New designs, old designs, velomobiles, and bike art

I was traveling in Asia the past couple weeks, and didn’t get a chance to post here at Bicycle Design. I do have a lot to pass along though, so today I will quickly share just a few of the links that readers have shared with me recently.

Ilya-Vostrikov-Cannondale- ConceptI have shared Ilya Vostrikov’s bicycle renderings a couple of times in the past. He has a few new designs on his blog, including the Cannondale EVO concept shown above.  In addition to the rendering, check out the form study sketches that he posted separately. Nice work!

peugeot-cycles-ae21Last year, I shared three concept bikes from the Peugeot Design Lab. One of those bikes, the Hybrid AE21 (previously DL122) designed by Neil Simpson, is moving forward into production. Availability will be later this year, but for now you can see sketches and a series of nice photos of the final (or near final) design on Peugeot’s website.

Repair-Rebel-multitoolRepair Rebel is a 24 feature titanium multitool by Thomas Smafield and Josh Wilson. Unlike most of the multitools on the market, this one is cast as a single piece with no moving or folding parts. The one piece design weighs in at just 85 grams and can be attached securely under a bike seat, or attached to a backpack, with the included cord. Visit their Kickstarter page for more pictures and information.

Coloral-bottleAlso on Kickstarter, you can find a project to resurrect the Coloral alloy water bottle.  Actually, the goal is not just to create a run of replica bottles, but to bring back Cororal as a British manufacturing company for the long term.  Thanks in no small part to companies like Rapha, vintage bike products are popular these days (and my old 80s parts and wool jerseys are like gold on eBay).  I find some of the pseudo- vintage products that are popping up these days to be a bit ridiculous, but I can’t help but like this attempt to bring a classic brand back to life… and the fact that they will manufacture the products on the same street in Birmingham, England where they were last produced 60+ years ago makes it even better.

organic-transit-elfI am happy to hear of the success of a nearby North Carolina company that is working to shape the future of human powered transportation. Recently, the Organic Transit Elf was featured in a Wall Street Journal article and CEO Rob Cotter was interviewed on the Dean of Duke’s School of the Environment video blog. Check out the Organic Transit website for more information, and see my previous post about the company and their first product.

Bike Night at The Hammer Museum, 2013. Photo: Adam Rindy. Via ARTnews.com

Robin Cembalest wrote an interesting article at artnews.com on the way art museums are embracing bike culture. Take a look at Pedal Pushers: How Art Museums Are Promoting Bike Culture.

The Santa Monica Museum of Art’s fifth annual Tour da Arts, which showcases “the creative side of bicycle culture with a festival and ride filled with music, dance, and art” is just one example of such an exhibition that is coming up in a few weeks.

Update: If you are in the Pacific northwest, here is another bike exhibition at an art museum that you won’t want to miss…and they will have a special guest speaker one night next month.

I could go on and on sharing links today, but the post is getting long and my design projects are waiting. More to come soon though.


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4 responses to “New designs, old designs, velomobiles, and bike art”

  1. mzungu Avatar
    mzungu

    Ilya’s work is cool. I like it.

    Repair Rebel not so much. Tool may just be too bulky to work in tight locations, probably not enough to get some real leverage in there to tighten things up, not easy on the hand either. For mountain/road, I don’t see a reason to switch from my classic fold-out designed, but if you got a fixie, this should be enough.

    1. Arististhenes Avatar

      Agreed. Best simple cheap and light tool is the Park MT-1. I have one with each of three bikes.
      http://www.parktool.com/product/multi-tool-mt-1

  2. Pro Commuter Avatar
    Pro Commuter

    Repair Rebel, just another “solution” looking for a problem. Out of 24 tools, you could use a maximum of six on any given bike. How many bikes have four different sizes of spoke nipple? How many bikes have more than one size hex nut?

    And what do you do when your favorite hex key breaks or wears out? Titanium is not magic and is a poor material for this kind of tool. It fatigues quickly in torsion and requires vast energy/emissions to mine, refine, and cast. The planet does not need more bling.

    Reuse what you already have — beats new. Just carry the two or three regular hex keys that fit your bike, a single light spoke key (only if your wheels have 28 or fewer spokes) and maybe a single hex wrench. Huge jive reduction.

  3. Nick Avatar
    Nick

    The creator of the a.m. Repair Rebel, Thomas Smafield had his project successfully funded by over 800 supportive backers, but he has failed to deliver products to his backers.
    His website http://www.repairrebel.com has expired, he does not communicate at all.
    Be aware of this individual – don’t do any business with him.

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