Cardboard bike is a 'game changer’ in Africa

[MTBer wannabee]

I think we need more people like this in the world. At least he is trying to make a difference.

[dracs]

aah that would make sense....i remember when solids were all the rage for school commuting.....i remember bouncing around all over the place on my western flyer

Yup I was well chuffed with my perma-tubes!

[ibruegge]

amazing!

 

http://youtu.be/txSboSNQINs

 

Izhar Gafni, 50, is an expert in designing automated mass-production lines. He is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years has toyed with the idea of making a bicycle from cardboard.

He said his latest prototype has now proved itself and mass production will begin in a few months.

"I have always been fascinated by unconventional technologies and I did this on several occasions. But this was the culmination of a few things that came together. I worked for four years to cancel out the corrugated cardboard's weak structural points," Gafni said.

"Making a cardboard box is easy and it can be very strong and durable, but to make a bicycle was extremely difficult and I had to find the right way to fold the cardboard in several different directions.

"It took a year-and-a-half, with lots of testing and failure until I got it right," he said.

Cardboard, invented in the 19th century, has rarely been considered as raw material for things usually made of much stronger materials, such as metal.

Once the shape has been formed and cut, the cardboard is treated with a secret organic concoction to give it its waterproof and fireproof qualities.

In the final stage, it is coated with lacquer paint for appearance.

In testing the durability of the treated cardboard, Gafni said he immersed a cross-section in a water tank for several months and it retained all its hardened characteristics.

Once ready for production, the bicycle will have no metal parts. Even the braking mechanism, and the wheel and pedal bearings, will be made of recycled substances, though Gafni said he could not yet reveal those details because of pending patent issues.

"I'm repeatedly surprised at just how strong this material is. It is amazing. Once we are ready to go to production, the bike will have no metal parts at all," Gafni said.

Gafni's workshop, a ramshackle garden shed, is typically the sort of place in which legendary inventions are born. It is crammed with tools and bicycle parts and cardboard is strewn everywhere.

One of his first models was a push bike he made as a toy for his young daughter, which she is still using months later.

Edited October 17, 2012 by ibruegge

[MTBer wannabee]