cardboard bike

[deciduous]

I'm sorry that I'm probably the third person so far today to post this link, but if you don't frequent the "nerd news" aggregators, you might not have seen this?

http://nocamels.com/2012/07/recycled-cardboard-bicycles-for-9/

Looks pretty sweet to me, and the video is well-made. They try to act like a cardboard bike is $9 but that's a pretty ridiculous claim, given the amount of labor shown and the final prototype, which has off the shelf brakes that should cost more than $9 apiece.

I can believe the cost of the cardboard would be $9 but certainly not the finished product. Oh well, still cool and beautiful.

[zoltani]

I am skeptical, mainly because I think the ride quality would be shit, but I'd be willing to give one a test ride.  That site doesn't include many specifics, like what the hub and bottom bracket (or whatever equivalent) are made of. What allows them to spin freely?  Can they be serviced?  Is this just a throw away bike that once the components wear out it is trash?

[James]

As a proof of concept and experiment it's very cool, but that's about it.