Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Cardboard Bicycle for Sale
Israeli Inventor Izhar Gafni started with a simple question of whether it was possible to make an affordable and workable bike from cardboard.
A lover of bicycles, Izhar had come up with the idea while living over in the US and investigated the possibilities of building a prototype, after finding out that no one else had had the idea previously.
After being told by engineers that it was an impossible idea, one might think that Izhar would have given up on his dream idea, however in an interview with Newsgeek’s writer Roy Latke, Gafni explained why he didn’t give up:
“One day, while I was watching a documentary describing the assembling process of a jumbo jet, one of the engineers mentioned that when everybody tells him that something ‘is impossible,’ he knows he is on the right track. This stayed with me, and made me experiment with different materials and types of cardboard in order to provide my prototype with the reliability and strength it needed.”
Now look where he is at - The prototype he has now fully developed is cost effective to be produced at around £15, waterproof and eco-friendly as well. It doesn’t look too bad at that either. It's not on sale yet, but looks like it will be soon.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Interesting post Hugh.
I do not doubt a cardboard bike is possible to make. I do doubt that it is "durable" as claimed.
Bikes have been made from wood and they will likely be stronger and require less processing - cardboard is many manufacturing steps removed from wood.
There is a ready, genuine second hand market for bicycles with frames made from metal (steel, alloys, Reynolds 531) and carbon fibre. And those bikes are sometimes decades old, with frames that are still safe and serviceable. The cardboard bike seems to be in the same market or class of goods as the disposable camera.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Clive's right, of course. There's no way any two-wheeled vehicle could possibly stay upright. It would need three wheels at least.
The next thing, Hugh, you'll be suggesting that there really is a magazine called Newsgeek and that it has a Technology Editor called Roy Latke.
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Permalink Reply by Alice Lemaitre on
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Marvellously mad!
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Having watched the video, I could see that much ingenuity has gone into the cardboard bike. But I have to ask: why?
All of the time, thought and fabrication (and aggravation with the wife) could have been applied to classes of good that are much more suitable for cardboard. It's a material for passing, temporary use and always will be. It's not an accident that its used for packaging! It's a good thing that it is bio-degradable.
It might be possible to build emergency shelters from it, but if you build a house from it, you might not qualify for a mortgage.
IMO, the future for bicycle frames may be the mass production (and cost reduction) of carbon-fibre. It'd be great to see more development in that area. The strength and lightness of this - currently expensive -material is astonishing.
I once picked up such a frame. I expected it to be about the same wieght as a steel frame - and my arm almost launched it into the air. Then I tried to twist it - it flexed a tiny amount and then it kind of bound up, with immense resistance to further twisting.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Retailing at £15 it would be able to break in to markets in developing countries where walking is the only affordable option.
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Michael I'm sure you're right that a bicycle is better than walking – however I doubt it could be sold for as little as £15.
The parts that would make it go at all (hubs, spokes, wheels, cranks, pedals, chain, headset) would surely cost more than fifteen quid. Which of these are to be made from cardboard?
Luxury items would cost extra. Such as, like a bell, a light, reflectors, a carrier, brakes to make it stop.
Even if it could be produced for £15 (which is an heroic assumption), that would still be expensive if it lasts only for a few days or weeks of use.
In the absence of affordable options in developing countries, real bicycles do the job of our vans. Have you seen photos of how much cargo is loaded onto real bicycles - ones with steel frames that can - just - cope with big loads.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I've had a few requests for information on how to buy the cardboard bike. So, by way of an update, the inventor says he's been inundated with similar requests and asks people to visit and like his Facebook page for information and to be kept updated.
You can also send an email to rob@cardboardtech.com
Link:
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THE cardboard bike is clever and pretty, but its really aimed at Greens in the West rather than being serious proposition for the third world.
They would laugh at the card bike, because bicycles in the third world are subject to heavier loads than in the first world and its durability has to be in question. How many showers, unsheltered from the universal solvent – water – before it unglues?! Steel will eventually rust – but only after years and still unlikely to break.
A bike made of wood would be better and require less processing - and composites or carbon fibre, stronger still (but currently expensive and process intensive). Important article in the FT yesterday about the strides being made by small British companies in the latter two materials.
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