BusyBusycle - What it is

What it is

Before

After (click to enlartge)

The 15-person Busycle, the only one of its kind in all the world is a reconverted 1989 Dodge cargo van that had served its life for a moving company in Boston. Cut bare to its chassis by a group of Beantown volunteers and non profits, headed by Matthew Mazzotta and Heather Clark, the truck was then outfitted with two steel bed frames that had been rescued from the Harvard University recycling center. After the sleeping structure was then welded in place to support 14 discarded office chairs, recycled bicycle drive trains were connected to these seats so they could anchor the machine's power source - humans. A complicated gear box takes the pedal energy that results and with the help of the truck's transmission converts it to power that propels the truck's rear wheels. The Busycle even has reverse!!

Next April, Martin Krieg will point the handlebars of his 19th Century HiWheel bicycle east as he shepherds the Busycle back to Boston with his new book “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto” as a part of the 7th Annual National Mayors' Ride.

In sum:
- Chassis, transmission, drive shaft, differential, wheels: Dodge van
- Seating for 14 pedaling station: Office chairs
- Foundation for 14 pedaling station: Bed frames
- Drive train for 14 pedaling station: Misc derailleurs, freewheels and hubs from bike scrap
- Protective covering for gear train: Hockey arena plexiglass

Individual (larger) Clips:
1 - Getting the Van
2 - Group Welding Training
3 - Tearing up the Van
4 - Tearing up the Van (part 2)
5 - Prototyping the Seats/Pedals
6 - Junkyard Transmission Trip

Who it was made by
& see it in action

Key Operators
The guys who keep it on the road

Dave Hanzel, PhD, Jeff Kistler & Rich Willits

A Philosophical Look

Busycle Birthplace

Busycle Parents