Living in Oakland you can't miss the Scraper Bike phenomenon. Local Tyrone "Baby Champ" Stevenson is generally credited for popularizing the style. Baby Champ advocates the scraper bike as "a way of expressing your creative side ... its a do-it-yourself thing". Now that's a philosophy i can get behind! The past 2 summers Baby Champ and his crew have led a large ride through the city. You can bet I didn't miss it, but I needed to get my own bike in style for the ride!
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This article is sponsored by Momentum magazine and MonkeyLectric. The article was published in Momentum Issue 44. Here on Instructables i've posted an expanded build section that has tons more inspirational photos annotated with building tips.
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This article is sponsored by Momentum magazine and MonkeyLectric. The article was published in Momentum Issue 44. Here on Instructables i've posted an expanded build section that has tons more inspirational photos annotated with building tips.
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Signing UpStep 1: Party like its 1895!
I think it can be said of all great ideas that every new generation re-invents them for their own. The year is 1895 and bicycles are enjoying the brief 20 year explosion of popularity before being thrown under the (belching Diesel powered) bus. All but lost to the sands of time, Henry V Swan of New York is looking for a way to stand out in the crowd and invents a decorative wheel attachment, his design calls for colorful cloth which unfolds like an oriental fan to fill the disc of the wheel. Just 2 years later the patriotic JP Peters of Philadelphia has another method. By 1950 we entered the age of Plastics and Leslie Mann of Detroit suggested its use. By the 1970's another new generation had found their rides - and how to pimp them.
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i think cardboard or corrugated plastic "cardboard" is the future of scraper bike wheels as you aren't limited to "base 6" spoke counts and can do 4, 5, 7 & 8 spokes etc. as well as work with a bunch of new materials that don't look lumpy like foil does & that are more durable.
before i get the rest of the materials i need to do my own, i'd like to toss another technique that hasn't been used yet that i know of in the mix, FABRICs! if one were to make a hoop out of coat hanger wire the same circumference as the inside of their wheel, they could sew any fabric they want to the frame and then sew the frame to their spokes for a disc wheel effect like some scrapers already use, but with patterns. how about FUR discs?
inflating tires would be a bit annoying, but one doesn't have to sew the discs for permanence and cloths are likely to get dirty & oil stained anyways, but it's a different way to get a more uniform look than you can with foil. i might do that on my old mountain bike as i have some green fabric with pictures of cocktails & playing cards i was going to use on a trailer stereo lying around anyways.
all i'll say about my beach cruiser project is the theme will be silver monoCHROME & i'll be doing a 5 spoke design using this technique & new materials no one has thought to use yet. i started doing cardboard wedge mockups, but will start over from scratch with a full disc to get better geometry & will add a new instructable to detail the new techniques for the new materials.
not only would that tie into (pun intended) the colorful nature of scraper bikes, but is another symbol of the anti-violence AND green transportation aspects that scraper bikes represent. the round spoke patterns of traditional tie dye teeshirts would look great in bike wheels.
- if you used sturdy corrugated plastic, you could not only paint your spokes, but you could use masking effects to make all sorts of patterns & blends you just can't do using foil. if for example you did something like square "dots" in a color lighter than your spoke's primary and then blended a darker medium color inside your squares, you could create a pseudo 3D effect
- speaking of 3D effects, you could layer your spokes to give them TEXTUREs just like many car wheels have. heck, you could even SCULPT on your spokes with various materials like low melting point plastics, quick setting "liquid metal" type epoxies (expensive), bondo or paper mache. why, you could even do some woodworking & use THAT material
- using rigid materials like plastics to make spokes from scratch, you can also glue various materials to your spokes. i saw the bags of plastic "diamonds & jewels" in a craft shop looking for new ideas & materials that could really add "bling" to scraper wheels. i like uncomplicated simple designs myself, but a bunch of fake emeralds on a green themed bike would add some sparkle to the wheels. speaking of that, ONE of the materials i was going to use on my scraper bike is GLITTER! why hasn't anyone used that yet? i sprayed some clear laquer on cardboard shook some silver glitter on it and repeated 3-4 times with 2-3 top coats. it's messy & stinky work, but would really make wheels "pop". i decided to go with some blue of the material i was going to contrast with the glitter showing through the inside of my wheels because the technique is simpler and it will better match my bike's blue seat,
-& finally, by not relying on your spokes for your patterns, you could make different SHAPED spokes like swirls, lightning bolts & spokes that have concave or convex rounded edges. you could get even MORE creative by cutting out parts of the middle of your spokes to create negative space eg, circles to mimic the look of old 1970s hot rod steering wheels. heck, you could even cut letters out to say things on your wheels.
i've already mocked spokes up with paper and am going to get the blue material for the inside contrast on my wheels.
anyways, there's a few more ideas for anyone looking to try something new
ever seen a "clown bike" with it's axle mounted off center or one that uses sneakers or shoes for tires? you can put a lot of stuff in a bike wheel and still ride it. bike racing & downhills are a different issue.
you want to see some "cartoony bikes", google image
Corvallis DaVinci days. you've never seen anything like it.
if you want to see the most hysterical bike ever, google image
1188-male-bicycle
that cartoony enough for you?
i've been riding with HEAVY stainless steel bullet shaped valve caps which would weigh more than ALL of the glue one would likely use on a wheel and that's at the extreme outside of the wheel where it makes the most difference. my valve caps weigh about the same as 3 quarters, maybe even 4.
along similar lines, i've seen bikes riding just fine with a single LED "hokey spoke" etc. and those use even heavier batteries.
if one were even using a lot of glue for whatever technique they're doing, it would tend to even out as one would be doing the same thing all the way around the wheel.
car wheels spin A LOT faster than bike wheels do just cruising around.
if ANYTHING would worry me about handling on a scraper bike, it would be the effect of a really strong crosswind hitting the wheel. even without blocking spokes, those can push a motorcyclist over a lane or two.
Then the comments about fabric wheel covers reminded me of a guy who makes such a device for Semi truck wheels (to improve fuel economy).
http://www.deflecktor.com/
There is a mounting ring that goes on the rim and then teh fabric cover just attaches (and can easiy be removed / changed) with a zipper. They don't need to deal with the hub, but I'm sure someone here is clever enough to work out that detail!
Cheers,
BSW
Cut your wedge shapes, drill attachment holes, then use tie-wraps to hold into place. Or... you could sandwich two pieces together and use screws or glue to hold them.
If you look around, you may be able to find corrugated plastic... the kind used for signs. I went by the local plastic store here in Austin and found 2'x2' sheets for $0.50 each. You could cut these out and attach as above. Also weather and water resistant. They are smooth, can be painted, and should look pretty kool. You could even paint them in a chrome look.
If you want to go the extra step... drill them and insert a set of the battery powered Christmas LEDs for night riding.