Many people who grew up in the 1970s, '80s and '90s will likely remember cruising around the neighborhood on a Marx Big Wheel, a low-riding tricycle made of plastic. Now, a Big Wheel-style bike is available for adults, thanks to the work of a former aerospace engineer. <\/p>\n
As a kid, Matt Armbruster dreamed of being an astronaut. As an adult, he got to work on mechanical systems for satellites and planetary spacecraft, including a number of different NASA spacecraft. But today, Armbruster's biggest engineering accomplishment is building low-riding tricycles for adults. <\/p>\n
It may not seem quite as noble as building things that expand humanity's understanding of the universe, but Armbruster said the power of these trikes which look like adult-size versions of the Marx Big Wheel for kids is something to behold. [Cosmic Playtime:Toys in Space(Photos)] <\/p>\n
\"The original Marx Big Wheel was kind of like the best toy ever for entire generations,\" Armbruster said. \"And it has a very deep emotional pull. As a kid, it's like your first taste of freedom and moving under your own power. And when you crashed it, it taught you how to take a hit and keep going. It's a deep childhood memory, and you see that when people ride them.\" <\/p>\n
Maybe it's just the power of hindsight, but Armbruster said bikes and space have both been recurring themes in his life. <\/p>\n
\"In high school, my jobs were in bike shops, so I loved mechanical stuff,\" Armbruster said. \"But I wanted to become an astronaut. At the time, the two ways to become an astronaut were through the Air Force or becoming a mission specialist. So I chose aerospace engineering.\" <\/p>\n
Armbruster spent 16 years at Starsys Research Corp., which is now part of Sierra Nevada Corp (among other things, Sierra Nevada is working on a design for a private spacecraft called the Dream Chaser. Many companies, including NASA, contracted Starsys to design and build mechanical systems of satellites and spacecraft, Armbruster said. He worked personally on projects for multiple NASA missions, including the New Horizons mission to Pluto, Geo Eye and Worldview, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, the Sojourner rover and the Cassini spacecraft. Once, in order to test a component that would eventually go on the Spitzer Space Telescope, he flew in the Vomit Comet (an airplane that briefly simulates weightlessness) in order to test the component in microgravity. <\/p>\n
After seven years on the engineering side, Armbruster moved intothe marketing department at Starsys. Then in 2011, after a total of 16 years at the company, he decided to take a leap into the unknown. After a few months, he realized he already had an idea of what he wanted to do: make a Big Wheel tricycle for adults. <\/p>\n
Introduced to the world in 1969, Marx Big Wheels were tricycles made entirely from blown (hollow) plastic, with a low-slug seat almost brushing the ground and a front wheel the size of a manhole cover. Instead of being attached with a chain, the pedals connected directly to the front wheel. <\/p>\n
During his college years in Boulder, Colorado, Armbruster started a community pub crawl in which adults had to ride from bar to bar on a Big Wheel trike. (The so-called Big Wheel Rally continues to this day, and has since evolved into a fundraiser for the Saint Joseph's Hospital Foundation, to benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). <\/p>\n
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From Rocket Science to Low Rider: Former Engineer Builds Adult Big Wheels<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many people who grew up in the 1970s, '80s and '90s will likely remember cruising around the neighborhood on a Marx Big Wheel, a low-riding tricycle made of plastic. Continue reading