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Things Come Apart - bicycleHow many bits make up a bike?
Eight hundred and ninety-three, apparently.
The image above is from a series produced by Canadian photographer Todd McLellan showing everyday objects reduced to their constituent parts. The bike in question is a 1980s Raleigh, and McLellan has also dismantled a fire extinguisher, a bedside clock radio, a typewriter, a chainsaw and a host of other familiar things. The book of the images, Things Come Apart, is published by Thames & Hudson and will be available soon.
Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.
Latest Comments
- stonojnr 7 sec ago
I think they'd think we were odder if we paid 52quid for a brush that any decent hardware store, we still have those right ? for a couple of quid.
- stonojnr 4 min 28 sec ago
Bars&gels just easier to carry, but very expensive these days, though you can't rely on cafes or shops being open all the time in some parts....
- Eton Rifle 1 hour 37 min ago
The system for elderly drivers in the UK is insane. Basically, once you hit 70 years old, you have to re-apply for your driving licence every three...
- Moist von Lipwig 2 hours 5 min ago
Bit of googling gone wrong in the article - the JAT is the Junction Assessment Tool, the Joint Approval Team appears to be a coutner terrorism...
- HKR 3 hours 21 min ago
Can't believe that child threw his bike on the floor at the end of that. Young people today have no respect... ;))
- Griff500 2 hours 8 min ago
Its not the same stem fitted to the two bikes though, and we aren't talking about HTA we are talking about stem inclination or "stem rise" to use...
- TheBillder 11 hours 22 min ago
My new double glazed wooden framed sash windows are £1600 plus vat per (quite large) window. House built in 1904. The cost includes fitting and...
- galibiervelo 11 hours 37 min ago
We promote #bikefriday You dont need it - go for a spin. Nice bikes and kit are lovely, but not as noice as a dawn spin this friday morning with a...
- David9694 11 hours 40 min ago
Council acting like ‘the Sheriff of Nottingham’ with parking charges...
Add new comment
10 comments
It's a steel frame right? So a bit of heat applied to the lugs and hey presto - 15 more bits.
I still think a good quill stem is one of the most beautiful things going.
On a bike of that vintage, well over half of those 893 parts come from just one - the chain. 570 parts roughly.
if your going to dismantle the saddle why not the frame and fork? seems an odd thing to do.
No matter how i put it back together I guarantee there would be 4 screws left over who's purpose would only become apparent after the first mile!
Why three saddles though?
Base, foam and covering I think
Wow - I love stuff like this, it shows you all the beautiful thought and engineering that goes into even the smallest piece.
I bet the photographer has got an amazing tool kit, too!
Awesome.Imagine how long it would take to build the bike back up from that picture!
The real question is whether there would be anything left over when he'd finished!
"Hmm, what does this bit do then?"