SwissBike and a few links

I haven’t been able to post for the last few days, but I do have a few things to quickly pass along. Luckily for all of you, I am in a hurry this afternoon, so you will get these links without much commentary on my part.

The folks at Montague recently came out with a new full sized wheel folding bike called SwissBike. You can read more about the bikes on their site. Best of all, they have a blog to support the brand.

Fritz asks in a recent post, “What do you think of the state of cycling? Do you see anything truly interesting and new in the near future?” Sound like a question that some Bicycle Design readers might want to weigh in on.

Roland Saekow, a student at UC Berkeley, sent me a link to his Bike Cuff design, which he says was inspired by handcuffs and “the club” for cars. His design is a theft deterrent and not a lock in itself. It wouldn’t stop a thief from throwing the bike in a truck, but it kind of reminds me of those frame-mounted wheel locks that you see on many of the bikes in Holland to prevent someone from just riding off with it.

I just read a good post on Bike Hugger that some of you will like titled The Rise of the Compact Crank (aka “The Death of the Triple”).

Robb (aka 198) posted about his tour of the Industry Nine facility. He took quite a few interesting pictures too, so check it out.

Instructables user dpearce1 posted instructions for building a solar powered trike. Also, Park Tool has a bike month contest currently running on the site, so look for some more DIY bike content there.

Finally, I’ll point out that the people who run the Bike Trailer blog are hiring. Well, the blog isn’t really hiring, but they do need someone for the Bike Trailer Shop in Flagstaff, AZ. If you have a passion for bike cargo trailers, then find out more here.


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7 responses to “SwissBike and a few links”

  1. thePig Avatar
    thePig

    The SwissBike is an interesting concept – the convenience of a folder but the ride of a normal bike. Can it really live up to this promise?

    Also, the marketing approach is a little interesting. “Folds to fit in a car trunk or closet, yet climbs through the Swiss Alps”.

    If you have a car do you really need a folder? I would have thought this would be more suited to people who need to cycle a medium distance and catch trains as part of a commute.

    Anyway, looks good so hope it works for them.

  2. surf-the-arts Avatar
    surf-the-arts

    Swiss Bike looks like newer version of my older workout Hummer bike – pic at http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfthearts/2411163721/

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    James,
    Folding bikes have been a boon in our town to new cyclists who aren’t yet in shape to ride on the streets, and don’t want their bikes to get messed up hanging on a rack outside their car. You can put the bike inside the trunk and take it to the (safe) place where you ride. Our community bike shop has an old Fuji 26″ MTB folder and it gets borrowed more than any of our others. I understand that most of the cyclists on this list wouldn’t benefit from what it has to offer, but it brings in new cyclists.

    Nick Hein
    Morgantown, WV

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    James,
    In response to your question – what’s new and interesting in cycling? There’s been plenty of underreported news including:

    2001 – Sam Whittingham/Georgi Georgiev set a new unpaced, unassisted speed record of 80.55 mph (an unofficial speed of 85mph has been reached by Matt Weaver

    2006 – Greg Kolodziejzyk set a new 24 hr speed record of 650 mi. (http://www.gizmag.com/go/5905/)

    2006 – “Fast Freddy” Markham set a new one-hour record (http://www.gizmag.com/go/5830/)

    All of these milestones push the limits of our imagination to the point where we can see a bike that will be capable of averaging ~40mph with a reasonably fit rider in all weather conditions – leading to replacement of the single-occupant car for most of our transportation. I’m building it and I could use help.

    Nick Hein
    Morgantown, WV

  5. bikesgonewild Avatar
    bikesgonewild

    …interesting story at ‘bike hugger’ link, re: compact & triple cranks…

    …the only problem i can see w/ the ‘swiss army-style folding bike’ is that you can’t use the scissors or the spoon while yer riding…yodelaa-hee-hoo…doh !!!…

  6. Web Avatar
    Web

    The swing frame design employed by the Montague Paratrooper, SwissBike LX and the Hummer folding bikes are one in the same.

    In the late 90’s, Montague received funding from the US Dept. of Defense to build a new folding frame bike that would be sturdy enough to be deployed in combat. The design became known as the X-Series. Eventually, the military allowed Montague to release the frame on the commercial market. It is now available in several variations; however, most employ the very durable, oversize mono top tube frame design.

    Several videos from the development period are available on my site. I’ve also interviewed one of the Army paratroopers that was heavily involved in the testing; the videos show him jumping from the plane with early versions of the bike.

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