Tall Bike

Mimi and I spent most of yesterday and some of today putting together a tall bike; it’s got a mountain bike on the bottom and a BMX bike on top. We put it together by connecting the fork of the BMX bike to a hub that we clamped into a BMX-style handlebar stem inserted in the steerer tube of the mountain bike and then we zip-tied the chainstays of the BMX bike to the metal frame of a saddle in the seatpost of the mountain bike.

It rides, but it’s pretty wobbly; we dubbed the bike the “Deathtrap,” and Mimi made some decals which we taped to the frame.

My original idea was to ride it in the upcoming Dead Baby Downhill; I’m not sure I’m that bold. So far, the longest ride I’ve taken is down the alley and back. Steering is a challenge as is mounting and dismounting, although the latter, I’ve got more or less down, as long as the bike isn’t already falling when I’m getting off.

The good news is, we only spent $10.00 on the project; that was for the handlebar stem to hold the fork of the upper bike. Both frames were salvaged: I found the mountain bike in a vacant lot near the Post Office and the BMX bike in a trash heap outside a house in the Central District.

It’s pretty fun riding around so high up in the air even though—or perhaps because—it feels pretty dangerous. What I fear most is catastrophic failure of the fork and/or wheel of the lower bike. If that happens, I’m going head over heels to a face plant from about ten feet in the air.

I’m probably too old to be engaging in this sort of nonsense, but I’m glad we did it. We gave new life to two discarded bikes and had a couple days adventure putting the thing together.

Next, Mimi wants to build a chopper bike.


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