Comments on: Mike Burrows’ latest bike and other links

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:26:45 +0000

Mike Burrows is an excellent engineer, I am glad to see he is still around. Back in the 1970's I used to sell alloy and steel to him, I cannot remmeber whether he was working for himself then or working at Lotus but he is a nice guy to deal with and obsessive about engineering advancement.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:19:46 +0000

re: BauBike – "Design" at the sacrifice of ergonomics. That seat position is more appropriate for a unicycle that a bicycle. And adjusting the saddle height will not modify the seat/bb/handle bar position correctly for different sized riders.

By: fred zeppelin

fred zeppelin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:43:42 +0000

The biggest thing on the baubike is handling. Looks like that's a zero-offset fork (no rake), which could make handling fun. Or maybe it works just fine, I'd be curious to find out.

By: A

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:23:12 +0000

That's one cool racing car! I wonder whether the racing seat is that comfortable... hmmm.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:22:24 +0000

A lot of people seem to bring up the structural integrity of the BauBike, but realistically, I doubt if it would be a problem. More likely it just weighs more than it needs to, which is not really a problem for the average rider.

That said, I think the aesthetic is a little bit goofy, and I'd be much more concerned about scratching the crap out of myself on all those sharp corners. I love the modularity, but I think it should go back to the drawing board when it comes to execution.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:44:43 +0000

So you want to know what we think of the baubike? If it's meant to be ridden, the idea as described on their web site of "stepping away from the traditional function-oriented approach to the design process" was pretty dumb. Triangles are structurally superior. The stresses on the joints in that design will crack them after a moderate amount of riding.

By: nay_ran_gnu

nay_ran_gnu — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:10:03 +0000

I ride a Burley Canto, and I put a flag on it. I have seen this on other bikes as well

By: James

James — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:12:44 +0000

Ron, first, thanks for the birthday wishes. I would thank Flowers for the spam too, but I already deleted that comment.

As you probably already know, Mike Burrows has an interest in many different types of bikes. His designs range from the monocoque Lotus bikes and early carbon fiber Giants to upright composite shoppers to the Windcheetahs and various recumbent designs. I can’t speak for him, but I would assume that the issues you brought up are less of a concern on a speed oriented HPV than they are on a commuter or shopper design or even on a track or TT bike.

Quite a few people do use recumbents for transportation though, so maybe some of them can chime in on the visibility issue. Can any of you who ride recumbents on a regular basis address Ron’s question about visibility of road hazards? Is that a concern for recumbent riders?

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:45:36 +0000

Sitting upright and high on a bike has some subtle advantages you see. Its called field of vision.

How does Mr. Borrows plan on avoiding hitting a pothole, or running over glass shards or sharp instruments on the road

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:39:37 +0000

Great cake. Happy birthday to you.

Flowers thanks for some more spam.