures by Gopu, Aveek & Niya)

 

Media Speak on the Bikes, Trikes

Bamboo Bike - The new Project, May 2009

After my bikes and trikes were successfully running on the roads of Bangalore, a friend approached me with the idea of building a “Bamboo bicycle”. I thought I should give it a try and a few weeks later I felt happy as I finished assembling the bamboo bike in my terrace garden.

The bamboo bike is an environmentally friendly bike as it uses bamboo in place of steel for the main frame of the cycle. Therefore with each such bamboo bike one is cutting down the consumption of steel by 3.5 kgs.

The first prototype was made with raw bamboo with metal sleeves on junctions, as I had not thought of a jig while making the frame (a jig is a metal frame used as a reference for mass production while joining different parts to make an object so that all the pieces are identical.) After testing it further, I realized it had a fish tale effect at higher speeds which had to be overcome.

The second prototype was made using thicker bamboo sections and this time with a jig to hold all members and important junctions like bottom brackets, rear drop out, head tube and seat tube. This time around the parts were glued together without metal sleeves and using hemp fiber.

After I had finished making my first prototype of the Bamboo bike I met Arun Katiyar. Arun is involved with the Ride-A-Cycle Foundation that promotes biking, going green – a small way to give back to the environment. He not only appreciated my work but was very instrumental in encouraging me to develop it further. While I made more prototypes later, he tested them out and gave me the relevant feedback to improvise on the designs.

Later Arun suggested that I build one bike for Tour of Nilgiris (TFN) http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/blog09/. I loved the idea because TFN is one of the challenging mountain biking events, I thought it is a very good idea to put my bamboo bike through the endurance and get further endorsement.

 
 

The tandem out on the roads of Bangalore for the very first time

The Tandem was fun to do because it also allowed both Niyatee and me to take one bike out instead of taking our own individual bike. The maiden ride was from our home in Koramangala to Lal Baug on a bright Sunday morning with a bunch of our biker friends. Needless to say the tandem was a star attraction!   

Both Tandem and Trike have been a great hit with the children in the area where we live as well as when we take them out. The kids just didn't seem to have enough of the tandem. So much so, the parents have asked us to reward the children with a ride if they finish their school work. I have had children tell me that they would rather for-go watching television and ride the Trike or Tandem. It feels good to share a smile with the children and see them so excited.

    

The making of the recumbent tandem trike

A small video of the tandem trike getting assembled in my factory. Niya behind the scene.

How about a Tandem Trike? April 2009

After the trike was tried and tested and perfected, I was wondering what next. I was fiddling with the idea of a trike with shock absorbers when I chanced upon a tandem trike. And I said why not.

The tandem took roughly a month to make from the conceptualization till the final execution. There were a few learning’s from the earlier model of trike which made the design of the tandem more refined.

• The weight of the trike was 29 kgs, while the tandem was 30 kgs in all. I realized the earlier trike design was over-specified.
• Ergonomically the tandem seating is more comfortable
• The trike seat was welded with the frame. While in the tandem the seats are removable, which makes it easy to dismantle and transport.
• Brake system was improvised with the introduction of disc brakes.
• The axel of the front wheel in the tandem was modified as it would have to carry the weight of two people. Instead of conventional hubs I decided to go with bearings. 
  

Trike on the Bangalore roads

Once the trike was ready i was eager to take it out for a road test. The first ride on the busy lanes of Koramangala, Bangalore was an exhilarating experience. Not only did i thoroughly enjoy the ride of my hand made trike, it attracted lots of attention on the roads. It gave me instant "celebrity status". People in other vehicles including BMTC buses slowed down to look at me - give me way, kids jumped and shouted out to me in excitement, some even ran along with me! Some curious folks stopped me and asked questions about it. Most of them couldn't believe me when i told them i made it myself. Some even thought I was disabled and this one man actually asked me if it was specially designed for me!

Check out this small video of my first road test of the trike in bangalore. It was an easy ride!

The three wheeled cycle - Trike - January 2009

From the first design sketch to execution, the trike took 6 months to come to life. I was fascinated with the idea that one could pedal in such a comfortable posture.

A more generic model of a trike is the one with 1 wheel in the front and 2 wheels at the back, called Delta configuration. The one I choose to make was slightly different and mechanically challenging. It has two wheels in the front and one wheel at the back, called the Tadpole configuration.

The front wheels are 20” in diameter and the rear wheels are 26”. The trike has 21 gears and weighs 29 kgs. 

I had a dream… how it all began

Making things! That’s what I’ve always enjoyed. My childhood was full of messing around with tools in my father’s carpentry workshop. Later while graduating at the CEPT University, the metal & wood workshop was my favourite place to hang around. I made the most of it and began my early stints with furniture and product designs with salvaged material.

Setting up my own workshop was always a dream and after a stint with a furniture design company, I started my own workshop ‘6mm designs and furniture’ along with two friends – Mandar and Ignatius, in a rundown garage in a small alley of one of the crowded areas in Bangalore. Slowly we expanded and reached out to a bigger clientele - mass producing furniture for them.

But along side my core business, my experiments in the workshop always continued. From accessories to products my mind and hands kept working at making ideas into reality. The engineering and mechanics behind it all was exciting and challenging. From making a home Gym to a working piston machine to modifying my Enfield, I tried my hands at everything that crossed my mind.

                       

My interest in cycles began when Niya went and bought herself a bicycle to commute to office, a fire fox, a UK based brand. I liked the idea and decided to build one for myself and while doing some research - on one of the online travels, I chanced upon a trike design. The idea was irresistible and it was not too long before I began designing my own trike.