BMX - What would you do?

What if we use up all our metal resources and can no longer make bikes. What would you do?

Is taht possible for our lifetime to see a run out of metal? Would there be any substitute materials?

I just wz thinking

i think there would be a lot bigger things to worry about than bikes

I just wz thinking

I don't think you were.

I don't think you were.


Shut up

Haha, I agree with Expat. There are a lot more important things to think about than making bikes. In the case of that happening, there would be something else to make bikes out of... such as a hard plastic or something... bikes may be important to you, but they are not important to the world.

Shut up

I didn't make a sound.

In fact, this thread hurts my head. I think you created it without thinking at all, really. Metal, unless contaminated by radiation, is fully recyclable. Commercial Metals (http://www.commercialmetals.com/) is making an absolute fortune in recycled steel. Phelps Dodge is doing the same with nickel, which is a component of your chrome plating. Mittal Steel (http://www.mittalsteel.com/index.htm), the world's number 1 steel producer, is buying Arcelor, the number 2. Even China has become a net exporter of steel.

It's more likely that the internet will run out of names for porn sites than the world will run out of metal.

i always wondered how metal is made.
you dont mine steel or anything...i think?

What if we use up all our metal resources and can no longer make bikes. What would you do?

Is taht possible for our lifetime to see a run out of metal? Would there be any substitute materials?

I just wz thinking
what if we started spelling words right?

I would have to take up extreme walking if they ran out of metal.

i always wondered how metal is made.
you dont mine steel or anything...i think?

Iron ore is mined from the ground, same as all other metals. From there is is usually heated to melt it and separate it from the impurities in the crushed rock. Then it is poured into molds, usually made into ingots, since pure, raw iron isn't too useful. From there, it is combined with other elements, depending on the intended use. Carbon is what you add to iron to make steel. Low carbon gives you hi-ten, which is soft and easy to work. High carbon is good for things like tools, knives, that need to hold an edge. But it doesn't give, it will break when stressed. Chromoly is a specific form of steel that falls somewhere in the middle. It has a bit of spring to it, so is snaps back when bent. But is can't take too much abuse.

Want more?

Yes, I do want more. Very impressive Expat. Props to ya.

Yes, I do want more. Very impressive Expat. Props to ya.

Then Click here (http://www.dofasco.ca/HOW_STEEL_IS_MADE/html/index.html).

Oh, you cheated. I thought you were an extremely well-educated man... but being well-educated could mean you just know were educated enough to know where to look.

Actually, I did know all that before. When I worked in for a transport company in Australia, we shipped metal all over the world.

That's pretty cool though. I wish I knew that... without having to research it.

Iron ore is mined from the ground, same as all other metals. From there is is usually heated to melt it and separate it from the impurities in the crushed rock. Then it is poured into molds, usually made into ingots, since pure, raw iron isn't too useful. From there, it is combined with other elements, depending on the intended use. Carbon is what you add to iron to make steel. Low carbon gives you hi-ten, which is soft and easy to work. High carbon is good for things like tools, knives, that need to hold an edge. But it doesn't give, it will break when stressed. Chromoly is a specific form of steel that falls somewhere in the middle. It has a bit of spring to it, so is snaps back when bent. But is can't take too much abuse.

Want more?
so its basically a melted rock?

so its basically a melted rock?

No, it's melted ore. Go get one of your mum's good spoons, and start digging in the backyard. Besides a lot of dirt, you'll find a bunch of rocks. Keep digging, and you should end up hitting a layer of rock that's mixed with iron ore.

http://xfacts.com/spirit2004/index_files/iron-ore-closeup.jpg

so how do they separate rock from ore?

so how do they separate rock from ore?

By bashing you in the head with it. Did you read any of what I wrote, or try the link? They crush it, then heat it to separate the iron.

this is stupid but i would make a bike out of pvc and aluminum

this is stupid but i would make a bike out of pvc and aluminum
it is stupid because aluminum is a metal....AND THEY ALREADY MAKE BIKES OUT OF IT!


anyways. no it looked long so i didnt really read it

I've got a great idea! Instead of making bikes out of metal, I'm going to make them out of aluminum!

someone should actualy turn those tags into real html so somthing cool happens when you put them

ok, but what would u think of a bike frame made from pvc?

i think its a terrible idea, pvc that small is fairly weak

someone should actualy turn those tags into real html so somthing cool happens when you put them
Agreed.

i think its a terrible idea, pvc that small is fairly weak
Agreed x 2.

yea but u could reinforce it and it would be light

Reinforce it with what? You can't use metal. Chances are, what you "reinforce" it with, will make it heavy, and the PVC would still probably crack/break anyways.

yea, i was just wondering o and reinforce it with more pvc

Y'all are thinking too far outside the box.
Bamboo! Bamboo is totally where it's at, as far as alternative materials go. Light, strong but still a bit of shock absorption.
Tubes would be a little bigger, obviously, but that's how it goes.

carbon fiber...

