F.O.U.R concept bike

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.”


Posted

in

,

by

Comments

5 responses to “F.O.U.R concept bike”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Nice idea but did this guy swallow a “buzz words” dictionary?

  2. Annonymous is hating Avatar
    Annonymous is hating

    Surely that is just a load of old bollocks?

    It seems to assume that it is important to be able to fanny-about with the position of the seat, wheras wheelbase BB height headangle etc are all “one-size-fits-all” type dimensions.

    Structurally it looks like a joke and making a good structural joint is both very difficult and very expensive and adds lots of weight, so why add some for no apparent reason?

  3. jimmythefly Avatar
    jimmythefly

    I like the idea of modular parts, both for manufacturing and for the end user to be able to adapt the bicycle to their needs.

    Current bicycles are pretty damn adaptable, a bar and stem swap can account for almost all riding positions and styles. Anything else can be done with tire/wheel selection.

    The conversion from step-through to non-step through is a bit trickier, but I’m not sure it’s something that is realistically an issue.

    I’d rather see a modular design that quickly converts from a “standard” bicycle of some sort to a cargo bike of some sort. Maybe a quick-change xtracycle, or a bakfiets-style bike with a removable cargo section.

    As for presentation, perhaps more views actually showing the different modules offered, or an exploded view would help us grasp the concept better.

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Anonymous is hating, “one size fits all” bikes are common for transportation all over the world.

  5. Annonymous is hating Avatar
    Annonymous is hating

    ^^^ what? and their only drawback is that you cant change between a high or low top-tube or vary the seat angle?

    If you are going to add a load of extra parts, complexity, cost and weight, then surely it should achieve more than this.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *