pogo stick and bicycle in one: BMX riders build a wheel-free bouncing bike that jumps high

Pogo bike offers unlimited bouncing without trampolines

If anyone wants to feel how Disney’s Pixar lamp feels when it jumps in a movie’s title sequence, bicycle motocross riders Scotty Cranmer and Vinny Mannino might just have a bouncy solution. With the help of their team, they designed a bike that combines a pogo stick and a bicycle into a single frame without wheels. The result was a vehicle and pastime device that offers unlimited bouncing, a break from wheeling around on a bike with nacho-shaped wheels (it definitely exists here).

Cranmer and Mannino worked with a head engineer, and together, they tweaked a BMX bike by stripping off its wheels and retaining its bicycle frame. They fixed up a fork steer tube into the bike’s front and a hinge system onto the spring to enable the continuous jump as if the rider were on a trampoline. Glancing at the rear, the design team welded bars onto the bike frame and connected their spring system with a rear axle that tightens. In this way, the pogo bike creates a downward force that propels the rider back into the air and not in other directions.

video screenshots courtesy of Scotty Cranmer

Immovable footpegs to put force in before leaping

Aside from the hinge system, Scotty Cranmer and Vinny Mannino installed footpegs onto their pogo bike. Gone are the bike chains to prevent their feet from being snapped up around the clanky tool, and they replaced it with a pair of immovable steel footrests where the rider can exert their leg and thigh force so they can make the vehicle bounce. Design-wise, the outcome projects the imagery of a bow without a string, positioned at where the wheels should be.

When Cranmer and Mannino tested out the pogo bike for the first time, the vehicle seemed to do its job by letting them leap in the air, back to the ground, then recoil off the land again at a continuous pace. They were wearing their helmets – and rightly so – since the pogo bike might still be unstable, and it is always better to guard oneself from head crashes. In its own adventurous and charming way, the pogo bike can lure in bike fans who want to hop high in the air and motocross enthusiasts who just want to keep bouncing and practice their stamina.

Scotty Cranmer testing out the pogo bike