Folding bike design article

Mark Sanders sent me a link to an article that recently appeared in the UK based magazine Design Week. The article is about the design of folding bikes, a subject that Mark knows quite a bit about (you will notice that he is quoted several times in the article). For those of you who don’t recognize his name, Mark is the designer behind the Strida and Swivel-head bikes, which won two out of the 4 top places in the Complete Bicycles Awards Category TBEA awards at the Taipei Cycle show this year. The picture here shows his bikes, Swivel-head to the right and Strida to the left, on display at the Taiwan show.

Anyway, I am starting to get a bit sidetracked. Back to the article, titled “Wheel Appeal”, which was written by A to B editor and folding bike guru David Henshaw. You can view it or download a pdf of it here. The intro states that “Folding bicycles have been a part of commuters’ lives for years, but despite their technical complexity, the market leaders are decades-old designs. David Henshaw questions why there is little real design innovation today.” Very interesting subject matter; thanks for the tip Mark.

While I am on the subject of folding bikes, check out this special edition customized version of the Puma Urban Mobility Bike that comes in 6 different colors. The proceeds from the sales of these bikes will be donated to victims of the March 25th earthquake in the Hokuriku region of Japan. I saw a link at Bike Hugger that pointed to the original post at BoingBoing.


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Comments

6 responses to “Folding bike design article”

  1. Fritz Avatar
    Fritz

    Nice nice nice. I really need to get a folding bicycle.

  2. theo Avatar
    theo

    http://www.Strida.us
    for Mark’s bike in the United States.

  3. Laney23 Avatar
    Laney23

    any thoughts on downtube.com bikes? i’d like to get one but i’m not sure which one to get. http://www.downtube.com/ss-index.html
    i’d love some help picking one 🙂

  4. Bicyclist Avatar
    Bicyclist

    have you all heared the “suitcase folding bicycle”? it is so unique, you can login this address to see the folding demo, i am sure you all will be shocked.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLFsP7idWxk

  5. Joy Avatar
    Joy

    Love my downtube mini, so far. (2008 model). Except if you are over 6′, and long legged, go with a larger one. Steady even at speed downhill, with ~200 lbs of rider plus backpack plus stuff on a rack. Good brakes, good gears, comfy handlebars, nice mini-suspension (rubber pad) in the rear. Pad it well for airplane trips.

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