Bicycle Design

City Cycle concept bike

I am back from a short family vacation, so I am extra busy today trying to catch up on some work. I want to quickly passing along a reader submitted design before the weekend, but first I will point you to Eric Stoddard’s commentary on Mark Sanders’ presentation at the Bicycle Design Trend Forum, which I mentioned in my last post.

The City Cycle concept, shown here, was the final school project of Christian Vollmer, a recent graduate of the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany. The bike is a Pedelec type, meaning that the electric motor assists pedaling, but cannot replace it (no throttle control). Christian points out the bike was developed “based on urban lifestyle and usability as the commuter does not necessarily want to be a cyclist. It’s not about cycling it’s about getting from A to B in a comfortable, reliable way without looking like a sports geek.”

“The shown bike is a concept to display the differences between commuting and racing.
The integrative design creates a clean visual appearance and also protects the technical parts from vandalism and destruction of inner city influences.”

Back to work for me, but see a few more pictures and renderings of Christian’s concept bike below.

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Comments

14 responses to “City Cycle concept bike”

  1. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    I just don’t get it. How are there so many ‘commuter’ bikes produced that have none of the necessary features for commuter bikes? Have these people ever ridden bicycles in the city? It took me exactly 2 weeks as an everyday bike commuter to realize that I really wanted fenders on my bike. A rear rack and a milkcrate followed shortly thereafter. Let alone lights/bells, etc… that are actually a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.

    …now that I look closer, it seems the washed-out rendering has them, but why not include it on the prototype? Its basically like admitting that there’s no way to design a beautiful fender or carrier, which is nonsense.

    Reply
  2. chris Avatar
    chris

    well if you have a closer look at the picture below you´ll see the fenders, but these are individual parts that you could put on your bike if you want to. this concept is about more then just fenders and bells! styling a fancy fender could be a different job!

    Reply
  3. andy Avatar
    andy

    2 things stand out to me about this one.

    1) A motor and battery that fits inside that small of a package likely won’t be able to add much power to the pedaling, or last more than a few miles on flat ground. I assume this would mostly be marketed for flat ground though, considering it doesn’t have gears.

    2) Very interesting choice of seat for a commuter bike… That’s even smaller than my race seat!

    Reply
    1. Eric Avatar
      Eric

      Giant had a new commuter bike at the Taipei show that looked very similar, especially the way the fork flows seamlessly into the head tube. Very simple and elegant, but I agree that the seat and riding position are to aggressive for most commuters. Great color combination!

      Reply
    2. James T Avatar
      James T

      Good point about the seat…though it does look like the seat on my commuter bike- an old Flite Titanium.

      Reply
  4. jamesmallon Avatar
    jamesmallon

    Never seen anyone on an assisted bike who wasn’t fat. Guess why. Yeah, yeah, I am going to get spew that people with health problems need them. BS, they could use a lower gear inch, or have thought of exercise a decade earlier. