Bicycle Design

Crack that whip…

Some of you may have noticed the yellow fixie with “DEVO” on the top tube hanging above a desk in one of the Trek design studio pictures that I posted not long ago. For those of you who wondered about that bike, yes the logo on the top tube actually does refer to the band that many of you remember from the 1980 single “Whip It”. This bike was built up with custom graphics as a Devo tribute bike by a couple of the designers at Trek. Michael explained the idea actual started with the ‘flower pot’ headset spacers. He was talking with another Trek designer, Chad, about the headset spacers and, to quote Michael, “BAM! I decided to make the whole bike.”

As it turns out, Devo is playing this Friday at SXSW, and they are going to sign the bike while they are in Austin. The one-off signed bike will then be auctioned to raise money for LiveStrong… pretty cool for a spur of the moment idea. You can check out the website for the auction here and bid if you happen to be a big Devo fan in need of a new fixie. The money certainly goes to a good cause, so I hope it goes for a good amount.

As I mentioned earlier, the Taipei Cycle show is happening this week. A reader, Eric, is going to share his impressions from the show, so check back for that sometime next week. For now, if you are interested, you can download the show daily pdfs for the first two days from the website.

Update: More about the Devo bike at the Trek blog.

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James

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Comments

8 responses to “Crack that whip…”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    DEVO is awesome! Who else could make such a Lemond/Armstrong cooperative connection (Lemond bike/Armstrong foundation)?

    Reply
  2. B. Nicholson Avatar
    B. Nicholson

    I do not understand why you seem to prefer ‘fixies’ over machines with transmissions. You devote far too much time and space to the sadly inadequate 19th century design. Yes, there are goofy athletic contests for ‘track bikes’. They merely exercise stupidity. Please stop following them around in circles and advance bicycle design rather than retard it.

    Yours in service,

    Ross C. “Bubba” Nicholson

    Reply
  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    wow mr nicholson it seems your a dick. Perhaps you should try ridding one before you trash on everyone ells fun. As a Senior Scientist I would think you would appreciate their unmatched mechanical efficiency when traveling on flat ground at a comfortable cadence. oh and by the way I own several bikes, with many different combination of gears, single & multiple

    Reply
  4. James Avatar
    James

    Bubba, huh? I don’t prefer fixies over machines with transmissions. The vast majority of bikes that I own have gears. I do currently own one fixed gear bike and yes, I have been riding fixed occasionally since I bought my first track bike in the late 80s. So what? I like all types of bikes. In case you haven’t noticed, that is what this blog is about.

    You seem to have something against racing bikes (track racing at least). Unfortunately, that seems to be a fairly common sentiment among some strictly transportational cyclists. That is too bad. If you really want to see advancement in bicycle design, you should realize that that are many different facets of cycling. I don’t believe that bashing one is the way to advance another. That is why I post all kinds of bikes here on the blog. From time trail bikes to velomobiles to kid’s bikes, I just like pedal powered machines. I think most people who read the blog feel the same way.

    Reply
  5. James Avatar
    James

    Oops, time TRIAL bikes. I seem to consistently mistype that.

    Reply
  6. Ron Avatar
    Ron

    Fixies are great fun to ride and definitely have their place in the scheme of things. However, many haven’t discovered the joy because I feel they aren’t open minded or gutsy enough to try it. Riding one will definitely put you slightly out of your comfort zone but the human mind learns quickly.

    If you believe in cycling or want to advance it, you must be open minded towards all its forms. I don’t see why one form of riding should be superior as far as bicycle design is concerned.

    Reply
  7. Yokota Fritz Avatar
    Yokota Fritz

    Whip it! Now got the song as an earbug.

    Mark Sanders gave his “Blue Ocean” speech at Taipei that you published here previously. Slides and notes online at Issu courtesy of Carlton Reid.

    Reply
  8. James Avatar
    James

    Fritz, I saw those from Carlton. Mark has the original PPT files available for download on his site as well. I am planning to post all those links when I get home tonight.

    I was glad that the presentation was well received.

    Reply

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