Wooden e-bike by Kasper De Backer

While searching for web images of furniture and lighting from the Masion & Objet show in Paris this afternoon, I happened to run across this wooden e-bike designed by Kasper De Backer. De Backer is a product design student at Howest University in Belgium, and set out to create a sporty, unisex design with rental or bike share applications in mind. Noticeably missing are the pedals, which he apparently felt were unnecessary on an electric bike (not sure I agree, but I do think that SOME sort of foot support is definitely needed). Despite the lack of pedals, I do like the overall form and the way the battery integrates into the wooden frame. Blog-EspritDesign.com (in French) has many more images of this e-bike concept, as well as a similar project by De Backer’s classmate Robrecht Lambrechts.

It’s far from a thorough list, but I also noticed a few other bike related products that will be displayed at Masion & Objet this weekend (Bookman’s bike accessories, the Ciclotte exercise bike, and fashion accessories from BikeCap to list a few). If you are in Paris this weekend and you run across anything else bike related at the show, let me know. I would love to be there to look myself, but it’s not meant to be this year.

Posted

January 24, 2014

Electric bike, Shows & Events, Student Design, Wooden Bike

James

Tags:

Electric bike, electric bikes, maison & objet, Student Design, wooden bike

Comments

5 responses to “Wooden e-bike by Kasper De Backer”

Andy Macc

January 24, 2014

So how do I lock it to a lamp post? Another impractical bike design from someone who has clearly never use a bike in real life.

Reply
1. John Deere
  
  February 26, 2014
  
  Check the price of it before thinking about locking it to a lamp post.
  
  Reply
2. John Deere
  
  February 26, 2014
  
  And BTW, the article touts it as a ‘design study’ and the word ‘concept’ is also mentioned, so it’s likely not even up for sale.
  
  Reply
Bernhard

January 25, 2014

Formally interesting, nicely reduced to some iconic lines, but… in details and from point of material (wood is not metal, but I do not see any specific “wood thinking”) it is very sad and bad design. Stay in steel, do it again, shape it steel-like and it will be nice.

Sorry, I am designer too, and I love to create things in different materials. But every material needs its own “thinking”. Some years since, every where plop up some wood bikes. Wthfck has wood to do with bikes? Children bikes ok. Bamboo is perfect, plywood has been done very nicely, I like, but massiv wood needs some special treatment. Thonet did it with its chairs. Treat wood like wood and not like steel or even worth aluminium.

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Jonathan Levy

January 26, 2014

There doesn’t seem to be any type of headset or means to prevent wear between the frame and fork. Also, I’m no expert on materials, but the look of the design suggests that there will be a lot of stress where the seat tube meets the frame body. I certainly wouldn’t want to get into a head on collision while riding that bike. Thank you for posting, however. I enjoy reading your reports.

Reply