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World’s Smallest Bicycle Is Adorable but Also Very Tough, Fully Functional

How small can you go before you lose all functionality on a thing? If you take a bicycle and scale it all the way down until you can fit it inside a handbag, will you still be able to call it a bike, let alone ride it?
Big Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payload 23 photos
Photo: YouTube/The Q (Composite)
Big Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadBig Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payloadSergey Dashevsky in 2019, with the smallest bike in the world, as certified by Guinness
If you're The Q, the answer is yes. Not just that, but the bike will look like a miniature work of art, incredibly adorable because of its size but very tough despite it – tough enough to support a maximum payload of 100 kg (220.5 lbs). That last part is the most impressive and also the one thing that allows The Q to call this the smallest yet still functional bicycle. Just adjust your perspective on what functional means, and you'll see he’s right.

Of course, we're not all as skilled with our hands as The Q is. The content creator and fabricator, whose real name is Sergii Gordieiev, has long attained celebrity status because of his awesome and well-executed creations. He has the ideas that make him stand out but, just as important, he has the skill to bring them to life.

Even with the recent amazing developments on the e-bike segment of the market, there's only so much you can change when it comes to a two-wheeler. This man's creations show that the only limit to what you can change is your imagination. His square- or triangle-wheel bicycles, the icycle that has circular saws for wheels and can thus ride on ice, or the tubeless bike are all solid examples in this sense.

Big Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payload
Photo: YouTube/The Q
We can now add another to the list: the world's smallest bicycle that retains its functionality. He calls it Big Boy, and it's a fully-custom one with 72 mm wheels from a rollerblade and a fetching yellow and black color scheme. Big Boy is tiny – so small that you can hold it with the fingers of one hand. It seems heavy, but its size seems to negate from the start the idea that it could ever serve as anything more than a fancy press-papier.

As usual, The Q tells the story of the build in detailed steps, with clever edits and the occasional joke here and there, like that forced perspective shot right at the beginning, when the rollerblade wheels seem attached to a Bianchi frame. To get Big Boy, he actually had to fabricate the frame from scratch.

Obviously, the biggest challenge with the project was the level of detail required and the need to create something that could withstand the weight of a grown man. The diamond frame is made from steel, as are the fork and the handlebars, and there's even a small saddle whose production The Q doesn't show, probably because it's not meant for actual use.

Big Boy is the smallest yet still functional bicycle, with a 220 lbs payload
Photo: YouTube/The Q
Big Boy is single-speed and chain driven and features tiny pedals you press with your toes. It rides, albeit very slowly and in a way that hints at the kind of training and good balance game you must acquire in advance. It's less efficient than walking and way less effortless, but it is "functional," in the most basic understanding of the term.

"It's [a] fully working bicycle you can ride every day," The Q says, adding a laughing emoji. No one would dare ride this daily, even though it's presented as "durable” and guaranteed to get you attention. "The ride is a little uncomfortable," he adds. Talk about the understatement of the month!

To The Q's hint that this is the smallest functional bike in the world, here's some clarification: bicycles of this kind have been around for many decades. That's not to say that Big Boy isn't an awesome Boy, or that the build isn't an impressive display of skill, but rather that the idea is not new.

In 2019, Russian Sergey Dashevsky won the Guinness World Record for the smallest bicycle in the world with a creation that measured just 8.4 cm (3.31 inches). It was actually a model he had been working to perfect and make even smaller since 2008. Dashevsky is still riding his miniature bike around Moscow, by the way: a video of him went viral in August 2022, introducing him to a new generation of fans.

Sergey Dashevsky in 2019, with the smallest bike in the world, as certified by Guinness
Photo: Guinness Book of World Records
Before that, in 2005, a local bike group from Melbourne, Australia, featured one such bike in a spoof video. The bike resembled Dashevsky's but had been around for at least 20 years before it was shown on camera. Even if the video was a joke, the bike was real.

What all these have in common is the claim to functionality. They might be teeny-tiny, but for all intents and purposes, they are functional in the sense that you can get on them and pedal them into motion. You only need training and a good sense of balance to do it, as Dashevsky once said. Well, that and the acceptance that you might eat it at any given moment.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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