Rail Bike with folding outriggers - riding abandoned railroads on the central coast 

As a Keen Cyclist, Lover of Railways and an ex railway worker myself this is the coolest thing I have seen in ages. Love it

The wires you show are not grounding wires....they are called "bond wires". RR signals and crossing gates are actuated by low voltage electricity that flows through the rails. When the rail segment ends you need a bond wire to complete the circuit. In continuous welded rail that is not needed so often as the lengths of CWR are usually very long. When an engine or other rolling stock travels over the rails it "shunts" the electricity traveling through the steel wheels and steel axles from one rail to the other completing the shunt. This is what actuates crossing gates and signals.

As a kid, I was an avid reader, and would pick up obscure library books to read. One of them was a (very outdated) book on HPVs, or "human powered vehicles". It was really in depth, going from the history of the bicycle, to more modern developments for car replacements in highly aerodynamic recumbent bikes. It also went over just about every type of vehicle you could imagine being pedal powered, including boats, blimps, airplanes, etc, and what has been made in those areas. Apparently, it was relatively common to make rail mods for bikes back in the early 20th century. Rail companies across the country would shut down on sundays, so the rails were completely safe to ride for sunday picnics. The photos in the book of people doing this were very similar to your design. I think perhaps the practice died when it became rarer for companies to close on sundays, as the country became less religious. I hope it makes a comeback though. It should. The US's railways have been so mismanaged that trucking has taken over much of the freight industry (despite being an objectively worse way to transport cargo than rail). This has resulted in a lot of abandoned railways across the country. The reason you find it easier to ride across town on rails is that the single biggest advantage of rails is a low coefficient of friction between your tire and the rails. This reduces rolling friction a ton, meaning youre putting a lot less work into pedalling.

This is simply absolute perfection. As a railway enthusiast who likes to disappear away from people on a bike this could not be a better vehicle for me.

"I've actually found that it is easier to ride across town on the rails than it is the road" - if only there were rail vehicles regularly operating on them providing this very service

Honestly I would keep things like this secret. Peace and quiet with no traffic…what a treasure

A really well executed conversion. Here in the UK, we have literally thousands of miles of disused rail lines so I'm thinking of doing something similar. But you have raised the bar in terms of quality of execution.

I have miles of disused track around my area and been thinking of doing exactly this! Now I know it works rather well. Brilliant work old son👍

Very clever, here in England they remove the rails of abandoned railways and leave them as cycle ways and footpaths, some of the Victorian viaducts you can cross are pretty spectacular Thank you for the video

I've been doing this since the 1980's. Back East, the rail is pretty beat, worked like an old cold chisel. The rails get wide and ragged on the outside rail, and the inner rail gets super narrow, on sharp curves. There's also ballast stone piled to the level of the rail on the outside, occassionaly some hardware. This, and the ragged rail, will launch you. I'm done with the double flanged guide. Too many injurous crashes due to these hazzards. I used 4130 tubing, logged thousands of miles. Beautiful build. Very tidy.

This is insanely cool, I love the practical and functional design of that telescoping side wheel.

I love this setup! Thank you for sharing.

I have wanted to make something like this for years. Looks like you have perfected it. I always assumed that I would need flanges on the rear wheel too. Great engineering!

As a mechanic I’m really impressed, as a lover of the outdoors , I’m inspired…… however for the life of me I can’t understand how you are so stable …. The outrigger is just sitting on the top of the rail , and the only thing guiding the bike is the front wheel/ guide !! It’s extraordinary, really….. because coming off on those rails and sleepers could be painful…. You have my entire respect ✊

I’ve always had this idea as a kid thank you for putting it into reality. This is amazing

Love everything about the video. You wanted to do something you enjoy, you worked out a solution yourself. Loved seeing you enjoying your scenic rides after all the work. 🙌

This is sublime. I don't know of anything cooler on a bike. To have that view all to yourself, quiet and alone... Jealous of your building skills. Subscribed.

Wow, your roll rate/distance after that push was impressive! Great engineering 👍

Hot damn, this is so cool. Train tracks are graded super gently, I bet it feels great to ride on such a smooth rail too. Added bonus, you can look at the scenery without worrying about balancing or running into stuff!

Great practical engineering and construction! I like most how quiet it is 👍

This is the best buildup i've seen, simple and light.

Wow! That is super sweet, not only the invention, but the tracks you get to ride.

That front wheel guide works so much better than I had anticipated. Very nice work!

This is awesome. Looks really stable for something so portable! Great work 👌

This is brilliant, great job. The beauty of this is you could take it overseas and easily adjust it to different rail gauges.

