Design: Lessons from the One-Off Titanium Travel Bike to be Used in the Morph

2010 Photo of Bill Warner on the One-Off Titanium Travel Bike in Miami, Florida (not so warm)

This post will outline some of the abilities of a special purpose bike I helped design with Mike Augspurger of One-Off Titanium. Only one of these bikes was ever made, but it is truly fantastic, and it powers my travel all around the world. With it, I can travel with a wheelchair for indoors, and my small, nimble, and lightweight Travel Bike for outside, and many inside travels.
The Travel Bike weighs only 34 lbs. It fits easily, with no disassembly, in a minivan.
Pop the quick-release wheels off, spin the coupler, fold the bike seat down, and presto - it fits anywhere, including behind the last row of seats.
With the bike disassembled (which takes minutes), it can go through the luggage system. I protected it here due to an old gear shifter that was really fragile. It eventually broke anyway, and the new shifter hub is really tough and requires no bubble wrap.
On full-size aircraft, I just fold down the seat, and give it to the baggage guys. It goes full size, and comes through ready to ride. I've done this maybe 50 times or more with various handcylces over the years.

Discussion

The Morph will borrow many characteristics from the Travel Bike:

1. It will use the same coupler. This is a proven device, and its great. It does require a steel main tube - it cannot be mounted in aluminum.

2. The seat will fold down - just like the Tavel Bike.

3. The wheels will be quick-release - But better than the Travel Bike because they will use a different design that will clamp tightly into place.

We expect that the Morph will come in around 40 lbs. Just six pounds more (or so) than the Travel Bike, and full 15 pounds lighter than non-morphing handcycles I built in the 1980s.