ricardo kuhn

Patineto is a losse traslation for the "man that rides a skateboard" in spanish...

I grow up in pretty much the hardest city to comute in this continent of america,,Bogota in colombia

I always like bicycles but for circunstances of life i did not have many when i was young,,so I use my skateboard to commute and more or less go anywere I want,,since was not really a way to park a bicycle in the city the skateboard also make far more sense,,I keep them at the locker at my university and ussually every night head to see some obsure and strange movie( don't ask me why,,I offen wonder my self why the torture...movie torture not the skate ride) then paddle my little magic carpet for 12 kilometers to get to my house..

well my "REal" bicycle story start many years before that when i was about 19 and my knees were so wasted after all the skating accidents that the doctors(for ones i like what they say) actually convince my parents i will need a exercice to fortied my weak knees,,,oh man what a Blesing,,,i got a road bike but sincerlly i did not like it,,remenber this people downwere play target practice with you,so a skinny road bike was a little blemssy,,besides I was able to skate pretty fast then,,so one day i got lucky and I got a mountainbike from a guy working at the US embassy,,Oh man do i like it,,
i was able to go anywere i want, hop on curvs ,explore places,,tragically in a way i was pretty much the only one with one('84),,so riding patners were out of the question, not to mension spare parts,,for a example I got to patch a tube 36 times before i got a spare not to mension over the years I learn how to take shimano derraileurs apart and "Frankebike" them until they work again..oh man I can tell you storys,,sadlly i don't have that many pictures,but my brain and my soul are for sure full of memories

many years later the fasination continue,,to the point i finish my industrial design education and I got offer a oportunity to take a master deggre in something,,well what else is there ,,so I when for a masters in ergonimics sincerlly thinking i can make use of it,in making human power machines and vehicles,things that make sense for a III world country,,anyway exept for a few exeption nothing really grandius happend,,lack of money for sure did not help but more than anything the social stutus quo was not exactlly reseptive to my "Crazy" ideas of moving people around under their own power,,or even more radical not to move them at all..like is currentlly done with the computer and the whole telecommuting sistem that is so comun nowadays but almost impossible to imagine 20 years ago...

anaway i finish my studies and with a little disapointment about the harness of the "Real world" accept another master this time in Human transportation,,,do you see the pattern>>>movement,,,human power,,quality of living...

at this time I was really well know as a honorable person with a intense passion and knowhow for bicycles ,,specially the very trendy MTB that I like so much,,even if my favority were the all draisines and specially the mikael petersen design(I use to have two of them,,so so pretty) one day i find my self opening a shop,,of this I do have some chessy pictures that i hope you like

here is a little overview,,i show you more details later








today i'm sad to say that i maybe spend to much time around the industry and i just got a little to tyred of the same old S^^T not to mension i start to ride motorcycles and i became kind of lassy,,hey i manage to never learn how to drive a car,,so is not so bad..

for the last few years i ride around going places on pretty much my ultimate Travel machine


anyway i'm sure i will see you guys and gals around from time to time, i also want to thanks my friend patch29 for showing me this wonderful place

nos vemos pronto

ricardo kuhn

sorry I guess i when to far,,ussually on this "Introductions" you tell people who you are like on a mini biografy so they know something about you not just the "Hy i'm bob and I ride a pushbike"

I was just trying to show that i like bicycles for a long as i can remenber,hopefully like the rest of you,,
for now please say something interesting before i get bored of waiting for somebody to say hi at least.

Raiyn

Hello. Why don't you participate in the rest of the forum without waiting for acknowledgement here?

ricardo kuhn

Cool I got a little bored and I did post some pictures On this treat about a little trip i took to amsterdam not to long ago..(Page #4 half way)

I was just trying to follow proper etiquete,before posting somewere else

Mtn Mike

Cool photos of the bike shop. Is that your shop?

ricardo kuhn

well it was the economical and social climax of my old country got to be a little to much so i move back to the states were i was born.

yeah the shop I made and design with my own hand and the help of my wonderful girlfriend at the time...

we have a great time, use it as a "Hub" for diferent events,,proyection of funky documentaries,talks, slide shows,sign alongs(exelent accustic properties) rock climping contest,,living space for the passing adventurers on tour,,
is a shame is not there anymore,,I operate it from 2001 to 2004 and then we try to keep it going but more many circustances of life the dream did not work out...

Colombian geografical features are a absolute paradise for bicycle riding,specially mountian biking but the social and safety issue make it a little to risky to explore this days,so become kind of pointless to take the chances,,
sad very sad to see a place as beautyful as Colombia become such a hostile enviroment ...

Patch29

Ricky, glad to see you signed up. It is nice to learn a little more about your history. Do you have any of your bicycle related designs that you could post? They always look very good.

ricardo kuhn

not really I left my house in "kind of a hurry" and the few pictures I have from projects got left back there...

