Er's Teardrop

Ground-breaking design for a new breed of bike.

Er's Teardrop represents a radical departure from the traditional "chopper" styling (raked front forks, stretched frames and back-leaning riding style) of Josh's earlier designs. Until this bike was created, his designs had been largely minimalist: simple aerodynamic streamlines emphasizing negative spaces. Er's Teardrop was tighter, more aerodynamic with a forward leaning riding position. Hand-spun aluminum wheel covers added a cleaner look than spokes and whereas previous glass tanks were somewhat rough and simply made to fit, the specs of this one were carefully designed specifically for this bike. While previous bikes were largely built on the fly, Er's Teardrop was an entirely preconceived idea..

Nickel on rolled steel, hand-spun aluminum plate wheels, hand-blown, steel-wrapped, glass fuel tank - 80cc gas powered with pedal assist.

Solar E-Trike

An electric evolution in concept bikes.

We created the Solar E-Trike system out of a desire to build a 100% off-grid, solar-electric commuter vehicle, capable of multiple trips to the outer NYC boroughs on a single charge. The goal was to give green tech some sex appeal. Previously green technology was utilitarian, and “pod-like”. (Nobody ever crossed the street to look at a Prius.) The 15hp Mars Electric motor is powered by four 12 volt lead acid batteries, giving the trike a top of 45 mph over a 20 mile range. The batteries are charged using six 125 watt solar panels, mounted on the roof of the shop. The panels charge two separate 12 volt, 15 amp-hour sealed lead acid batteries, housed inside the shop during daylight hours, then transfers the charge to the bike at night. The goal here was to build a totally off-grid electric vehicle system using readily available technology on a budget.

The Solar E-Trike is hand made using carbon steel tubing coated with midnight black powder. All the electric hand tools used in creating the Trike were run using off-grid solar energy.

Christy Lynn

A shining example of grace.

Josh built the Christy Lynn trike to honor the strength and spirit of our dear friend, Christy Lynn Medrano who died of complications from the treatment of breast cancer in November of 2008. An actress and stand-up comic with a sharp wit and a sensitive, loving soul, she will be forever missed. The trike that bears her name was designed to evoke a sense of flying, with an aerodynamic, eagle-like front-end and winged rear fenders. The opalescent white finish gives the bike a heavenly feel with sparkles to represent Christy’s incredible light.

Opalescent white powder coat over carbon steel, hand-tooled ostrich seat and grips, pedal powered with coaster brake.

Mother

Feminine steel.

Mother was Josh's first foray into deliberate biomorphic design. After spending his honeymoon on safari in Kenya and Tanzania he was intrigued by the clear and obvious social order amongst prides and herds and inspired to do a series of bikes based on these concepts - particularly the lion prides. While the females hunted, fed and protected the lion cubs from potential dangers, the males simply watched over the pride and kept other males away. Male had a regal stance, upright and visible to other species for miles around while females assumed a more practical stance, camouflaging themselves in the grass and protecting their young. The males were flashy and seemed to groom themselves more than the females, which is reflected in the choice of polished black nickel for the Alpha Male and a much more muted, matte muzzle black for the Mother. The next in the series that included both gas pedal power; representing the evolving focus on more ecologically sustainable principles and were, in essence, our first hybrids.

Gun black finish on rolled steel, hand-blown glass fuel tank, 80cc gas powered with pedal assist.

Alpha Male

King of the beasts.

The masculine counterpart to Mother Heart, Alpha Male demonstrates the upright, highly visible stance and "well-groomed", polished black nickel finish indicative of the male lion. Like its female partner, Alpha Male is inspired by the prides of the African savanna and is among the first of Josh's intentionally biomorphic designs. Again, it includes both gas power and gas-saving pedal power, representing an evolving focus on sustainability.

Black nickel on rolled steel, hand-blown glass fuel tank, 80cc gas powered with pedal assist.

Little Cub

Youth incarnate.

The familial extension of the biomorphic "Heart" bikes inspired by the lion prides of the African savanna, Little Cub represents the conceptual progeny of the original design concept and demonstrates the evolutionary principles behind Josh's creative process: while the Mother and Alpha Male bikes where the first to incorporate the hybrid pedal and gas power, their offspring was a vehicle for testing "next generation" electric power technologies in line with our efforts to focus on ecological sustainability.

Patina on rolled steel, 36-volt electric powered.

Youn Jeung

Passion and poise in elegant minimalism.

Named for Josh's wife, Youn-Jeung was an exercise in design minimalism. The basic concept of this design was developed around a single line drawn on a piece of paper from left to right. The line started at a straight 45-degree angle representing the raked front fork then flowed back down in a graceful arc representing the backbone. A looping arc underneath the backbone incorporates pedals or footpegs. Having designed and built about half a dozen working motorbikes prior to this one, the Youn-Jeung demonstrates another major advance in the level of Josh's design and fabrication abilities and was his first real showpiece creation.

Nickel on rolled steel, 80cc gas powered with pedal assist. The first bikes of Josh’s bikes that included both gas power and gas-saving pedal power; they represent an evolving focus on ecologically sustainable principles and were, in essence, his first hybrids.

Lionheart

Trademark design.

Er's Teardrop had a huge effect on the bike community and received a lot of attention in the press. Josh wanted to expand on the design with a cleaner, tighter, "evil twin" version. For a more radical look, the warm nickel finish of Er’s Teardrop was replaced with a black, oil-rubbed bronze finish and the glass fuel tank was fabricated in blood red. The handling and rideability of the bike were improved by shortening the frame and the bars, and again, the hand-spun aluminum wheel covers provided a clean, streamlined look. Lionheart captured the attention of the art and design world and introduced Josh’s work to a whole new audience of enthusiasts and collectors. It was featured in Interior Design magazine and dozens of other art-media outlets.

Make A Statement!

Speak volumes.

A fun design and a play on words, the Make-A-Statement frame represents a blank comic dialogue bubble. The bike gives its rider both a literal and figurative platform for self-expression in addition to generating an instant audience wherever it goes. When it was first completed, Josh loved the frame but hated the front end. As a result Make-A-Statement, sat lonely in the corner of the shop for over a year while other concepts were developed. When it was finally revisited the front end was reworked and the bike is now one of the most interesting designs in the collection.

Polished nickel on carbon steel, hand-tooled deerskin leather seat and grips, pedal powered with coaster brake.

Uncle Stu's Trike

Built for a legend.

Josh's Great Uncle, Stewart Hodes, is an octogenarian who still rides over 100 miles per week on his racing bike. An amazing man, and a wonderful source of inspiration for life, he was also the inspiration for this radical three-wheeler. Previously, Josh was building and designing mostly bikes for specific clients, but wanted to demonstrate just how cool a trike could actually be.

Polished nickel on carbon steel, hand-tooled deerskin seat and grips, pedal powered with coaster brake.