OK, I Give Up

July 26, 2016 1:25 PM

How is this street performer in downtown Asheville just sitting there, balancing his bike on the front wheel?
posted by gottabefunky to Society & Culture (12 answers total)

Did you see this personally and take the photo? I can imagine a gimmicked bike where a fake front wheel has a spike and slides into a pre-drilled hole.
posted by sammyo at 1:37 PM on July 26, 2016 [7 favorites]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lead weight attached to the front of the bike, and then the teddy bear was slipped over it.

Am I sure that this would be enough weight for the balancing effect? Not really. It's just my first idea.
posted by amtho at 1:39 PM on July 26, 2016

Here's an IO9 article about a similar balancing performance.
posted by jessamyn at 1:42 PM on July 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

And here's an artist who does a lot of these kinds of illusions.
posted by jessamyn at 1:43 PM on July 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Here's the hole in the ground.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:48 PM on July 26, 2016 [71 favorites]

This has been driving me nuts! What is the 'hole in the ground' link referring to? I can't see anything there that relates to the image in the OP...
posted by freya_lamb at 9:27 AM on July 27, 2016

The "bike" is a sculpture with a fake front wheel which is anchored by means of a pole that goes into the ground as sammyo surmised. That's just conformation that yes there really is a hole there.
posted by jessamyn at 9:41 AM on July 27, 2016

Off topic but if I ever go treasure hunting I'm taking JoeZydeco along, great find!
posted by sammyo at 4:19 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, sorry for not saying "I believe sammyo...and I found the hole that backs up the idea." I was too excited that I found the exact place.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:56 AM on July 28, 2016

I just saw this guy tonight! Going to go find the hole tomorrow morning and confirm its existence. Guy was raking in the tips though.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:24 PM on August 5, 2016

Now that the mystery is solved, I'm wondering just what his "performance" is. Does he just sit there, and people throw money in his bucket for being somewhat clever by creating the mechanism, or does he do "tricks" or tell jokes, or what?

I guess those "I'm a statue" people make money by just standing there as well, but just sitting on your mounted bike seems kind of like cheating.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 7:34 AM on August 17, 2016

When you put money into his basket he does a little (kinda creepy, frankly) sly smile and honks his horn or rings his bell. When I was there, there were some kids hassling him and as they walked away he made a gesture at them- well, more a flipping of the hand but not the full Gesture. I found him entertaining for about 20 seconds, took some pics, dropped a bill into his basket and got honked at.

The real attraction at that corner the night I was there was The Fly By Night Rounders with Abby the Spoon Lady. They are just wonderful! So bike dude has a great spot- people are drawn over by the music and then see him, are amused for 20 seconds, and then go back to listening to the music.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 5:16 AM on August 20, 2016