Colin Furze’s Magnetic Suspension Bicycle is Essentially Held Together by Repulsion

Inventor Colin Furze is a man who spends the majority of his time in a shed, transforming wacky ideas into functional gadgets, some of which are actually quite helpful. His most recent brainstorm is a bicycle with magnets instead of springs and shocks.

Furze began by calculating the amount of force required from the magnets to keep the rider’s weight balanced yet allow for some movement over bumps. So he set up a rudimentary test setup in his workshop and began attaching various magnets to a scale to determine their strengths. At the end of the day, he realized he required ultra-strong neodymium magnets, the kind that can hold over 1,100 pounds of draw force when attracting, but for this project, he set them to repel each other.

So he started assembling the machine from an old bike frame. He modified it to include linear bearings to assist vertical motion, as well as magnet mounts. After testing the concept on the prototype, he built a fully customized frame using stainless steel tubing for extra strength. This groundbreaking frame had fat bike tires for improved traction on uneven terrain, as well as two pairs of massive magnets, one in the front and one in the back, in place of springs and shocks.

When the rider sits on the bike, the magnets repel each other with enough force to keep the seat and handlebars in the correct position. If you hit a bump, the magnets move closer together, increasing the force with which they repel each other, pushing everything back into place. There are no sophisticated electrical systems, oil leaks, or compressed air cans; only magnets do the work.

Then he had to put the bike through its paces and figure out where the design needed to be improved. It rode incredibly smoothly on gravel trails, roots, and tiny slides, but when there were a lot of rapid bumps in close succession, the lack of ‘damping’ made it a little unsteady. On particularly big drops, the magnets were pushed too far together, causing the travel to bottom out. Still, for moderate off-road outings, it proved to be well worth a try.

Furze documented the entire build on video, from the initial magnet testing to the final test rides. You can watch him welding the frame, carefully aligning the bearings, and handling the blisteringly powerful magnets. The end product is a full suspension fat bike that requires no suspension maintenance, leaking seals, or oil changes. This is one of those projects that starts with a simple question, ‘Can magnets replace springs?’ and ends up becoming a completely functional machine. Furze is continually pushing bike design in unexpected directions, and this demonstrates that magnetic repulsion may keep a rider stable over uneven terrain.
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