If you didn't know already, March 14th is Pi Day, as in 3/14 or 3.14. In observance of the occasion, Amsterdam-based "international ideas company" WE ARE Pi has created what it claims is the world's first rideable PiCycle – it's a fixie bike that's shaped like the Greek letter π, the symbol for Pi.
Malaysian illustrator Yau Hoong originally came up with the idea for a Pi-shaped bike, which he expressed in a series of sketches. Inspired by these drawings, WE ARE Pi recruited artist Tadas Maksimovas and designer Martijn Koomen to build the thing.
They started by comparing the dimensions of Hoong's concept with those of actual bicycles, then proceeded to make scale models out of plywood and cardboard, and subsequently tweaked the design to ensure that the bike would actually be rideable.
Next, the duo created moulds that were used to cast an initial resin version of the frame. After assembling a complete bike around that frame and checking that everything worked as it should, they made new moulds – these were used to cast the final version of the frame, which was made of carbon fiber.
While there are no plans to produce the PiCycle commercially, the one existing example will be making appearances at various museums and exhibitions around Amsterdam.
There's more information on the build process, in the following video.
Sources: PiCycle, Tadas Maksimovas
