BROO: Balance bike made of recycled handlebars
Broo is a balance bike made of discarded handlebars that is customizable and variable for local bike fabricators to create bikes in unique shapes, which is desirable and accessible for children in New York who are learning to ride bikes.
School /
Parsons the School of Design
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Year /
02. 2016 - 05. 2016
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Exhibition /
Cooper Hewitt:
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Skills practiced /
- Metal fabrication
- Local production
How can I improve the accessibility and the experience of children bicycling learning in New York City?
NYC is promoting bicycling as an alternative form of transportation and has some cool and hardcore cycling culture. However, bicycling learning is becoming less available and less attractive for children. Given the availability of inexpensive scooters and the fact that children from 3-year-old to 6-year-old don’t stay in the same size for long, parents are less likely to purchase a bike for their children to learn bike riding. Furthermore, the trendiness doesn’t appear in the children’s bicycling learning experience.
Recycle-A-Bicycle is a New York based non-profit organization that utilizes the bicycle as a resource to foster youth development, environmental education, community engagement and healthy living (Recycleabicycle.com). It has three stores in the city that collect donated bicycles and recycle the discarded bicycle parts. Based on the condition of each donated bike, the staffs in the shop either repair the bike and sell it at a low price, or disassemble the bike and sort all the fine parts in the recycle baskets. Among those recycled bicycle components, handlebars stand out for their large amounts and beautiful shapes.
Black Label Bike Club was founded in 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is credited as the originators of tall bike jousting, and one of the main contributors to the tall bike culture. It soon came to New York City and influenced many people to ride bikes and to make bikes. The Black Label Bike Club has an annual “Bike Kill” event, where all bicycle builders to celebrate the free spirit of the city. Those bike builders make crazy-looking bikes by disassembling and recombining different bike parts, such as tall bikes. The Broo program could fit into the crazy bike building culture, to let those fabricators design the bike shapes they want by combining different types of handlebars, and build the unique bikes for their children, nephew or the kids in their community.
The most common handlebars are Riser, Bullhorn, Drop, Flat, Upright, Cruiser… The Riser, Upright and Cruiser can be used to form the main frame of the balance bike, while the flat bar can be used to form the front fork.
BROO could become part of a community bike sharing system, and upcycle a city’s bike recycling system.
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