Comments on: Design competition follow up

By: Joan Antoni Silva Generelo

Joan Antoni Silva Generelo — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:25:10 +0000

Joan Antoni Silva Generelo says
Escribo desde Girona ( Catalonia), (Spain).
Que están esperando para comercializar esta estupenda máquina ??
Aquí en España nadie sabe decirme nada, nadie la conoce o no quieren saber nada, no interesa, debe ser el “Sistema”.
Ya esta bién de tanto vehículo motorizado para trayectos cortos con grandes cilindradas y ostentosas carrocerias !!. Soy ciclista desde hace muchos años, pero ahora por problemas de cervicales no puedo montar en una bicicleta convencional. Sería estupendo tener una bicicleta como esta es perfecta: diseño, comodidad, seguridad y exclusividad. Grácias señor Torkel Döhmers y perdone no poder escribir en inglés.

Saludos y enhorabuena.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:51:00 +0000

As a lifelong designer of bicycles and bicycle products, the best vehicle for everyone/anyone to commute to work to has to be petrol/pedal hybrid, fully enclosed out of the weather (The 'roof' on the winning design is a joke, have adequate storage, and a modular serviceable/swappable drivetrain. It needs to be developed in conjuction with road rule legislation.

Until we have this, we'll have vaporware / 'designer lanfill' competitions like this which i think at the end of the day end up trivialising the importance of getting more bums on seats, rather than encouraging it.

What it does do however is generate debate which I suspect is the whole MO of this show. Less designers sketching cars must be a good thing, right?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Thanks for the follow up. I'm surprised that I don't see much--other than a comment you quoted from one of the jurors--about what I see as the most significant flaw:

When it's raining and you bike fast, the rain hits you from the front, not the top. Even with fenders added to address road spray, there's still the incoming rain from the front. Given the recumbent position, that would mostly hit your legs. Throwing on a raincoat is easier than throwing on rainpants, so this seems to address the milder half of the getting wet problem.

Related is that part of the function of a fairing is to improve aerodynamics. Without the fairing absent from the front, that advantage presumably gets lost too.

I think they are flaws in the execution, not the concept...but if you consider only the concept and not the execution, then what is the contribution beyond the precedents mentioned in this followup?

I do appreciate the effort to think beyond what those of us who commute now are using.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:57:00 +0000

“I assume that James was inquiring about the anonymous comments on this post, not the entire blog ”

I assumed that to be the case too. But, for clarity, I am not responsible for all the anonymous comments on this blog or in this post. Nor would I be responsible for crude posts as I have no need to resort to insult to express a view.

By: James

James — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:08:00 +0000

I had to delete that last comment. Try again without being crude please.

By: Franklin

Franklin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:49:00 +0000

I assume that James was inquiring about the anonymous comments on this post, not the entire blog

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:05:00 +0000

Progress - noun, broadly:
development; improvement.

Both 'Luddite' and 'Progress' are inappropriately used since neither apply.

Do I make all the anonymous comments? Nope, you have more than one source of critique being offered here. But I won't comment further. Again, thank you for the effort you put in to your excellent blog.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Anon 5:13
From your use of words (eg practical, logical, problem solving approach). I guess you are a VERY old school designer or a non-creative engineer.

Tell me, amongst a row of technically identical products how do you choose which one to buy ?

And your choice of partner ?

By: Fixit

Fixit — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:14:00 +0000

luddite – noun, broadly:
Any opponent of technological progress.

By: James

James — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:22:00 +0000

"I also thank James for running the competition and hosting an open blog."

Anon 5:09, yeah I want real conversation on the blog, but honestly, I am confused by your comments. Are all of the anonymous comments to this post from you? It is hard to tell. You might have better luck trying to make a point if you attach a name to your comments.