The fantastic group of engineers at Great Scott Technologies came to me with an ambitious design and a need for a fully functioning pre-production prototype. I was eager to help, as I love putting deigns into steel and out on the street.
All of the rough pieces of the assembly including custom bent tubing and water jet cut parts.
The process started with interpreting their design drawings into small production appropriate parts and materials, while refining the look and not sacrificing any functionality.
Manual Machining of a sub-assembly.
Mitering the main assembly to accept the head tube.
Many hours of planning, cutting, bending, machining and welding went into making the pieces finally come together.
A very short fork in the jig, ready to be welded.
Utilizing tools intended for bicycle building, but adjusted for this unique purpose, we were able to make a very ridable and fun prototype.
Specialized welding technique to keep the bulk if the mechanism on the inside of the tube, without weld material getting in the way.
Completed fork with a very small wheel.
Nearly completed assembly, keeping with their minimalist requirements, but robust construction.
The final result was a fully functioning stand up, folding bike - that was a blast to ride. The engineering team eventually took their concept to manufacturers and got a production prototype and laughed a kickstarter campaign - which unfortunately didn't quite meet their goals.
