Cardboard To Save Cycling And The World

In a time that the sport of cycling has received the biggest blow of its history. The Lance Armstrong drugs scandal is not the only piece of news coming from the world of cycling. Many enthusiasts now fear that the sport of cycling may die away due to the appalling actions of the former Tour De France great who has had all seven titles taken away and received a lifetime ban from the sports authorties.

However whilst it remains to be seen whether sport survives, there is now a belief that the premise of the bicycle will not only survive the current state of the world but possibly even change it. A bicycle made almost entirely of cardboard, (yes cardboard) has being unveiled by an Isreali inventor who claims it should be ready for general sale within a year.

Izhar Gafni (50), is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years toyed with an idea of making a bicycle from cardboard. He is an expert in designing automated mass-production lines.

During a recent demonstration Gafni said that after alot trial and error, his latest prototype had proven itself a success and mass production will begin in just a few short months. The bike is expected to retail at about $20 (€15.43).

By the time production begins, the bicycle will not include any metal parts. The brake mechanism, the wheel and the pedal bearings will all be made of recycled substances. Although due to pending patent issues Mr Gafni said he could not yet reveal those details.

"I was always fascinated by applying unconventional technologies to materials and I did this on several occasions. But this was the culmination of a few things that came together. I worked for four years to cancel out the corrugated cardboard's weak structural points," Mr Gafni said.
"Making a cardboard box is easy and it can be very strong and durable, but to make a bicycle was extremely difficult and I had to find the right way to fold the cardboard in several different directions. It took a year and a half, with lots of testing and failure until I got it right."

The cardboard is treated with a mix of organic materials to give it its waterproof and fireproof qualities. This mix however is being kept secret by Izhar.

As part of the durability testing of the treated cardboard, he immersed a cross-section in a water tank for several months and it did not lose any of  its hardened characteristics. "I'm repeatedly surprised at just how strong this material is, it is amazing."

One of his first models was a pushbike he made for his  daughter and she is still using months later.

With the cost of materials estimated at around $9 dollers per unit, the bikes will be able to retail for just $20 dollars. Though Gafni and his bussiness partner Nimrod Elmish claim that this is due to retaillers needing to profit from sales and not for themselves.

"It could be sold for around $20, because (retailers) have to make a profit ... and we think they should not cost any more than that. We will make our money from advertising," said Elmish
We are copying a business model from the high-tech world where software is distributed free because it includes embedded advertising,"

He says cardboard and recycled materials could bring a major change in normal production because grants and rebates would only be given for local production and so there would be no financial benefits by making bicycles in cheap labour markets.
"This is a real game-changer. It changes ... the way products are manufactured and shipped, it causes factories to be built everywhere instead of moving production to cheaper labour markets, everything that we have known in the production world can change," he said.

The bikes production, Elmish claims, would utilise largely automated production lines that would be supplemented by a workforce of pensioners and the disabled. Apart from the social benefits this would provide for all concerned, it would also garner government grants for the manufacturers.
Mr Elmish  explains what this would all mean for the poorer countries of the world, "Because you get a lot of government grants, it brings down the production costs to zero, so the bicycles can be given away for free."

With initial production set to begin in Israel within months it means that they will be available for purchase inside a year. They plan to have three seperate bike models and even a wheelchair, on sale by then.

And not only are they cheap to buy but the maintenance is even less still.
 "These bikes need no maintenance and no adjustment, a car timing belt is used instead of a chain, and the tyres do not need inflating and can last for 10 years," he said. This claim is backed up by the fact that it has tyres made of reconstituted rubber that cannot be punctured. And the bikes will weigh less than the more traditional options with a full size one weighing about 9k, around 5kg less than a full sized metal one. The urban bikes would also come with a mounting for a personal electric motor.

Mr Elmish says that as they would cost so little, it didn't matter how long the bicycle lasted. "So you buy one, use it for a year and then you can buy another one, and if it breaks, you can take it back to the factory and recycle it," he said.

"We are just at the beginning and from here my vision is to see cardboard replacing metals ... and countries that right now don't have the money, will be able to benefit from so many uses for this material," he said.