Unleash Your Imagination with simple cycle project

Complexity: Simplest. 

Tools needed: Wood-saw, hand-drill, drill bit for wood, adjustable wrench.

Purchased or salvaged components: tires and tubes or rubber tread, metal tube or long bolt for pivot-pin, fasteners (bolts, screws or nails).

Materials: 3 sizes of dimension lumber (two-by-four, two-by-six, one-by-six)

For whom is the Kiki designed? This general-purpose ‘kick-bike’ (also known as a “foot-bike”, “pushbike” or “kick-scooter”) is designed for those who need the simplest possible bike-building project. The Kiki is also for those who cannot obtain or afford the group of components which are needed for a chain-drive transmission. The Kiki serves persons who prefer standing-and-kicking over pedaling-while-seated. It can serve well those persons who commute shorter distances to school or work, who do not have a need for large cargo capacity. 

Who should not get the Kiki? Those who need the very highest efficiency and fastest cruising speed for long, level distances, and who also can afford and obtain parts for a crankset/pedal/chain transmission.

Whom does the Kiki fit? Seat and handlebar positions are highly adjustable; it best fits petite and large adults from 5’2” (155 cm) to 6’4” (195 cm). Handlebar placement is widely adjustable; the bars (your choice of straight or swept) can be moved up and down the fork legs and can be attached to front or back of the fork legs for your preferred amount of reach, as well as being blocked even more forward or further back using spacer blocks held on with longer bolts.

What is the Kiki’s cargo capacity? Can accommodate a fork-mounted front basket above the front wheel. Supports can be attached to the front fork to support and stabilize oversize front panniers or baskets. The optional front Rhino Rack requires some extra work and precise fabrication but supports 16” of valuable cargo space above the front wheel (it displaces any fork-mounted front basket) where the rack does not move with steering motions and is therefore easy to balance if heavily loaded. This front load is directly observable at all times – making it a good spot for pets and other small live creatures who need monitoring. The lack of side-to-side steering movement is an advantage for creatures that don’t tolerate vertigo and ‘car-sickness’.

What is the Kiki’s outstanding capability? Despite having no transmission, a rider with experience can achieve in average conditions approximately 70% the speed and daily range of a pedal bike. The low deck and large front wheel make balance and steering easy. The large wheels increase rolling efficiency on non-paved surfaces. It handles most roads and paths, except those with lots of cobbles and rocks. It is great on paved bike paths. It is an efficient climber and fast descender. The Kiki is a good commuter bike on city streets for most adults. With the rider’s head at full standing height, with eyes forward and head free to swivel, it has both good rider-to-car and car-to-rider awareness in mixed pedestrian or auto traffic. It is generally easy on the body, and we have found its ergonomics a good antidote to long hours spent sitting in an office chair or classroom seat. 

What options will it accommodate? The Kiki will accommodate as front or rear wheel almost any after-market electric hub-motor assist kit that has a throttle. A clip-on over-the-shoulder carrying strap can be made for carrying it up stairs or rocky trails.

What are its limitations? With its necessarily-low deck height (that makes kicking efficient), you have to be observant and careful when riding through puddles, going over curbs or riding rocky paths. It will not fit some car bike-racks. Brute weight-carrying capacity is less than that of the Kudu.

What components will the Kiki accept? 26” front wheel and 20” rear wheel, with 2”+ tires. The Kiki can accept either wire-spoke wheels, plank wheels, or wooden-spoke wheels. The rear wheel can be of a larger diameter if that is what you have available to you; the Plans show what changes you would need to make. The wooden Simple plank-wheel can have its rim built to be covered by recycled car or truck tire rubber; this is a less-smooth but absolutely-flat-proof ‘tire’. Both front and rear wheel positions can accommodate any length or type of axle; once built, a bolted or screwed-together frame can have the axle gap straightforwardly resized by addition or removal of spacers. Brakes can be disk, vee-brakes (except on wooden wheels), scrub-brakes, or a hand-or-foot-activated coaster-brake (on pre-built wire-spoke wheels), all of which are described in the Plans. 

How big is the Kiki? Overall length 80” (203 cm). Weight varies a great deal with choice of wood species and wheelset type; the Kiki may weigh between 25 and 35 pounds (11 kg to 16 kg). It is light enough to hang from a hook; it will not stand on its rear end.

Historical note about kick-bikes: Our technical advisor David B. commuted on a kick-bike five days a week for several years to his job five miles from home, over mostly-level and sometimes-snowy streets; he reported that it was effective and enjoyable.  An unanticipated benefit was that riding the kick-bike cured his chronic back pain. Kick-bike riders have crossed countries and continents. Our heroine Mademoiselle Blandine (aka ‘La Trottineuse’) – while seeking a simplified life of autonomous itinerancy, adventure and enlightenment – rode a kick-bike loaded with camping gear on a 3-year adventure around the world. My own moment of enlightenment came when I – despite having multiple ‘hill-climbing’ gears on my bicycle – was overtaken by a no-gears-at-all kick-bike while ascending Going To The Sun road.