First let me point you to a bike that I saw this week on the Core77 blog. At first glance, this bike, designed by a team in the Netherlands, looks somewhat like a typical traditional Dutch city bike. Look closer and you will see that the riding position is foot forward like many of the other popular semi-recumbent designs on the market. Most interestingly, this bike has a small ION electric motor near the rear hub that provides a bit of assistance to the rider when needed. I have said this a million times before, but I will say it again. As much as I personally like racing bikes, I love to see new designs like this that are aimed at getting more people on bicycles.

Now on to the meat of this post, you may have noticed that new content has been a little light here at Bicycle Design lately. I have quite a few ideas for interesting posts, but in recent weeks I just haven’t been able to find the time to collect my thoughts and put them together. My schedule will slow down eventually, but for now, expect even sparser posting from me through the end of the year. But wait; there is some good news, a new guest contributor here at Bicycle Design. Long time readers may remember the profile of designer Michael Downes that I did in February of this year. Since that post, Michael has resigned from his position at Giant Bicycles and moved from Southern California to the cycling Mecca of Portland, where he is currently working as an independent product designer. Inspired by the local bike scene in his new hometown, Michael has some great ideas for posts that he wants to share with you. I appreciate his willingness to share some of his design insight and I can’t wait to receive his first guest post. I am not sure when that first post will be ready, but when it is; you can bet that I will get it online as soon as I can. I hope you all will join me in welcoming him to the blog.