Originally posted by Ponderable
invented the bicycle from cardboard:
http://bcove.me/c31njovl
english:
http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/08/14/innovator-of-the-week-giora-kariv/
It works fine till you hit a rainstorm.....
Seriously, what is different about this material and fiberboard? Both seem to me to be using compressed fiber with a glue to keep it together.
I predict it will never make it to market for the reason I gave above.
It would of course be painted and waterproofed but you know how long fiberboard lasts in the presence of moisture. The waterproofing will work only for a few weeks, then inevitable cracks will appear and then it will be all over.
You can see where the metal parts go, the cardboard is much larger by the petals for instance, which it would have to be, being so much weaker than almost anything else you can imagine except maybe balsa wood.
I think it won't last long in the real world. By that I don't mean death in the marketplace, I mean how long it would hold together in real world conditions.
For instance, we leave our bikes parked outside, maybe with locked chains and so forth, but a day later, a week later, you come back and you have essentially the same bike, maybe a tiny bit of rust but you can ride it off.
I don't think you could leave this bike outside for a week in the rain without it losing structural integrity. It will last exactly as long as the paint and waterproofing.