Great design and execution. Decades ago a mate and I pondered this type of design over a few beers. It only stayed a pondering but yours is great to see working so elegantly and efficiently.

this is an AMAZING idea can you imagine bike touring on an abandoned railway? no focus on avoiding anything, just hop on, start pedaling and enjoy the journey

Awesome build. Professional quality! Riding the rails always interested me.

Thank you for the insightful and intelligent idea. I want to build this so bad right now! Awesome!!

This is probably the best shtf vehicle adaptations I've ever seen, you put a front hub electric motor on that and you could pull a trailer loaded with gear in a fairly stealthy and fast way

Wow! Well engineered, well constructed & just so damn cool!

I just love this. The combination of all my favourite hobbies.

Incredible views on that old line. And it's neat to see how little locating that setup seems to need.

Super cool. In Oregon, we've converted a few of these unused railroads to paved tracks. Inclines are smooth and views are great.

Never would have conceived the rear wheel and trailing so well without it having some type of guide like the front wheel. And very eye-opening as far as how things can be simplified. 🤔 👀 👍🏻🇺🇲🇺🇲

As an ex-cyclist (been disabled with chronic illnesses/pain for the past 29 years), and someone who grew up living on the platform of a country railway station, I think this is a wonderful idea! You'll have to hope that it doesn't catch on though!! Lol An amazing way to get around.

Very nice job you did. I made one of these too to see how it works. I did the same as you and had rail guides on both sides of the front wheel and some rake. My out rigger was not extendable, like yours. I tried it on the RR tracks on my street and was amazed how the rear wheel tracks behind and does not come off the track, so no wheel guide was needed for the rear wheel. I got some pretty funny looks from the neighbors, as these tracks were still being used.

I remember seeing plans for making one's bicycle able to ride the rails in a Popular Mechanics magazine back in the early to mid '60's. I always dreamed about doing that. Great video thumbs up.

I am in awe! Even seeing it work I somehow cannot make your solution work in my brain. It doesn’t sound or look feasible even though it obviously is. Great job and keep on doing what you’re doing. Hats off to you!

You Sir, are a genius! That was very cool, thanks for sharing 🤩

That is so cool, I've always wanted to explore rails but you've come up with the best idea I've seen.

Nice work!! Well thought out, and extremely functional. I wish I was 20 years younger and I'd try this myself!!

Great video, two things that I love, bicycles and trains combined! Nice build and the scenery fantastic!

Absolutely brilliant idea!

this is such a great and simple design, you made a really cheap rig that totally accomplishes your goal, riding the bike on the railway. i clicked on this video expecting a much more complicated build but this totally gets the job done and its pretty much perfect. great way to make use of those abandoned railways aswell!

That's awesome! I spent ages trying to work out how to make a pedal-powered platform to use on an old railway, but I couldn't quite get the idea right. Your design is brilliant!

Also love the sound of it. It’s amazing.

Man, that is fantastic. Just watching you bike was peace inducing.

I did not even know this was a thing. It really looks like a great way to cycle and it certainly gives a unique cycling perspective. Enjoy!

I applaud your ingenuity. The scenery that you've made accessible to yourself is so beautiful!

That is an AWESOME idea! Thanks for sharing!

By far the coolest thing I’ve seen all week

Amazing work, if you were able to mass produce these I would buy 100 of them off you right now, its just what I need. Trying to get from Quebec to British Columbia and I figured this will save me so much time and energy. Great work seriously love it

On a bicycle the rear wheel automatically tracks the front wheel. The reason for this is that the movement direction of the rear wheel is always towards the point where the front wheel contacts the ground. The same is true for the bicycle front wheel relative to the rail guide wheel. No second guide wheel needed, automatic tandem alignment does the job. Suggested improvement: Build a foldable luggage holder on the outrigger and put your backpack on it. This improves the balance and allows you to get a nice sun tan on your back!

Very professionally done. Excellent job.

I'm amazed at how good of shape the abandoned rails are

Near my former home in Denmark we had a discontinued railroad, functioning till 1958, which had been converted into a walk- and bike pass, going flat through fields and woods for about 4 km with a slight raise (The rest had sadly been given back to the farmers). I used it for years going to work.

Was a bit uneasy watching you traverse the bridge crossings, but otherwise it was a magnificent insight to a marvelous and well executed idea. Kudos!

Simply beautiful!💚💚

The idea alone is crazy, but even more that you get it work and enjoy it regularly. Inspireing!

That's neat! Do you every have any problems with the left outrigger rising? Do you have to focus your weight left? Also, have you found any deviations in the rail gauge such that one of your guide wheels wanted to fall off? That's really cool man. Keep it up!

