This bike is made with carbon tubes and and Easton carbon stays. Carbon steerer tube. The front seat tube is the only aluminum frame tube and is Columbus butted. The 3 handlebars are carbon, joined with Profile aero bar clamps. Crank, cluster, rear derailer- DuraAce 7800. Shifters- Shimano 10 speed rapidfire. Brake levers- Tektro carbon. Brakes- Cane Creek single pivot titanium with Nokon aluminum cable housing. Seats and (shortened) posts- SDG. Titanium leverless wheel skewers. KMC hollow pin slotted super light 10 speed chain. Almost all bolts replaced with aluminum, and a few titanium. SRP aluminum derailer pivot bolt. Weight with pedals, 4 bar ends, no "gas tank" is 20.8 lbs. - This is my first carbon build. I used about 30 packages of Devcon plastic welder with carbon fiber mixed in to internaly assemble the bike before wrapping the joints externally with carbon tow or fabric, no vacuum bagging either. A bike company with monocoque molds could easily trim a couple pounds off the frame/fork weight.
The bike evolved from light weight aluminum chopper bicycles I started building in 1996.
Steep one, this... There's a 25 inch wide steel drainage grate across the road at the curve, and the dark patch just below it is damp pavement. The rear wheel didn't lose any traction. If the front wheel was closer the the crank, not raked out chopper style, I would have lost traction.
The ultimate long distance bike, I believe. A huge range of positions relieves pressure points and refreshes muscles. The front seat is for climbing, the rear for descents. Use either seat on the flats.There may actually be a speed advantage on downhills. Could it win the Tour de France, or the Race Across America?... YES!!! - Plus it's a cool looking Chopper, which have all been been lame untill now. If you are not trying to win the Tour or the RAAM, you are riding the ultimate long distance comfort bike.
The "gas tank" is a triangular cardboard box covered with brown vinyl, velcro closed front and bottom. Holds a tubular tire, pump, ect.
If you are a manufacturer or independent builder, the one problem this bike has is the bars getting in the way when making tight low speed turns when you are in the front seat. Here's the bar passing over the seat- With your leg down on that side and scooting back an inch you can turn sharp, but the diagram offers one possible design to make turning easy. - The rear bars angled out with lightly spring loaded bar ends that swivel. - Making a one piece bar as illustrated would save weight over my bike.
Shifting-
The shift levers are only readily at hand when seated in the rear seat. However, with Shimano's new Di2 electronic shifting, 2 or 3 sets of lightweight shifting switches could be used fore and aft along the handlebars.
I've promoted my bikes, submitting pics to magazines, getting into 14 publications for free. (20, including the last 6 I paid for in Velo News.) - Here's some more self promotion, you might find interesting. - In Nov. '98, I sent a package of 7 pages, with pictures of my bike in 10 magazines, to about 22 bicycle manufacturers. (I delivered packages in person to Specialized, Ritchey, Bontrager, and Santa Cruz, (local).) I got letters back from Trek, GT, and the one below, from Schwinn. - In 2003, I saw one of their OCC choppers on the street, and learned it was being test marketed over in Sacramento. I believe it was in prototype in 2002. - I suggested to Schwinn they build my bike, no strings, and there are some who think they DID! Similarities (to my '98 bike) - A smaller wider wheel in the rear, bigger thinner wheel in front. ... Frame angles are close, especially if you consider the actual rake of the Schwinn fork, if the axle ran through the centerline of the fork tubes instead of tabs welded to the front of the tubes. ..... Rear brake cable runs inside of the top frame tube on both bikes...... Rear brakes are inside the rear triangle, I did it to keep the outer frame lines clean. ..... Rear brake only, a tribute to the "Captain America" Easy Rider bike, Schwinn added a front brake later, but the original OCC Stingray only had a rear brake. ...... ..... In turn, thanks to the Schwinn OCC Stingray, I learned how to finally get fork trail right, and to go for a really FAT rear wheel (when viewed from the side anyway.) Thank you Schwinn! If it hadn't been for the OCC Stingray, I probably would have stopped building bikes in 1998. - Neither bike was very usefull though- you can't stand to climb, and even if you could, there's no seat to periodiccaly rest on. That is why I made the RoadRecumbent bicycle.
The Schwinn letter, dated Dec. 9 1998 ---- ..... "Re: Mountain Chopper...... Thank you for your interest in our company. Although innovative, the idea you submitted to us is not something we are interested in pursuing at this time." ........................................................ ("mountain chopper" was a name given to my bike in one of the magazine articles I sent to Schwinn.)
This picture was included in my package to Schwinn, as published in VQ magazine in 1998. Realize, the Schwinn is smaller, to fit kids.
I would like to offer any help to a bike company who wants to build this type of bike. ....... There are no patents on my design. All bike makers are welcome to copy, no strings.
20 lbs. w/o pedals, tank. Back rest folds down.
Upper "tripple clamp" - Just an 1/8th inch carbon plate held in by the stem. Lite-weight.
Seat is carbon fabric over Baltek matt over styrofoam. It's ribbed on the bottom, ribbed internaly. Bolted to a paired down nylon seat base. The hinge pin is a carbon rod. Crude but strong. Lots of epoxy, wieghs about 3 pounds, another place where a real bike company can save some weight.
Or hinge the bar so it can move outward when it contacts the the rider, but can't move inward. With a fairly strong spring, the hinge shouldn't activate with steering force. - Still, if you want to make a very low speed tight turn, just transition to the back seat, and there's no problem at all.
