Sheet-metal Machine
A Windsor, Ont., company is manufacturing a bike in Canada
Asmall machine shop in a nondescript industrial neighbourhood of Windsor, Ont., is the home of a novel bike. Built of stainless steel and lightweight metals, the bike has a design that draws from airplane and race-car semi-monocoque engineering, where the vehicle’s boxlike frame carries the weight-bearing load, supported by internal reinforcement.
What’s more, after a two-year process of using computer-generated design and personal technical know-how, the owners of sgc Bicycle Manufacturing Inc. have found their shiny, fairly lightweight (less than 11.4 kg) Celaris model is proving relatively easy and economical to build. It’s likely to be the first such contemporary bike to have its frame constructed and components assembled entirely in Canada.
Robert Coyle, a sculptor with a background in mechanical design – he constructed wooden models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and has a large sculpture, Flightsong, at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport - and Denis Buj, an engineer, came up with the idea of a non-tubular bike. Coyle, who loves metalwork and the idea of optimizing whatever he builds, realized conventional commuter bicycles were heavy and not the most ergonomic.
The beauty of construction with stainless steel and sheet metal is that the material can be easily formed to various designs – in fact, even hand-formed – and therefore doesn’t require the expensive tooling and the use of
heavy machinery, such as stamping presses. Moreover, sheet metal, because it’s flat, acts as a canvas and therefore allows for a wide variety of designs and detailing, unlike a traditional tube bike, which is, after all, a set of tubes that can hardly be varied. “You can paint them and put stickers on them,” says Coyle wryly.
The frame has been geometrically altered, providing an entirely different ride. There is a lower centre of gravity and the seat is repositioned so that the rider is sitting almost vertically. “It presents itself a little more like an exercise bike or a traditional 19th-century bike,” Coyle says. Because the rider is sitting straighter, he or she rides higher in the road and has a better vantage point. “You can see your environment around you,” Buj says highlighting the safety feature of the bike he feels is the ultimate city vehicle.
To the non-technically minded, sheet metal may appear flimsy. Yet, it’s anything but if properly formed and supported. Below the shiny surface of the frame is a matrix of structural cells, hand-shaped just like origami, and integrated with the outer skin. This structure is then bonded together with high-tech adhesives, the same as in aircraft manufacturing.
sgc Bikes has already sold prototypes in a few bicycle shops in Ontario and plans a 250-unit national production run for delivery April 1.
Ron Drouillard, owner of City Cyclery in Windsor, said the Celaris, priced at $1,495, may be a little high-end for a commuter, but should catch on. He thinks the bike’s uniqueness and style will be a draw.
“The material can be easily formed to various designs – in fact, even hand-formed – and therefore doesn’t require the expensive tooling and the use of heavy machinery.”