Flip Bike
 

Don't know if anyone's posted this yet, but saw this interesting bike mod online today...

http://forgloryandbicycles.blogspot....flip-bike.html

That's cool. I saw pics of it on the Scallywags 2003 site.

http://www.chicagofreakbike.org/mayday/mayday16t.jpg

I've seen it (or one like it) but watching that video makes me wonder if I could manage to not die whilst riding that thing...

If that's not enough, there's the Swing Bike- seen on a Craig's List entry:
http://www.americasbikecompany.com/category_s/21.htm

Meh, swing bikes are so right side up man.

That bike isn't a fixed gear, so I have to call shenanigans on the backwards riding. I'll post pictures of mine tonight.

actually
 

that is not a scallywags bike, the one you show was an inspiration for this one on the video which I completed in 2008. Yay Scallys! And thanks to west town bikes for their assistance in the project.

The bike pictured was one of several built for Target in the 90s as part of their radical marketing plan. In Chicago you may have seen a bunch of guys in Target outfits riding around on red Vespas. The Scallywags ended up with the bike and later built another, smaller one.

A well-made flip bike can roll as many times as the rider wishes or has inertia for. This is the measure of its construction, just like riding no-handed on a chopper measures how well it is made. Travis Duffy's can barely manage one flip- I don't really know how you can mess it up, it's not hard to make, it's just a ring on a bike. Still, he gets all doled up in safety gear and often crashes, it's hilarious to watch.

Ironically, the wussy helmet and harness doesn't protect you from the bike's biggest danger: As the Scallies discovered, flipping this bike gives you a concussion just from your brain rattling around in your skull. This is why I never made one: I saw the Scallies entertain the crowds (it's a crowd-pleaser) and then go to the hospital with swelling on the brain. Not worth the price to me. Besides, it's a one-trick pony. I'm interested in more involved projects.

Still, they're pretty common, given that any bozo can weld a ring to a bike. Here's one at Slaughterama:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/4...556a27f483.jpg

In general I would encourage beginners to experiment, but Travis and others should consult with people who know how to build freakbikes before jumping into it, so you don't work for a year and end up with a dud like he did. Advice from the experts can prevent you from making common errors.

I wish I could contact him and request the diameter of his circle... Easy enough calculated I guess, and his isn't the best I've seen. A well built one will flip as long as it has inertia, he puts a lot of effort into flipping it himself.

The key is: You're gonna have to lift your weight to the top of the circle. If you're a six-foot fat guy with a bald spot, that's getting 250 lbs up to six feet high. Think about doing a sumersault: You tuck and roll. The smaller, more tucked the bike and ring are, the more flips you'll be able to do.

Flip bike
 

The ring measures 7ft. Eaglo: Inertia is based on mass, so unless I get fatter or balder then inertia is constant. I can change the *moment* of inertia though. I think you perhaps refer to angular momentum or velocity, or perhaps kinetic energy.

Thanks for the interest!

thanks for the reply, I'm not sure if it's kinetic energy or inertia, I think they are both apply-able to this topic. More mass you would need more force to even begin to move, i.e; 250lb bald man... 100lbs of useless fat -dead weight- wont have enough muscle to physically move his body fast enough or hard enough to make the bike flip. BUT if a scrawny 5'3 skater dude weighing in at about 110lbs with 14lbs of fat won't have enough inertia to cause the bike to flip.

You require a level of weight that is substantially effective to move your bike, but with weight comes sloth.

Heavy Man + More Fat Than Muscle = NO FLIP
Heavy Man + More Muscle Than Fat = ILL FLIP

^ Formula for the 6' fat bald guy who currently is residing at his mom's basement

Payphone: The mecha-*****nic monowheel! A much more _involved_ expert level bike project, I agree! Best of luck getting it off the drawing board.

Eaglo>I'm not sure if it's kinetic energy or inertia,
I kinda though so.
I'm finding this discussion tedious.

suggested reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertia

I guess maybe "fat bald guy, skinny skater dude" visualizations complete with body fat percentages is just your way of getting excited about the physics.

what kind of harness are they wearing where could you get one?

how severe are the consequent concussions and how hard is it to get the knack for doing flips and not falling to one side mid-flip?

The harness is homemade.

I have not had any trouble with concussions.

The "Dual Safety" bike seems to have some problems with the concept.

Doing this motorized leads to some additional potential problems. I've seen a few of these "most shocking videos" where the person was perfectly protected by the roll cage until the vehicle caught fire. It looked like it wouldn't be too hard for Gallagher to roll out in the water, either. And falling out when it rolls is not a good thing.

Figured he'd smash his own watermelon?

East Hill

well then im building one. will a metal/machine shop bend a ring for me and how much would that cost?

when i was first thinking about building a somersault bike i considered two rails but then i thought that i might bounce from one to another if i dint flip completely straight wich would be even worse than falling with one rail.

would it be too dangerous to make the harness some strap with a bukle so that the strap fits over the hips and tightens in the middle of the back? im a pretty skinny and light person so i might have more prominent hips than others

Here's a french clown's:

http://www.ziganime.com/new2005.htm

http://www.ziganime.com/2005spectacle/wsalto3.jpg

Ok, who's got a Siamese bike?

East Hill

what the point of the third wheel?

I suspect that this guy was having the same problem that Travis Duffy has, a huge giant wheel leading to poorly executed single flips and lots of tipping over, thus all the gay safety gear (I like the clown's honkin' helmet better). So he thought the gyroscopic force of an extra wheel would keep him aligned. But that's just my guess.