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We kept the rear triangle of this prototype intact and used two sections of 1-3/4" "furniture pipe" to extend the Worldbike frame. Adding only two pieces of steel pipe kept the material cost low and increased our precision. Keeping the original rear triangles intact simplified fabrication and reduced the chances of misalignment.
06/27/07: Create cargo rack
The cargo rack relied on bends made by taking the standard steel furniture grade tubing and bending it around a section of 4" pipe. No annealing was necessary. Reducing the number of welds brings the manufacturing time and cost down.
One of the few female workers in Kisumu tests out the new Worldbike prototype. Check out the bike's curves on the cargo rack section. When bent right, curves are strong, light, and reduce the number of welds. They also reduce the number of poky things sticking out from the side of the bicycles
06/11/07: Worldbikes and tandems
Sears.com sells two "mass-market" tandem bicycles. One is $250 and the other $180! The more expensive model has an aluminum frame and the cheaper one a steel frame. It would seem that a tandem would be similar to a worldbike in stress on frame and components, and so a worldbike should be possible to manufacture in similar quantities to a tandem for a similar price.
