VWBulliBike
Joined: July 01, 2024
Photos: 10
Location: Germany
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| I built the first VW Bulli Bike |
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2024 2:32 am Views: 50
Rating: Not rated
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Hello from North Friesland (Germany).
My name is Marc Berger and I have built what is probably the world's first bicycle in the style of a VW T1 Bulli.
I've been a big fan of air-cooled buses since I was very young. I bought my first T1 at the age of 17, even though I didn't yet have a driving licence.
After being very busy at work for many years and neglecting my passion somewhat, I started collecting and restoring mainly T1 buses around 15 years ago. At peak times, I had accumulated around 50 vehicles.
As I am very interested in design in my private life, in 2019 I had the idea of building a bike that incorporates style and design elements of the legendary VW T1 bus. The first pencil drawing was quickly made. Now the question arose - can you build something like this? How do you go about it?
I myself have a degree in business administration and knew nothing about bicycles, construction or manufacturing processes. But somehow I was fascinated by the idea of building something that didn't yet exist.
In short, I looked for a graphic designer who could translate my intellectual outpourings into a proper design. Although I am not entirely untalented in terms of art and craftsmanship, I quickly reached my limits when it came to practical realisation.
My first "feasibility studies", which I carried out very rudimentarily using templates, an old bike and various tubes, showed that it must be possible to build a bike like this.
All enquiries to small and large bicycle manufacturers at home and abroad were unsuccessful. In most cases, I didn't even receive a reply. This phenomenon was to accompany me for the next few years when it came to finding manufacturers who could build individual parts for me.
So I only had one option. I had to "get to work" myself, completely clueless. I found a small bike smithy in Leipzig who was crazy enough to support me with my project. What luck. As I had customised everything in my design, from the saddle to the frame to the handlebars, to match the look of the |
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