I like the self contained design and this gives those of us who have that creative bend to see another way of doing a rail bike. I ride a recumbent and I would be a bit lower to the track and on smooth tires so would not hear the tread as I can hear yours. No potholes , smooth as fresh pavement with the only caveat being you may be riding on private property. So much more to see than riding on the road.

🙌 you sir have made something absolutely amazing

fantastic setup! really well done!

Absolutely brilliant! I love it. Well engineered and reduced to the minimum. I would have probably guided in the rear too, but I am glad to see that it isn't necessary at all. Very good job, man! 👏

Awesome idea! When I used to do cycle touring, I was planning my route along the train lines, as they never have a gradient of more than 2%. The only drawback I see is the suspension, which is completely useless here and makes you lose a bit of power every time you press the pedal.

Now and then youtube blesses us with something special. Its rare but it happens. This is one such case. Wonderful

Nicely designed, good solid adjustment too.

That is really cool! In addition to rail biking maybe a system like this could be used to cross streams where one just has to build a light weight bridge made say with PVC pipes that act as rails, they can even be a bit submerged.

Would you ever consider offering instructions to build such a thing for ourselves, or selling kits for people to attach to their bikes? I am in love with this idea, and amazed that you thought up such a clever idea!

Nicely done. Works very well.

Absolutely amazing

Great design; I was amazed to see how smoothly it operates; add steam power and you have the ultimate seampunk personal vehicle.

"Why on Earth would you want to make something like this" Simply because I can 😎 ... Amazing engineering just so simple but so effective ... Well Done 👏

COOL IDEA! RESPECT for YOUR engineering!

That is so clever!! Looks like a lot of fun!

That's great. Good job engineering. Beautiful scenic ride. I hope rails to trails conservancy takes note and converts it to a paved rail trail for everyone.

Great engineering! It's also fairly easy to setup and pretty quiet. It'll come in handy in the post apocalyptic future where there are beings with super sensitive hearing.

This is pretty slick! And it looks like a tremendous amount of fun.

What a great idea, congratulations!

I narrowed the guide wheel to 70mm and spring loaded it's sides. This has eliminated every single problem area except thick weeds past the 2 Aptos trestles. It sounds crazy but I'm getting serious about affixing my small battery operated 6" brush trimmer to the front "cow catcher". If you see mowed down weeds...

Way to go man for thinking out of the box. 👍Living in Marin California, I thought about the same idea, but never acted on it. Some other advantages are railroad tracks always have a 2% grade or less keeping your Cruise speed at peak efficiency. Train tunnels really shorten the distance. I wonder if there could be a device that would detect vibrations of an oncoming trains. Recently I moved to Colorado, a more bike friendly state than California.

Great job making it so portable. Pretty impressive.

Ingenious.Well done.

Excellent idea and engineering! It's just a pity the track rides weren't longer. Here in the UK, they take up old unused tracks and turn many into cycleways, while others become heritage train lines.

I am thoroughly impressed! I'd love to see more specs on how you made this to attempt one of my own!

I have been thinking about something like this for years! cool to see it fleshed out I.R.L.! AWESOME!

Wow, what a great invention!!

Great video, well engineered simple solution.. any risk of outrigger lifting off rail as you balance and rear wheel slipping off the rail?

Nice work! Great design. I bet the rolling resistance is way low and you can get it up to a good speed on the rails.

That's bloody brilliant!

I have never seen a rig like this what an amazing idea!

I'm guessing the rolling resistance is probably pretty minimal. I'm curious if you have to any circumstances where the rails are separated? You might want to patent that invention pretty quickly.

Wow! Amazing that the bike trails so well with just a front wheel guide. I’ve seen older rigs for riding the rails but they always had rear guides too. Ideal for bike camping off grid. I wonder how it would do with a trailer, hmm?

Amazing! absolutely brilliant 👏 👌 😀 👍

Very innovative! I'm impressed.

Interesting. When you were working on this project, did you ever think you'd see the light at the end of the tunnel? ... Uh oh...

I used to have a reprint of a 1906 Sears catalog, and they were selling a device just like this. Quite amazing how everything old is new again. As for the locating flanges, why couldn't you change them to a pair of rollerblade wheels angled down at 45 degrees? That would enable you to still track the rail, but avoid the bond wires. If you wanted to get really fancy you could mount them on a U-shaped bracket which is independent of the main roller and is forced downwards by a shock absorber, so if you did encounter some sort of obstacle, they would ride up and over it, then immediately be forced to return to the fully down position. Great video, I really enjoyed it.

nice idea, well and simple built...thumbs up for this

Waauw, this is the coolest thing to do ever. And what a magnificent piece of enginering. Thanks sir.