Ski Bike

Step 9 Extra Mods

I finally got around to doing some other stuff to this bike.

I was able to find and fit a 26" fork to this bike in order to reduce its tendency to double up and launch you in tight turns.

I also removed the annoying pedals and made my own foot rests out of steel angle and some 1/8" aluminum plate with 10-24 socket head screws for traction pins.

What an improvement! This thing is way more predictable now and easier to crank through tight turns without fear of getting tossed over the bars, partly due to the longer fork and partly the set back foot rests. Good stuff.

Comments

[benduy]

could you use pegs from bmx bikes as foot pedals

[ereynoso1]

yeah you could, you would have to add them to the axles though

[Pe-ads]

I guess so. Be creative! That's what Instructables is all about... :D

[rockymountainrider]

has anyone done a jump with it? does it get wrecked easy from a fall?

[snaketon]

i guess it depends how strong the bike you use is and how big the jump is
maybe the build quality will come into it at some point

[txinote]

yes!! see my video at down... i do a lot of small jumps the first day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJB0zfDvu3k
 

[kingbob9_9_]

im going to try it as soon as i get a cance to.it probley will if you do a bad job.

[crazyboy007]

me and my friend made one, it was great. thank you for the idea.
the only difference was that we kept the back wheel so we had "propulsion," very fun for icy roads =)

[misses_soulful]

omg this is hilarious. love it.

[Charlie13]

snowscoots are basically the same thing but they are a bit easier to control (getting up on the edges is easier which makes turning easier) This seems a bit more dangerous to the men among us if you were planning on doing any jumps. I can imagine falls being pretty brutal

[ThatGuyRandy]

A buddy of mine did this with an old mountain bike, and attached the skis to the
frame with upside down skateboard trucks. This gives you some lean-steer.

[Michael1997]

I'm doing this at the moment..i saw that vid on youtube what was made with this guide..looks good :)

[SharonLovesCB]

 could you put 2 skis in the front?? so i can make my dog pull it?

[polorl]

 My roommate made one and it rides great !!! thanks a lot.   the video is uploaded on the youtube.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJAZZjcatgU
we tested it on the Copper Mountain ski resort blue run in Colorado!! it was his third day of test.  things are getting better and better!!

[fortunare]

Thathanks 

[Airsoft_Maniac_96]

 im going to make one i think im going to put two skis on the back

[txinote]

i thik this not a good idea because two skis in the back are inestable...

[yugeair]

 Doing that will affect your slide turns as you will have 2 different planes not aligned.

[snaketon]

oh...
that makes sense

[Airsoft_Maniac_96]

 i did it my way and it worked perfect im trying to find out how to make a good jump for it iv crashed like 10 times already havent broken yet!!!

[fastback570]

What about some sort of strap or spring that keeps the skis tipped up if you do catch a little air?

[snowbum14]

there is a great way to compensate for that effect. When you mount the front board angle it up a bit so that you dont run the nose into the ground

[samdavidphillips]

Ths is a pretty good instructable. I made a few designs of something like this. Except for the front I had two skis mounted to a device that allowed you to simply remove the front tire of any bike and secure it to the fork. Then the back tire I would either leave so I could "drive " it around on ice or in low depth snow. I also designed a rear attachment, but it was about as wide as a snowboard.

[rockymountainrider]

i'm also thinking about putting 2 skis on the back. but idk, it seems like a lot of work.

[matt bennett]

does it carve nice?im gunna use a very small bike for this project

[Le Boeuf]

Carves real sweet, I'm 5' 11", heavy, and the frame you see is a small. I found myself following pretty much exactly the same line snowboarders were taking, or I could choose to straight-line it, no stability issues to mention. A colleague (another bike mechanic)and I also made an (as yet incomplete) BMX/snowboard bike but we have yet to try it. Having ridden this for a week now I can assure you that the balance leaning into turns is great, no need for more width, might even cause problems (that's no reason not to try it though!). I even managed deep 'crusty' powder without problems as long as I kept my speed up and weight back. Crashes were very rare, when looking back over my shoulder I'd 'catch an edge' with the rear ski very occasionally, but that never caused any crashes as the bike instantly straightens up and self corrects, and momentary panic turns almost immediately into hysterical over confidence. Having said all that I think the perfect all round ski for this particular bike would be wide 85cm blades like the K2 fatty's or Head big easy's which would make carving the deep stuff a little easier at lower speeds. Steep, narrow,icy chutes were pretty damn scary though as you can't edge straight down like you can on a board or snowplough like on ski's(wide planks could maybe help here?), but even a week was enough experience to make these much more enjoyable by the end. New parts are going to have to wait till I've dug myself out of the financial hole created by my 'fact finding' in the Alps though.

[matt bennett]

ohh yeah.. i think it woulkd work better with a half a snowboar din the back for better balance when u lean into a turn

[the stig06]

(removed by author or community request)

[Arbitror]

OMG... *Cups hand over mouth*

[mwwdesign]

First thing I noticed... damn.

[Oblongata]

Ok ok, dont get all bothered by it. It was a Haro, yes, but not a good Haro. This thing is a friggin tank. (boat anchor). Strong...yes. Heavy....yes. Desirable...no. It was saved from the landfill, so don't get too upset. It has a good life. This was definitely not a high end model, no double-butting here, just tons of steel.

[mwwdesign]

Be worth checking eBay to see what it would be worth...

[Nattwood]

well i checked ebay and for the frame alone it was goin for $80, but i picked one up for free that im fixing, neva gonna do that to any bike, cause i got no snow, but i have an idea for keeping it so u can use it to bike in the snow.

[Oblongata]

Ok, so we got a bunch of snow here in Wi (early this year!) and I've been out ripping a couple of times already. Only one ski bike between two or more people isnt much fun though (or ski biking solo) so a fried and I built another one. It started out life as a 24" wheeled Huffy Stalker. We kept the front ski pivot high (at about 6.5") and made the rear pivot lower (3.25"). We also used 32" (~82 cm) skis instead of 24" (~61 cm). What a difference! This thing carves like a dream the the front end never wants to wash out like my Haro. If you sit down on it, its pretty easy to make fast, tight carves and float the back end around. I'll have pictures and some video up soon. For now, here's a YouTube link to a chase cam I did of my friend riding the new SkiStalker.
Ski Bike Chase Cam

[TheBikemaniac]

I Just built myself one and I'm wondering... Is there rules in ski Mont's that would keep me from doing this, could I get a fine?