Tall Bikes

After knocking on many a rusty door in many a dark alleyway, after searching dead-end leads and false-starts, the 16B-Team finally sheds light on Blacksburg's mysterious, burgeoning counter culture of "Tall Bikes". Through certain undisclosed channels and only after diligent persuasion were we able to track down one of the spearheads of this elusive underground movement, Shawn O'Neill.

16B's: So what inspired you to create these "tall bikes"?

The first person to make one of these was a guy named Mike Stratton. One day I saw Ben Fama riding one his bikes around and we got together and thought,"Hey, we could make a lot more of these things ourselves."

16B's: Besides the tall bikes, what are these other bikes you have with you?

Two are just the regular tall bikes—one which has a free wheel and the other which is a fixed gear.

I also brought what we call a swivel or swing bike, which has a hinge welded to the seat tube that allows the front of the bike to operate independently of the back section of the frame. It's kind of difficult to ride, but once you get the hang of it it's pretty fun.

The other one is a chopper. You can ride this one with the handlebars backwards or in the regular position. I also have another tall bike at home that is three frames high and two frames long but it hasn't been ridden in months.

16B's: How exactly do you put one of these together and where do you get the materials?

To make a tall bike you have to weld the bottom bracket of the top bike to the seat tube of the bottom one. Then you generally have to remove the forks from both frames and fit a regular piece of metal tubing into the steering columns and weld it into place.

Some of the materials come from local hardware stores, such as the electrical conduit I used for the steering column on this one. Some parts can be traded at the Bike Co-op on Turner Street while others are donated. Some of the frames I found in a dumpster behind a bike shop in my hometown because they had small defects. But I get a lot of the frames from the VA Tech Surplus Property Auctions.

16B's: Where did you learn to weld?

I didn't know how to weld before I started making these bikes. I got a mig-welder as a gift one year and just went from there. The first bike I made fell apart a few times but by the second one I had gotten the hang of it.

16B's: Are tall-bike builders mostly engineer-nfluenced student-types, or just people living outside of the box?

We are just people who like riding bikes. We take things that other people might regard as trash and turn them into something cool. The internet helps a lot. We can see what other people are making and what can be done to bikes, which helps give us ideas of our own. I think that maybe more people would ride bikes if it didn't seem so boring.

16B's: So that means other people are doing similar things elsewhere?

Oh yeah. Especially in bigger cities like Seattle, Portland, New York City; I hear there is a tall bike scene in Richmond.

16B's: I've heard of some mass cycling group that gets together around here? What is that about?

Every Friday afternoon a group of us get together in front of Burruss Hall for Critical Mass. It's a bunch of riders that get together and make a presence on the streets to create biker awareness. The turnout is low sometimes, except on the last Friday of the month, which is the official meeting time for the group.

16B's: Can you build me a 4-wheel monster truck bike?

Actually, we thought about mounting two bikes side by side with a concert speaker in the center just for Critical Mass.

16B's: [So...no monster truck bike, okay...] Here's the obvious question. How do you mount one of these tall bikes?

That's a question we get a lot. That and, "How do you stop?" For a fixed gear bike you just put your foot on a pedal and hop on [like mounting a horse]. With a free wheel, you have to put one of the pedals in the down position and build up speed with one foot like a skateboard. If you have to stop with a fixed gear, you can use the "track position" to balance yourself while not moving.

16B's: What's a "track position"?

It's how track racers balance themselves at the beginning of a race to get a faster start. It involves being able to pedal backward and forward to keep balanced. With a freewheel it's a little more difficult to stop and stay upright.

16B's: So I guess you have to sort of plan your flight path so-to-speak?

Yeah either that or rest against a stop sign or light pole, but being so high in the air it makes it a little easier to plan your route because you can see everything.

16B's: Can you do a wheelie?

The bikes naturally are back-weighted because of the way they are made which sometimes makes you do a wheelie, especially when you are going uphill.

16B's: What about gravity? Does it ever concern you?

I'm more worried about cars.

16B's: How do automobiles respond to you? I hope it's better than the way they treat pedestrians.

Actually, being so high in the air cars tend to notice you more. They have more time to respond and I have more time to decide where to go. It's when people get close to you that things become sketchy. I know where I am going and have already planned for them to keep moving.

16B's: It's kind of like the little sidewalk-waltz pedestrians do with each other sometimes.

Yeah.

16B's: Do people ever give you crazy looks?

Oh, definitely, especially on game days. People get increasingly vocal and sometimes shout things.

16B's: Would you say there is any kind of "Westside Story"-like rivalry between the "Smalls" and "Talls"?

No, it's all about just getting together and having fun riding bikes.

16B's: So, no choreographed musical knife fights?

No. Definitely not.