Atomic Zombie's Bicycle Builder's Bonanza

By Kathy McGowan and Brad Graham

Book Overview

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ATOMIC ZOMBIE'S BICYCLE BUILDER'S BONANZA

SUPERBIKES (FOR STINGY BUDGETS)

For bicycle lovers, tinkerers, and inventors, this dream resource offers hours of fun, creativity, and adventure. If you have standard workshop tools, Atomic Zombie's Bicycle Builder's Bonanza provides everything else you need to create cool custom bicycles on a shoestring budget. You'll find exciting plans for choppers, low racers, tall bikes, recumbents, tandems, and others that defy description.

You'll learn how easy -- and cheap -- it can be to build machines with names like Marauder, Sky Cycle, and Hammerhead -- to construct bicycles whose profiles will make you gasp -- and to make your own recumbent bike that can speed along at 80 kph on the flats. This book shows you how to build them all, complete with photos and detailed instructions

Written by long-time bike hobbyist and inventor Brad Graham, founder and host of the atomiczombie.com bicycle builder's Web site, and creator of the world's tallest bike, this value-packed, heavily illustrated manual offers an exciting range of resources from complete custom bike plans to details on working with tools and customizing bikes you already own.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071422676
• ISBN13: 9780071422673
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: McGraw Hill Tab
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 1.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Descriptive and motivating

This is a really great book. Brad and Kathy really have written a very clear and easy to understand book. There is a good section on tools, safety and welding. With welding, you have to learn by doing. This book will now put my gas welder to good use. These bike projects are a great way to build welding skills. Just make sure the welds are good with good penetration on all sides before committing it to a road bike though. There are high speed bikes in this book that you don't want coming apart on a busy road. Because they use galvanized EMT conduit for some of the projects, I am glad to see there was a safety caution about the zinc oxide fumes if welding it. Zinc oxide is very dangerous, so follow all safety measures when welding or cutting anything galvanized. There is a great section on bike parts and taking a bike apart. I love books like these which give ideas on tinkering and building something great from someone's throwaways. There is really a goldmine of bike parts that are thrown away each week. I am now on the lookout for bikes. I have always wanted a recumbent, but the prices are ridiculous. Now I will be able to build one for a very low cost. There are tons of descriptive pictures to look at that clearly explain the text. If you are interested in tinkering, sharpening your welding skills, rescuing bikes from landfills, tearing apart bikes for parts, and building a unique (or your own design) bike from scrap parts, this book will not disappoint you. Well worth it and highly recommended. I can't wait for their other books to come out.

I really enjoyed this book -I would rather have built a bike

If you are thinking about buying an unusual bike, buy this book first and you may decide to build it instead. There a several types described and this will get your creative juices flowing. I particularly like the Spincycle!

A fantastic source of both inspiration and practical info...

I'm a bike shop owner (mostly BMX) over here in sunny (?!) England and this book has really inspired me to finally get off my lazy behind and build something. I wasn't short of inspiration about WHAT to build, there just always seems to be something else that needs doing. I have a nice collection of donor machinery and of course, there's no shortage of components and tools. I have no excuse really!Anyway, this is an extemely well written and inspiring book. I can honestly say that it's the most engaging bike-related book I own (and I own a LOT of bike books!).The only problem I have now is that I'm looking around at the display bikes in the shop and visualising where I should cut them to obtain the most useful bits! Better sit down for a while and remind myself of what pays the bills!

Excellent

Finally a book for the average person. I've already built my own Kool Kat. I'm still learning how to weld, but all of the pictures have really helped me come up with my own designs. This is the first book I've bought in a long time with tons of pics. I'll let you know how my spin cycle turns out. Yes, even chicks can build custom bikes, too! Keep up the great work Atomic Zombie. I look forward to more books in the future! When will the robot book be out? I want to get that one for my son. He thinks it's cool that his mom spends alot of time in our garage. We get to build things together and have fun thanks to your book. Hope you have a nice Christmas! Where the heck is Thunder Bay, Ontario???

Recumbent builders goldmine!

I have wanted a fast comfortable recumbent for years, but did not think I could build my own until I read this book. After 3 days, I had the basic frame and wheels mounted! I don't think I will ever build a 12 foot tall bike, but there are a lot of new ideas in this book that I have never seen anywhere else.I give it - "Two wrenches up!"Jake