XYZ Spaceframe vehicles can be built with crap from the hardware store

Dan Seitz Contributing Writer, Tech

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Imagine if I told you it was possible to build your own bike-like contraption. It would involve no welding, no specialized parts and could be assembled from stuff you can find at a hardware or bike store. Now imagine I told you the plans were free.

Photo Credit: N55

Stop imagining, it’s real and while it won’t be a comfortable ride, it will be a dirt cheap one.

This Spaceframe vehicle may not win any races, but what N55 have pulled off is one of the more impressive home construction projects I’ve seen. The frames are built out of aluminum tubes, which are light, cheap, and environmentally friendly in pretty much every respect. There’s zero need to coat them with anything since the aluminum naturally protects itself with aluminum oxide. You don’t need any special tools: You can cut aluminum tubes with a decent hacksaw. They’re recumbent so you won’t go impotent from having the veins in your crotch smashed by a banana seat.

Best of all, you can build it with motors or without, and build it with a cargo hold if you want. This isn’t going to replace your car anytime soon, but for something you can slap together in a weekend, it’s impressively engineered and well-thought-out. Good work, hippies!

Spaceframe Vehicles [N55]