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 300 page softcover book

Bike Projects for the Evil Genius

This book contains over a dozen full projects from the AtomicZombie website. All plans are presented in full detail, with over 1,000 photos and 300 pages of text. If you want to kick start your bike building hobby, then this is the book for you!

You will be shown in great detail how to build professional quality recumbent trikes, electric scooters, choppers, and many other fun machines. Using only basic tools and inexpensive parts is the goal of this book, and it also includes a full bicycle autopsy to get you started in your cycle building career.

Check out some of the cool projects presented in this book!

The StreetFox Recumbent Trike is a fast and comfortable version of the classic "tadpole" style trike (two wheels in the front), which includes rear suspension, three wheel braking, and 26 inch rear wheel for optimal gear range. The StreetFox looks and handles as good as any commercially produced trike, and can be completely made using commonly available and inexpensive bicycle components and some square tubing. Not one single machined part is needed. The StreetFox has an adjustable bottom bracket so it can fit riders of most heights, from 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Due to the rugged construction and use of sturdy 14 mm axle, 48 spoke front wheels, the StreetFox ca easily accommodate riders over 250 pounds.

The radical DeltaWolf breaks all the rules that have held Delta trikes hostage for so many years! This trike is ultra low, very laid back, designed for comfort and speed, and gets away with full size 26 inch rear wheels due to the unique yet easy to make rear hub axels. The DeltaWolf is also designed to be easy to build using only a welder and an angle grinder, requiring only a single part to be machined (plans also show alternative to machined part). The rest of the trike is made using a few feet of square tubing and standard bicycle parts that can be purchased new or salvaged from scrap bicycles. Even the unique rear wheel hubs are made using nothing more than a hand drill, and a few washer shaped steel discs.

The Gladiator Chopper is an "over the top" custom made from a fusion of bicycle parts, car wheels and commonly available steel tubing. What surprises most people who hijack me for questions when I am out cruising on the Gladiator is that the entire chopper was made from junk parts using only a basic AC welder, an angle grinder and a hand drill. Yes, no other tools were used, and not one single part was machined or hard to find. This bike is proof that anyone with the drive to turn their ideas into a rolling work of art can do so without dropping down hundreds of dollars at the machine shop, or without needing many years of mechanical or welding experience.

The SpinCycle is a radical front wheel drive stunt trike that offers a ride like nothing else on the planet. It rides much like any other bicycle, capable of respectable speed, but with a quick flick of the wrist, you are instantly sucked into a spinning vortex of  insane G-force that would shock even the trained astronaut! The great thing about this project is that it can be made using only a few bits of steel tubing, a pair of shopping cart caster wheels, and a recycled kid's bicycle. You will need only a welder, grinder and a few nights work to create what will surely become your new favorite toy. Due to its extremely rugged construction, the SpinCycle can be enjoyed by all ages, and will easily take the abuse that us "big kids" will force it to endure.

The Ucan2 handcycle takes a different approach to the arm powered trike with a cool looking rugged and nimble machine that looks more like a freestyle BMX bike, rather than a special needs trike. Built simple and lightweight with the younger rider in mind, the Ucan2 is easy to maneuver, yet tough enough to take to the skate park or off road into territory only a kid would dare to conquer. There are no machined parts or expensive custom bicycle components, just a few BMX parts and some steel tubing, so anyone with a welder and grinder can build the Ucan2 in a few days for very minimal cost.

The Silent Speedster is a fast and sporty looking scooter that can take you across town in the same amount of time it would take a typical gas powered vehicle, yet it does travels without making noise or carbon pollution. For only a few pennies worth of electricity, you can zip across town using roads, bike paths, and off-road trails, often making the trip in less time than it would take in a gas powered vehicle since you will never have to tolerate gridlock or bumper to bumper traffic jams. 

Sparky is a great guide to building high quality small electric vehicles from easily available parts using basic tools. Armed with an electric motor, a pair of batteries, a handful of washing machine parts and some recycled bicycle parts, you can create a small yet powerful mini bike like Sparky that will outperform store bought electric scooters or pocket bikes - gas or electric. Sparky is silent, has a top speed of over 30 mph (50 km/h), and can run for at least two hours on a single battery charge. Hill climbing is absolutely no problem, and Sparky can accelerate up to full speed at a phenomenal rate, even in the dirt.

The LongRanger electric bike fills a gap between the electric motor assisted mountain bicycle and the fully street legal electric motorcycle or scooter, allowing you to commute great distances at speeds typical of a standard human powered bicycle. Because the LongRanger looks and feels much like a standard mountain bike, it will happily live on bike paths and trails normally off limits to larger motorized vehicles. The LongRanger can be built to travel well over 62 miles (approximately100 kilometers) on a single charge, and will do so at speeds that only a top athlete could keep up for any real distance. Oh, and it does all of this without making any pollution or noise whatsoever! Because the LongRanger is built around the battery pack and the type of hub motor you choose, you can build the base vehicle to suit your needs, altering the top speed, acceleration, weight or range.

This book also contains full plans for a few kids bikes and trikes, including an electric trike that lives happily indoors or outdoors. We will also explore a tall  bike, and an old style chopper. You can also mix and match plans to create a multitude of cool or crazy contraptions, since most of the parts are compatible and use the same technologies. No matter what your interests, there will be something in this book for you.

If you have never taken a hacksaw to a bicycle before, have no fear as we will start things off with a comprehensive bicycle autopsy. Since 90 percent of your raw materials will come from scrap bicycles, knowing how to "butcher" up a cycle is key to this hobby. You will be surprised at how easy it is to break up a standard bicycle and turn it into something much more radical.