The Double Take - Introduction

 
This is the frame of a tandem bicycle built during my college days. It was my senior design project, and I led a team of 5 students to design, build and race this machine against other college teams. We were scored on design innovation, top speed, and endurance racing. Sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the competition is called the HPV Challenge (or Human Powered Vehicle), and still goes on today.

My goal is to get this thing running, after being dormant for 15 years, so that Alicia and I can ride it for the Tour de Cure on May 6. It's a lofty goal, because there are some parts that this design requires which are no longer to be found in the bike industry. Furthermore, this was a student project, and a prototype one-of-a-kind, so there are many built-in flaws inherent to the design of this bicycle that mus tbe solved in the near term to make it reliable for a 50 mile bike ride.

In it's original form, with a full fairing, it was called the "M.E. Hammer" because we were mechanical engineers, (and I liked a little hip hop). But now, in it's reincarnated state, Alicia and I have decided to re-christen it the "Double Take" because it is not only a bicycle built for two, but it is also a spectacle on the road which will draw more than one look to appreciate.

This is the ultimate Wheely Cool project.