Rickshaw context

I'm going out of context (but recognizing it) - back into memories. But it provides context on beginnings in India.

It was motivated by coming across this picture:

This is Brooke - she is treating her bike to a new form of travel - one it hasn't experienced since its days in a box. When we came back from India from a 3 week trip working on rickshaw designing in Assam, taking science-kit flashlights to the face, Brooke and I pooled the money we didn't have to buy Indian cargo rickshaw components to make our own version back home (our luggage). In the end, a group of highschoolers worked with us to design and assemble the one above that is (aside from the Indian components) made from scraps we found in a dumpyard.

If you want to read about our trip (2010) here is the blog from where my Experiments in India was spawned. Note it has much nicer pictures than mine because (it seems) the quality of pictures has to do with your eyes more than your camera.

While we were making that one, our lab was involved in making a much ligher rickshaw design for CRD, who was looking to mass produce its model of rickshaw micro-loans. I recently found out that project seems to have shut down its plans to start in 80 towns of India, but here is a nice frame that they will never use because it is just easier to make it 40% heavier and do it the same way we have been doing it.