Joel, As always, I appreciate anyones comments/suggestions/criticisim of my wo rk. In this case it is my fault for displaying a bicycle that is literal ly about half finished. The Aerotour concept/bicycle, even as seen in th e photos is still missing a large number of the features I have planned; one of which are the bags that will go with this bike.
You don't quite get what the rack is for, and since you weren't there fo r me to explain it to you, I shall do so now, for everyone's benifit. Th e front rack and bag are going to serve a double purpose on the bike. Th e rack was not made for someone to just throw any old bag on THIS bike. The bag that accompanies the rack is a wedge shaped bag that bridges the two points of the bottom and back of the rack to form a triangle that d oubles as sort of a faring for the front of the bike. Needless to say; w ith the "modular" design of my mounting system and accessories I can and will make a variety of racks as neccessary. This is a prototype bike an d ALL problems an/or needs will be addressed; but when "thinking outside the box" is being employed, one might see something that doesn't fit th eir concept of what the designer was intending until they become aware t hat the design is for a specific purpose that doesn't fit into the box o f thier own thinking and experiences. When you see the finised bike and the concept in action in it's final design condition; I believe you will see the purpose and maybe even some cleverness in my approach.
The movers and shakers in this business operate like this. It ain't done until it's done. I could not afford to not bring the part of the bike I have finished so far in favor of presenting the completed bike next yea r. I know better than to show unfinished work, but in thois case I feel I had no choice.
BTW, I will be picking your brain and using some of your website infor w hile I design and build the trailer for this machine. Get ready.
Thanks for your comments. When I build the second rack I've ever built, I expect improvements over this first one.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
the one thing that i have to admit bugs me about this bike is that front rack.
the vertical backstop just clashes, to my eye - a backstop slightly
angled back, to me, just looks smoother. im not really sure what the
purpose of the curved vertical braces is - seems to me that they,
along with the twin lights projecting above the plane of the rack,
would interfere with the handlebar bag resting cleanly on top of this
rack... but then, im also bothered by the pointy racks seen on the
bruce gordon and lyonsport bikes - i think "too narrow, not a stable
platform!"
but regardless of that petty quibble, a very nicely put together
bike, really showcasing brians talents!
i still want more pics of the weigles, though! in all of those pages,
i think ive only seen 2 or 3 shots...
-joel
At 20:19 -0800 03.05.2006, dddd wrote:
>The details on this 650B bike just kept coming at you. Racks and
>fenders were truly quick-release, secured by tiny quill-stem-type
>expander plugs fitting into the cylindrical fittings seen at the
>bridges and dropouts. And those dropouts, whew. Even the kickstand
>had a larger version of this same type of fitting, which made for a
>minimalist addition to the basic frame, barely noticeable with the
>optional parts removed.
--
joel metz : magpie@blackbirdsf.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
portland, oregon
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...