I want to quickly pass along another entry from the commuter bike competition today. As I mentioned before, I am posting these additional entries in no particular order, but I think many of the ideas have interesting elements that are worth sharing. Leonhard Reibmayr of Basel, Switzerland designed this bike that he calls F.O.U.R. I will let him describe the concept to you in his own words:
“F.O.U.R (Frame Optimized Urban Racer) is a concept of bicycle design initiated in a bachelor-thesis in spring 2008. The design concept is a modular urban bike for the target market of European cities. Its main innovative features are exchangeable frame modules, which create a high range of individual usability for the future customer. The bike provides 3 different frame modules adapted to the type of usage. 
Based on the changes and growth of our urban traffic, I questioned a great number of common attributes of today’s urban cycles. Individuality and increased autonomy were the most important issues for my design. F.O.U.R. confronts the problem of single-sided usability in middle European cities. The concept fulfills the needs of an urban user with the help of the modular system. A modular cycle consists of a light and stiff base frame, which is connected through 2 plug-and socket connections with exchangeable modules. The user can individually enhance those exchangeable frame modules. They are available in different sizes and made of different materials. The line-up of this concept ranges from a «sporty urban bike» and a «women specific» to a «city agility» module. Therefore, its base frame offers all the technical characteristics of a safe and high qualitative city bike. The exchangeable module completes the sophisticated package by providing different geometries for different habits of the future customer. F.O.U.R. gives a projection of a forward-looking concept to cope with future requirements of using a bicycle in our cities. This project comprises results of research in ergonomics, functionality, user needs, safety, modularity and a new method of resolutions combined with an appealing product language.”
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