Make jewelry, home decor and even musical instruments from bicycle parts such as chains, spokes, rims, gears, brake cables, handlebars, pedals, seats and frames. You will never look at a bicycle the same way again after listening to this podcast episode and checking out the Trashmagination Pinterest board of items to make with bicycle parts.
You can listen to my podcast episode on creative reuse of bicycle parts in this YouTube video. It originally aired in September 2018.
Places to Bring Functional Bicycles
You will need to find the organizations in your region, but here are three examples of organizations and how they gather bicycles.
- Vietnam Veterans of America – national organizations who pick up bicycles
- Bikes for the World – community organization which organizes community pick-up events
- Community groups who train youth mechanices such as Phoenix Bikes in Arlington, Virginia or Gearin’ Up in Washington DC.
Artists Working with Bicycle Chains
Projects You Can Do with Bicycle Chains
Bicycle Chain Bracelet Basic Welding Tutorial
Bicycle Spoke Projects
Bicycle Spoke Ornament
I love the designs by WinterWomanDesigns in New Hampshire.
Bicycle Pedals Made from Recycled Materials
Bioplastic made from 70% rice husks and 30% recycled plastic bottles
What to Make with Bicycle Rims
- Bicycle rim Tree of Life sculpture from wire
- Tree of Life sculpture from t-shirt yarn
- Bicycle Rim Wreath – attach whatever items you want around the edge instead of using a bent metal hanger
- Bicycle rim display for cards, such as holiday cards – you attach the cards to the spokes with clothespins
- Pot rack
- Bicycle rim Christmas tree – Learn more about bicycles being made into Christmas trees from recycled materials
- Crocheted design in bicycle rim
- Crochet a piece to go over your back wheel as a skirt guard from the spokes.
- Stained glass spinner – If you do stained glass, this is a fun project to attach triangles of color to the spokes for a garden decoration – http://www.fleamarketgardening.org/2013/05/07/make-a-stained-glass-garden-spinner/.
- Bicycle rim Pole Trellis where the rim is mounted on the top of the pole so the rim is laying flat, and strings hang down for the plants to climb
- Bicycle rim Circular Clothesline
- A Garden Dome or Sphere
- Bicycle rim fence trellis
What to Make with Bicycle Gears
What to Make with Bicycle Handle Bars, Seats and Frames
Picasso set the standard for the creative reuse of handle bars and seats when he made a sculpture that looked like a stylistic bull’s head from these materials.
Two companies who make these bull’s heads for home décor or bicycle storage are:
Check out Willie Cole’s piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art made from bicycle frames
Bicycles and Knitting or Yarn
Cyclo Knitter by George Barratt-Jones
Asma Chaudhary
Bicycles as Art
Marcel Duchamp
Tylur French ].
Jarbas Lopes
A series called Cicloviaérea or “Aerial Bikeway”
David Clement from Jemicy Upper School
Discussed in the most popular episode of Trashmagination about recycled art contests
Amazing Experiences on Bicycles
My goal is not only to help you make more stuff from bicycles, but to have more amazing experiences. Here are three examples of people designing experiences from bicycles.
Welcome to The Bike Zoo! from The Bike Zoo on Vimeo.
Steven Baber
Composed a song called Bespoken made from sounds that he gathers from bicycles
Johnnyrandom | Bespoken from Johnnyrandom on Vimeo.
Merche Blasco
Composed a song to be played with bicycle bells
Show Details
I’m still looking for broken or unwanted tents if you’d like to give them to me!
- Script for this podcast episode about creative reuse of bicycle parts (not a transcript but gives the main ideas)
- The Trashmagination podcast theme music is Kitchen from the Marian Circle Drum Brigade.
