Slack Randoms: Chromed Carbon Frames, a Hydrogen Powered Bike and Dancing Death Bots

Fully Chromed Carbon Frames

Two entrepreneurs from Wisconsin claim to have created the ‘world’s first chrome carbon bicycle frame,’ Cycling Weekly reports. Tom Griffith and Gary Elmer have apparently spent $90,000 of their own money and put 2,000 man-hours into creating a chroming method that can be replicated on a production-level scale.

Chroming has previously only been available on metal frames and the spray chrome technology that the friends adapted has traditionally only been possible on smaller, simpler objects than bike frames, the CW article dives into exactly what is new about the method.

Griffith said, “We’re using 0.999 silver, which measures just 4/10,000ths of an inch thick. The paint on most bicycles is 20 times thicker than the silver we’re using, so in every case, the bike we’ve chromed has been lighter than if it would be painted in the traditional way”. The coating is apparently weatherproof and scratch-resistant. While the pair believe they could chrome a frame for around $100, they are looking to sell the technology to a bicycle manufacturer or an international racing team. Interested parties can get in touch, here.

A Hydrogen-Powered Concept Bike

Think that electrically assisted cargo bikes are boring? Well, think again because this Lavo bike from Studio MOM promises to be the future of assisted riding. It’s a pedelec bike as you may expect but rather than using a lithium-ion battery, this one is powered by hydrogen.

Working with the University of New South Wales, Lavo already produces hydrogen batteries for homes. These batteries are capable of storing up to 40kWh of energy generated from solar panels for a claimed emission-free way to power a home or business. Lavo claims it uses, “patented hydride to store hydrogen in metal alloy to enable the world’s first, long term capture, hydrogen battery within a secure vessel.”

This technology has now been adapted to bikes and the result is the Lavo bike that has been commissioned by the Providence group and in collaboration with the University of New South Wales Sydney, Elian steering, and Hyperkid. This is just a concept bike so details and specs are non-existent but Studio MOM claims the technology “makes it possible to carry 3 times as much energy per unit of weight” meaning it would increase the range or the loading capacity of the bike all while being emission free.

At the moment this is still just a concept but it paints an interesting picture for what could be in store for electrically assisted riding.

Boston Dynamics’ Dancing Robots

As a New Year’s ‘treat’ Boston Dynamics posted this video of its robots dancing to ‘Do You Love Me’. As amazing as it is…

…This remix video posted shortly after reflects how a lot of us in the channel really felt about the video:
Hitting the Trails on an Electric Unicycle

Mike Leahy hits the trails around Seattle on his Flux Mvmnt electric unicycle.

A Novel Way to Straighten a Wheel
A Mile an Hour: Running a Different Kind of Marathon

A different kind of marathon; running one lap an hour, for 24hrs, around my perfectly mile-long block. The rest of the time I do as much as possible; making things, odd jobs, fixing stuff. It’s about running, doing, and thinking.—Beau Miles