I do have a fisical prototypeof a really big seat bag I made for a road bike that i can take some pictures off...

before I open the shop i use to have a really small factory(good design,,absolute business failure,,like anything I ever try,,well exept for the bike shop) and i made a lot of funky but useful improvements on ways to carry things around,,

I also made a few bicycles with this Chessy metal jig,,but nothing serius,,i was just learning how to Filletbraze


in about '99 i made a 3 wheel recumbent with a fron wheel drive set up and two wheel in the back that stter with your body mass,,kind of a skateboard mix with a human power machine...

for sure I'm being around,in fact I'm being trying to make my stupid head stop spiining around but for so far no luck.

I look for a few fotos, drawings and object and i show you some more funky ideas sometime soon..

james Haury

It sounds like you have done a few things in your time with bicycles I have never brazed up a frame or built a wheel. I hope you are doing well in California now.You know if you come on hard times with your know how you might be able to work for Rivendell bicycles( walnut grove california ) or Bike friday out in oregon.

ricardo kuhn

Rivendell Is in Walnut creek...

man I work at so many of the legendary shops in the Bay Area, I guess I got really lucky that way, got to meet some incredible people,,super honest comited and for sure very kind, not to mension Incredible Mecanics but to run a bicycle business this days sound like you need a few ingredient that don't really mix with what I like to see on my plate,,so I just decide to do like the Beatles and leave the game when I was still on the top..

for the last few years thanks to all the skills i Gain in ergonomics from school and from using the Serotta size cycle until the number were all worn out, plus a few hours of design work i being pursuing a really cool dream..
bringing bicycle efficiency of movement & motion plus the concept advance ergonomics to the world of motorcycle were the general rule is "One size fit all" so far is being a really dificult Jorney since each bike "arquitecture" is more base on the requirement of the engine and the chassy dinamics that the human that is driving it,,in that sense i will admire Bicycle elegance for a long long time.. another factor is that I'm still on the Era of the hand build Colnagos and the lugs made by hand one at the time, no to mension a Need to exel at what you do even if nobody cares anymore...so the lesser quality of production of some sourses is kind of unaceptable ,,ergo the prices still pretty high, not to mension the incredible amount of calculations require to get each diferent person to fit the best they can on a particular bike,,is a great challenge but for sure makes your head hurt sometimes.

some day i show you some of my work, one think i can tell you is that smiles and best wishes come from many of my clients, friends and the people I meet on the road , since I always try to be gentle and helpful not to mension show that passion and fervor still intact in some of us..

ricardo kuhn

Now for some funny Bicycle recycling

sometimes just for fun and I confess to get a kick out of the faces of the typical BMW motorcycle owner,, I make projects totally made out of recycle parts,,the idea is NOT to spend any money(filosofical point more than anything else) on them just to prove some people that Imagination sometimes can be more useful that a thick wallet,,here are some examples

this are parts of my Pennytech bicycle rack that I build in '97 and use for about 120.000 milles. many times carring two bicycles, Girlfriends and heavy loads..all at the same time

the Plate i did hand build and drill each hole by hand,,,persistent I'm that is for sure.
the bend i did on a 200 ton Hydrolic brake(name of the Very Big machine)


in 1996 Bianchi have a recall on the handlebars of their model "Eros" so I got a bunch of useless(for bike use) handlebars but perfectlly strong for my porpuse,,so I cut them in half to make for the members of the rear support that hold the wheel and the downtube on the frame,the top crossover (flat part) piece was made of a Titec MTB bar and the lower one was part of a pair of cruches(when you break your legs) to conmemorate that I was walking and riding again,,
the rear wheel sopports are your typical yakima part


This Rodhe gear pieces made the adjustable sistem possible,,what a great and simple design


the cushion "thingies" work exelent ,,very durable and super flexible to carry any bike from my Downhill monster to a skinny track bike not to mension skeboards and langluges


Compression suports made of Araya 24inch BMX rims,,perfect


the "sliders" are compose of many parts,,the main tubes came from a "Windsurf Hawaii" boom,the white parts are pieces of delrin that use to come with the Trek 7000/8000 to protect the headsets before ensamble


the male part is the same pieces of aluminum that use to serve as a slider on the Boom


the ensamble complited and ready to go,also you can see the towers and how the forks get attache,,nothing really inovative there since they are thule roofrack parts,,well mounted on Snowboard adjustable plates so the angle of the forks need to be adjusted if require


the rack can be fold to almost nothing to provide a incredible platform for certain really big loads,,Couch and crap like that


I show you how it works in a minute,just let me tell you i can carry two very diferent wheel base and frame geometry bikes at the same time

I hope you guys like it for sure I have more to come