Looking at possible builds here and at RatRods got me interested in Worksman bikes and I was surprised to find out their factory is located right here in my small home town!
As a photojournalists, I decided to reach out to them and Wayne gave me a great tour of the plant and put me in touch with some of their users in the adaptive sports community. Finally got the article complete and thought you folks might be interested. In addition to the story there are photo galleries from the factory and from the bike ride where they use up to 70 of these bikes/trikes. https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/ne...274532701.html

You would think making bikes in the US out of gas and water pipes would be difficult to pull off, of course if you have a monopoly on it...
There are quite a few of their working bikes in the City, and it takes 2 guys to put them up on the stand.

No doubt heavy. I reached to pick one up in their lobby/showroom and had to do a double take to assure it wasn't bolted down. But thinking those side-by-side trikes would make for a great golf-cart replacement.

On the one hand, it's charming that this 100+ year old family owned bike maker is still with us. On the other hand, I am struck by how crude these bikes are. Crimped fork ends, stamped steel dropouts, OPC crank, steel rims, stamped steel chain ring, etc. It's like a time warp back to Malaise era Schwinns and Murrays.

"...how crude these bikes are. Crimped fork ends, stamped steel dropouts, OPC crank, steel rims, stamped steel chain ring, etc."

Does an industrial trike or bike need to have forged drop outs, DB tubing, alloy bits? A resounding "no" is the apparent answer from the customers that purchase them. From first hand experience, Worksman trikes and bikes are tough as nails. What difference does a highly refined work of art rolling on wheels make when it is lugging 150 lbs of tools or parts across a manufacturing plant floor?

The only time I have seen a Worksman trike frame fail was when it was crushed by a hi-lo being irresponsibly driven by a worker.

What counts is durability, affordability, and a easy part procurement when needed. Practicality wins. It is a an industrial service product, right?

I likes me some lucuma ice cream...

100%. They serve industry and have been doing so for a very long time when most others have failed. They evidently are doing something right.

Absolutely. Their target market is industry, and they produce bikes which are expected to shrug off years of abuse and neglect that would stop a lighter and more sophisticated bike in no time, and maintenance is drop-dead simple. No special tools or skills are needed, and most all of the moving parts can be expected to last the projected service life with no attention at all beyond giving the chain a few drops of oil and airing up the tires now and then. For instance, what kind of service life would you expect to get from 3/16" chains and sprockets?

What astonishes me is that some people buy them for personal recreational riding and even praise them for their beauty.

During the '90s and aughts Boeing Aircraft had a surplus store in Renton, Washington.
You could get the craziest stuff imaginable there, all kinds of machine tools, exotic metals, custom built racks, etc. and Worksman bikes and trikes.
I ended up with about a half dozen Worksman bikes. They all came with big baskets in front and some had the dual side baskets in the rear.
They are beasts but totally doable in a flat area.
They were great for shopping and locking them up outside, because I didn't think anyone would steal one, and they never did.
It's like riding a 60s/70s Schwinn, all that quantity has a certain quality.

It works, man! That's the whole point, no frills manufacture, solid product with extremely low maintenance costs and that will likely last pretty much forever.

Those Schwinns and Murrays were actually pretty fun growing up, btw.

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It's a rare piece of industrial vehicle that technology really can't improve so it has an air of timelessness about it. The continuity becomes part of the esthetic appeal. It's kind of like if they had never stopped making Checker Cabs.

Someone once said, "It's not about the bike."
......maybe with some exceptions.


it has also been said, "Train heavy, race light."
.....relatively speaking.