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Using
giant tires from an old fertilizer spreader and lots of scrap steel, a
German cycling enthusiast recently built the world’s heaviest bicycle.
49-year-old Frank Dose, from Schleswig-Holstein, has been working on his
two-wheeled behemoth since March, and reckons he has spent around $4,700
putting it together. Was it worth it? Well, he seems to think so, and
his wife, Astrid, definitely agrees. “I think his bike is
sensational,”she said during an unveiling event, last month. “I am proud
and pleased that he has done it.” As of September 3rd, Astrid has an
extra reason to be proud of her husband, after his creation set a new
world record for the world’s heaviest rideable bicycle.
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Dose’s metal contraption weighs a whopping 1.08 tonnes, making it over
200 kilograms heavier than the previous holder of the world record, an
860-kilogram bicycle built by Jeff Peeters, of Belgium. The tires alone
weigh hundreds of kilograms and have a diameter of 1.53 meters. But
despite the extreme size and weight of this monster bike, Frank says it
is surprisingly easy to ride.
And he actually proved it on September 3rd, when he rode his creation in
front of a crowd of 5,000 people, for over 100 meters, to prove that it
was actually rideable. The speed was an unimpressive 5km/h, but
considering the size of the bike, it’s not too shabby.
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And in case you’re wondering why anyone would go through the trouble of
building the world’s heaviest bicycle, Dose says he did it because of a
dare. He had originally drawn up some plans for a scrap metal bicycle to
ride at the Wacken Open Air festival, but after a friend doubted the
feasibility of his design, he got working on it just to prove it would
work.
Guinness World Records usually take a few months to verify a record
attempt, so Dose will have to wait a bit before being acknowledged as a
record holder, but he’s happy that it’s now just a matter of time. |