Rebar for Bike Frames?

[UncleKudzu]

as seen at Make: bike frames made with rebar!

 

[Tailwinds]

Wow. Pretty cool. But as someone who's worked with plenty of rebar and plenty of bike frames... no comparison, rebar is SOFT!
I still dig it though.

 

[Gold Street Customs]

I really like that seat on the first one,but yeah talk about the Mad Max look :shock:

 

[Chainsaw]

I'm usually a fan of the strange and unusual bikes and the materials that are used, but these bikes don't even stir any new excitement in me.
As rideable bikes, they would weigh a ton and would probably bend, break or just give an aweful ride.
As art bikes, Really? I'm sorry but I don't see a whole lot of artsy crap spewing out of those bikes.

I don't have a problem with using pieces of rebar to enhance a bike's charateristics but to make a bike that is virtually all rebar is simply a waste of time, material and possibly someone's life.

 

[mikesbikes36]

somehow i doubt that first one is gonna be bendin ...neat i guess ,,kinda ratty roddy ...also kinda weird ...just sayin !!!!

 

[DonQui]

im wit Chainsaw on this one, even thought they might look ok to some, i think they would be too heavy to be comfortably riden.
but someone once said...beauty is in the eye of the beholder...so to each their own. u gotta give this builder points for trying.

 

[Road Master]

I'd like to see the first one with a second top tube and a tool box type tank - I assume the weight was not a primary consideration. If the rebar is the same diameter as regular bike frame tubing I don't think there is any issue with it bending since the rebar isn't hollow. If the guy knows what he's doing with the welding I'd say go for it. I'd also like to see a springer fork made out of rebar on it too. I actually like the look of this compared to twisted bikes/parts. And as long as you're building it from scratch make it big enough for super huge tires - say 4"! Now I want one.

 

[SSG]

I used rebar for the upper stays on my burrito. I probably wouldn't use it again though, its soft and bends easy.

 

[g-ratter]

I used it purely as decoration on my build. But would be leery of using it for any real structure.

 

[deorman]

A couple of inches of concrete should solve any bending issues.

 

[yoothgeye]

Too bendy, but the brake lever on the bottom of that page looks sweet.

 

[Rustinkerer]

Fresh from teh internetz!

-Adam

 

[sensor]

as seen at Make: bike frames made with rebar!

they need to do the how to 'make a new set of teeth and jaw' for those that arent wise enough to realize that rebar will fold on the first bump it hits....

 

[Uncle Stretch]

I saw a guy in a circus once that bent a piece of 1/2 rebar over his head , but I have serious doubts that he could have done it with the 1'' stuff that bike is built out of. All mild steel ,in rod form is easy to bend , but I make chain and seat stays out of 3/4'' solid bar stock and it puts the hurt on my 12 ton hydraulic bender at the end of a tight bend. Thinking about the end of a small tube on a road bike where it hooks on the dropouts is really flimsy, but once welded and with the other tubes supporting it , then it becomes very ridged .