Carbon fiber is a bad idea, unless you use a whole lot of it, and/or it's for a race bike. Bamboo is actually a good idea. Props to ya.

someone should actualy turn those tags into real html so somthing cool happens when you put themBecause forums use HTML codes, and text has a tone of voice.

Carbon fiber is a bad idea, unless you use a whole lot of it, and/or it's for a race bike. Bamboo is actually a good idea. Props to ya.

Bamboo bikes have been around for a bit actually.

Thick ABS like materials could work.

But bamboo is not a common material used for bmx bikes.

Wouldn't bamboo break if you used it to jump and aren't that smooth?

Not only that but it would need to be a lugged frame, and what would you use for lugs other then carbon?

Wouldn't bamboo break if you used it to jump and aren't that smooth?
Newsflash, that happens to any frame made of any material.

Newsflash, that happens to any frame made of any material.

I know that but it would probably break a lot easier.

This is actually a very interesting question:

http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/BambooBicycle.html

It still does not go into whether or not it would make a functional BMX bike, though.

East Hill

I've seen that and a few roadie frames to.

Another thing is, even if you figure out what to make the frames out of, what about the other components like wheels, bars, stems, cranks?

Thats a very different bike.

If I understood the article correctly, the gentleman in question had made wheels which were 100% bamboo (although I would assume that the tyres were still oil based products of some sort). He was also working on making cranks out of bamboo also.

Another link (contained within the above article)

http://www.bmeres.com/bambooframe.htm

Also very interesting. Still, if you use NO metal, that's tough. On the other hand, if you've reduced the metal to a bare minimum, you would be able to stretch the available supply. Or you could chop up one Hummer and make six or seven thousand bicycles out of the sucker (all right, I'm exaggerating. Perhaps 50 or 60 bicycles).

As Expat pointed out though, metals can be recycled relatively easily, assuming one has the necessary fuel/electricity to process it.

Steel mills consume ENORMOUS amounts of electricity. So much, in fact, that the one steel mill here in Puget Sound was essentially run at night, because it used too much power to be run concurrently with other electrical consumers during the day. At least, that's what I was told...

East Hill

i feel like bamboo has to much flex,
how bout wood, people make bikes out of that

i feel like bamboo has to much flex,
how bout wood, people make bikes out of that

You would have to make everything really thick so it wouldn't break...and then it would probably be heavy.

i feel like bamboo has to much flex,
how bout wood, people make bikes out of that

Depends. Bamboo can be laminated, which makes it less flexible. That's how many gun stocks are made now--they're laminated. Traditional gun stocks were made from (generally) dense, heavy woods like walnut. Stock wood should be reasonably hard but not brittle, stiff, dense without being excessively heavy, and take checkering well.

But the same wood (walnut) would not work very well for bicycles--it's heavy for one thing (so minichamp31 is right). It would also be prohibitively expensive. Most walnut winds up in expensive furniture, or ridiculously expensive guns.

Wood in general takes too long to grow--approximately 30 years or more for quality wood. Bamboo on the other hand, is actually a grass. You chop it down, three years later you can chop it down again. Bamboo can get to be very tall. I remember some flowering bamboo at my parent's house which was around 50 feet tall when it finally flowered. Did I mention that bamboo is also edible?


East Hill

Hip-hip for East Hill.

Seems like you could make a kickin' light flatland bike out of it.

Carbon fiber is a bad idea, unless you use a whole lot of it, and/or it's for a race bike. Bamboo is actually a good idea. Props to ya.
Even for a race bike carbon fiber is pushing it. I was talking to one of my riding buddys at the park yesterday who races and had that FMF carbon frame and he said the thing would flex just snaping out of the gate. He said it would also visably move when jumping the pro section or any decent sized doulbe.

He then proceded to tell me that the carbon tube is GLUED together becuase you can't weld carbon to alumiuim. Sounds like a death trap.