PanPanX

thinking of making a bike out of PVC pipe. everything sept the tires, would be make out of PVC. maybe i'll make the crankset out of string or something of that sort, if not, i'll get the one from bike my sister got when she was 7. (is now 18). have any of you guys tried it? any luck? tips? rideable? would the 3/4" pipes enough? or sould i go 1" or 2"? yes i would like this bike to be ride able.. haha. btw, im 5'9" and 180lbs.

JavaMan

Be careful - PVC pipe is kind of brittle, and when it breaks there is a jagged piont!

PhattTyre

I'd use the biggest PVC piping you can possibly find. Then get health insurance, because there's no way in hell it's going to work.

labratmatt

Yeah, what he said.

And, please lay off the stop the huffing. The world will be better.

notfred

PVC is slightly stronger than cardboard. your bike will break.

Rowan

Yeah, why not give it a go. so many things were met with "it won't work", "hope you're health insurance is up to date", and we use them now every day -- probably even that wonder product, carbon fibre! I wouldn't do it myself right now, but if you're adventurous, why not?

lowracer1

I've seen one made of 2" pvc pipe. looked kinda cool. heavy and slow, but yes for show purposes it was pretty darn cool.

ofofhy

I saw one designed to be used on the water made of PVC, but it was in a trike configuration. It had big, plastic, paddle-like, floating wheels on it. Mt guess is you would have to modify the geometry of the frame to support your weight.

jemoryl

Actually, most PVC pipe I've seen has quite a bit of give. A PVC bike would be more like one made from al dente pasta.

mtbikerinpa

Id rather try fiberglass.

dafydd

paper mache and chickenwire. for durability, finish with bondo.

mtbikerinpa

Actually bond is remarkably hard. We use a ton of it at the car shop so I tried breaking a 1/2 inch slab of it.

had to use a hammer and chisel.

bostontrevor

Now that'd be a fun project! A composite frame, bondo layed up on a chicken wire mesh. Certain to be unique.

HunterBee

And very, VERY heavy :-)

PanPanX

haha, well what if i got 4 of them together and used it as one tube? and when you guy say heavy, what is that? 20lbs? o_O

Trakhak

It's been done before (the bike or the joke, depending on your level of credulity):

https://www.firstflightbikes.com/newpage5.htm

Rowan

Gotta laugh. What do you think CF bikes are made of? The carbon only chicken mesh.

PanPanX

coool!!!! i wish i had the resources to make a plastic bike.. maybe plumbers pipe. would that be better??

PanPanX

so CF bikes is just chicken mesh made out of carbon?

gotambushed

PVC has decent tensile strength, especially the higher formulas, i.e. schedule 40 and schedule 80, the 80 has 690 PSI rating at 3/4 diameter, this is burst strength though,
you can build the frame, but try to keep the lengths of pipe short as possible, if they're to long you'll have excessive flex,
the major problem would be the joints, they can be brittle and crack, since they'll have most of the stress, i would expect it to break there,
you could try molding a not so brittle epoxy around the joints,

i say go for it, and post pics if you do,
good luck

Rowan

Heheheh. Yes. The (very expensive) chicken mesh is held together with a resin (plastic). Didn't you know?

PanPanX

nope

rodfrank

Will it be more comfortable than aluminum but less comfortable than steel or less comfortable than aluminum and more comfortablr than steel............would that be Hi-Ten or Cro-Moly********************???

dafydd

That bike is also pictured in DeLong's book, so it perhaps it does exist. My boss owns an even more outlandish looking bike on which at least the frame and wheels are plastic, i don't know about the rest. it sort of looks like a freestanding excercise bike.

Rowan

It depends whether it is 531 or 7005 grade plastic, and whether it is fusion welded or uses lugs welded together with blue pipe adhesive. Then you have to consider whether food-grade plastic is better quality for the job than agricultural grade in terms of durability and workability.