Freak bike in Dublin

alcyst

Stopped at the pedestrian lights at the Dawson Street end of Molesworth Street today and saw some guy go 'round the corner on a chopper style bike, some sort of car (light truck?) jack where a seat post would go, and a pair of crutches for a front fork. Handling looked uneasy in slow traffic.

Just wow

mloc123

Saw that locked up on Wicklow Street before... at first I thought it may have been 'art'

irishmotorist

I saw that a year or two ago and it was being cycled. Mental looking thing.

DualFrontDiscs

I saw it locked up outside Trinity on Nassau Street. Very strange indeed.

alcyst

do bikes like that join the critical mass thing. Does critical mass Dublin have critical mass?

peterk19

i seen that locked up a few weeks ago when i was out drinking i thought it was a Drunken Hallucination

Bluefoam

alcyst wrote: »

do bikes like that join the critical mass thing. Does critical mass Dublin have critical mass?

I don't think Critical Mass in Dublin has reached critical mass. More like relative mass...

I love the idea of it, but don't want to be associated with some of the people who partake...

ednwireland

pics or it didnt happen

seamus

Blocking the streets with illegal protests and telling motorists to fnck off is not the way to win the hearts and minds, so to speak.
Critical mass is an anarchist movement, don't be fooled by any "green" or "take back the streets" nonsense.

Anyone with any interest in actually making the streets more bike-friendly should actively condemn what critical mass do. At least here in Ireland anyway, dunno about the movement elsewhere.

More organised rides such as those they do during bike week are a good idea, but they should be more regular and have longer routes.

DualFrontDiscs

seamus wrote: »

Anyone with any interest in actually making the streets more bike-friendly should actively condone what critical mass do.

Condemn?

radia

seamus wrote: »

Anyone with any interest in actually making the streets more bike-friendly should actively condone what critical mass do.

Condone = approval. Condemn?

Bluefoam

seamus wrote: »

Anyone with any interest in actually making the streets more bike-friendly should actively condone what critical mass

I thought my slisdexia was getting the better of me there...

The principal behind critical mass is good. But you are correct, it has been infiltrated by a certain type of person (I won't call them anarchists - they'd have to understand what an anarchist actually is before I could call them that)

I think the correct descriptive word is arseholes

seamus

Too late to correct it now....

tomasrojo

alcyst wrote: »

Stopped at the pedestrian lights at the Dawson Street end of Molesworth Street today and saw some guy go 'round the corner on a chopper style bike, some sort of car (light truck?) jack where a seat post would go, and a pair of crutches for a front fork. Handling looked uneasy in slow traffic.

Just wow

Saw it today.

monkeyslayer

saw it being cycled up camden street this afternoon by an eccentric looking fella. wanted to ask him about it but he seemed deep in concentration trying to control it. tbh it didn't seem very safe and was glad to pass it! the front wheel was skittering all over the place and the forks(?) seemed on the verge of snapping, they were bouncing so much.

Homme Enigmatique

Would Like to see him pull a wheelie on it.

kenmc

Guess it's the only bike in the whole of Dublin which will never be stolen - I mean who in their right mind would even consider riding such a contraption? Even makes recumbents look cool! :pac:

Super Freak

Front brakes look effective

generalmiaow

it doesn't look safe, but I imagine crutches are pretty strong, being designed to support the weight of the heaviest people.

irishmotorist

generalmiaow wrote: »

it doesn't look safe, but I imagine crutches are pretty strong, being designed to support the weight of the heaviest people.

I wonder though. From what I remember, the crutches were sort of diagonal. They'd usually be taking the weight vertically so they might not be designed with a constant load putting pressure on that way.

ednwireland

generalmiaow wrote: »

it doesn't look safe, but I imagine crutches are pretty strong, being designed to support the weight of the heaviest people.

he might need them soon

snollup

And then there was this

alcyst

I had missed that it is a folder. and the seatpost! You can get carbon ones weighing 200g, that seatpost could weigh more than some TdF rider's climbing bike! And it took at least some skill to put it together. The photo suggests there is some rack locked up with it, wonder if the owner is a busker?

shergar22

The crutches are designed to be rigid when pressure is applied from above. Not at the angle that it's currently at on the bike. Anyway that's two lengths of metal, with the join hidden where the hand grips are.

Should snap soon. I had a pair that bent when someone kicked a football at them. The handgrips are made of a very rigid plastic that won't withstand much strain.

BeepBeep67

What about this bad boy - you need to check the link!

DualFrontDiscs

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

What about this bad boy - you need to check the link!

I saw the article on that bike before. It's an amazing bike/ project.

DFD.

alcyst

Velocity couriers are running something pretty similiar. They look strange but apparently handle well. You see people with 2 and 3 kids in them in Copenhagen. Wouldn't like to try a school run out Stepaside direction.

Actually, stop. The steering on that thing....argh. The velocity one, a Bullitt from Larry&Larry is arranged very differently.

criostoir70

a chairde,

firstly, I'm astounded I found this thread based on a pot-luck keyword search !

the subject freak-bike was stolen around grafton street before christmas last, 2010, probably september / october by three young skanks.. how do I know? because myself and a friend saw them head up a nearby laneway with it.. the bike is of course instantly recognisable, and so we followed and retrieved it, stashing it in our yard before handing it over to the gardaí..

and so...

drop me a line if you want to see the bike alive again or rather if you know the owner etc..

rp

Bluefoam wrote: »

I don't think Critical Mass in Dublin has reached critical mass. More like relative mass...

I love the idea of it, but don't want to be associated with some of the people who partake...

I think there is to be a St Patrick's Day MASS-acre this thurs: fixies and couriers and alleycats and stuff.

Doctor Bob

criostoir70 wrote: »

a chairde,

firstly, I'm astounded I found this thread based on a pot-luck keyword search !

the subject freak-bike was stolen around grafton street before christmas last, 2010, probably september / october by three young skanks.. how do I know? because myself and a friend saw them head up a nearby laneway with it.. the bike is of course instantly recognisable, and so we followed and retrieved it, stashing it in our yard before handing it over to the gardaí..

and so...

drop me a line if you want to see the bike alive again or rather if you know the owner etc..

I know where this guy works (/lives?). PM sent.