I've been planning the wooden bike for some time now, drawing, sketching and such. The other day I decided to make a small model out of 1/4 inch birch plywood. This model is only six inches long, but I think it gets the point across about what I'm thinking.

I needed to think about shaping; originally I didn't want it shaped at all, meaning all the plywood would be cut and still have the edge. After I saw this on the model, I decided to smooth it down and got a more organic shape.

This is not the final version of the frame, it has a few flaws as I just sketched it out and did not make it to scale. The final will have a longer top tube, thinner center section and slightly shorter rear; unless I decide to have a longer wheel base, one of the things I'm still debating. If this works out in a larger scale, I may make a second version with an integrated rear fender and front basket out of leather. I'm all about the high end don't you know.

I've been looking at bikes a lot lately, as many of you may have noticed, it just seems that lots of cool stuff is coming out and I thought I would share.

Like this, another folding bike, well more of a collapsible bike than a folding one. The iXi bike doesn't fold as much as come apart in two pieces. It still looks like it should be a folder; the design seems to lend its self to that, with its long single backbone and smaller wheels, but instead of folding with a sort of bulky hinge as other folders do, this bike breaks away into two separate pieces. I do like the design; the clean lines swoop back along the backbone to the integrated carry handle, and as far as I can tell, no visible welds, something that bugs me on other folding bikes.

The iXi has some innovative items, such as the hidden tire repair kit in the seat post, a hidden tool kit in the front of the frame as well as space for an accessory rain poncho, a beverage holder that, with another holder, can fit your ipod, and of course the greaseless belt drive, something that seems to be popping up on lots of folding/ city dweller bicycles of late. The handle bars and peddles do fold down making the total width shrink from 22" to 12" in moments.

All in all I like this bike, but I'm not to sure about the folding aspects, I guess I prefer to have a folding bike that is still attached to all its components. On the plus side, this bike is available as standard non breakaway model, so it still has the clean lines but lacks the storage feature of putting the front of your bike in one room and the rear in the trunk of your car, something I'm sure would happen to me. The price is all right, about a grand for the standard model and twelve hundred for the breakaway model.

This is the new prototype of the "Christian Inaction Figure." I've change it only slightly from the old one, I am no longer just gluing down a paper illustration, I will be screen printing the image instead. This prototype is a stenciled version, not a final one. I still need to get some screen printing stuff in order to make these as a product, sometime mid summer I think. I want to have them available for fall shows.

This is the BMX I bought for parts. I think I'm going to keep it for the time being and try to find the parts I need else ware. The plan for this bike is simple, repaint the frame and clean it up. No real changes as of yet. I do need to replace the seat and maybe the handle bars, but those are easy fixes. Paint will be black and antique white with red pin striping.

This is the fender from the cruiser bike I'm working on. I got the bike from Working Bikes sometime last year, it was painted "yellow" but it had faded to a peach color by the time I got it. I had no real plans for the fender and fork from the original, I recently bought a Springer fork that will give the bike a nicer look, but over the weekend I went to a local bike shop to get some parts and in talking to a guy about the bike, I guess I gave the impression that I was restoring it. So now I'm debating if I should indeed restore it or not. I think I might restore the fender and fork to the original look and continue on with the bike as I had planned.

I was fliping through a magazine the other day and came across this cool folding bike by Puma and Biomega. I have had this fascination with folding bikes for some time now, don't really know why, maybe I'm looking for something to put in the car just in case. Anyway, this bike is a collaboration by Puma, Vexed and Biomega, it's more of a traditional looking bike than a folding bike, with its normal looking wheels and tires and almost normal looking frame. Its only a single speed bike, perfect for city riding. It apparently has an integrated lock, something I think all bikes should have. I am realy intrigued by the down tube on this bike, there is no tube, it has been replaced by two heavy gage wires that help in the folding aspects of the bike. The only down side of this bike, the cost, about $775. It will only be available at Puma stores and is limited to about one hundred bikes in black and silver.