Towering well above most cars, other bicyclists, and pedestrians, Patrick Corcoran is hard to miss as he zips around the streets of Laramie atop his custom built tall bicycle.
“The first time I saw him was last fall when there was like six inches of snow on the ground. He jumped on that thing and took off, and I was like ‘that’s a brave man’ because he’s like 10 feet off the ground on snow, like solid snow. Props to you man. I’m not that brave,” Clay Carper, Math graduate student, said.
Corcoran, a civil engineering major, got the inspiration to build himself a tall bike while on a cross country bike tour.
“I saw these people riding around on these tall bikes in Oregon like in 2011,” Corcoran said. “I always kind of wanted to build one but I never had the time.”
That changed when Corcoran started working at Laramie Machine Shop where he had access to welding materials.
“I was looking for a different kind of project because I got a lot of project cars, but they take a lot of energy and time and I just wanted something a little lighter, so I thought ‘oh why don’t I build a tall bike,’” Corcoran said.
The bicycle is made up of three and half standard bike frames, standing at 6 feet 8 inches in height. Other tall bikes that Corcoran researched are usually only two frames high, and as a result are prone to wheelieing.
“I thought, I want to build one that’s more pyramid shaped. It’s two bikes long on the bottom, and then one bike suspended above it,” Corcoran said. “My weight’s more in the center and I put the steering geometry a little slacker than a lot of bikes. I leaned it back a little bit and that makes the track straighter and it’s a little easier to balance at low speed.”
Since completing his bicycle in March of 2017, Corcoran is questioned daily from onlookers.
“[They say] ‘How do you get on that thing?’ ‘How do you get off that thing?’ ‘Aren’t you crazy?’ ‘That’s an accident waiting to happen.’ Every bike is an accident waiting to happen,” Corcoran said. “It’s not really any harder than riding any other bike, it’s just high, so it’s fun.”
To board his bike, Corcoran takes a running start to gain momentum, quickly steps up onto pegs welded to the frame, and swings his leg over the seat to begin peddling. Only twice has he ever fallen from his bicycle.
“[When I was first learning,] I didn’t get it going fast enough and just tipped over a couple times,” Corcoran said. “I haven’t crashed or anything, I’m pretty cautious. It’s not like somebody driving isn’t going to see me. I don’t have to worry about that.”
Corcoran plans to continue tinkering in his free time, with his next project being a customized tandem bicycle.
“My wife really wants to ride a tandem, but I don’t really want to build an ordinary one, so I’m going to make the back [seat] five or six feet off the ground, and the front [seat] normal height,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran isn’t opening for business however.
“Just because you build one bike doesn’t mean you’re a bike builder or want to assume the liability of being a bike builder. This is really just for me.”
Corcoran enjoys riding with a good tail wind.
“If you’re riding with the wind at your back and it’s good strong wind and you’re out on the highway with it, it’s ridiculously fun,” Corcoran said. “Just blowing along like you’re riding a sailboat or something.”
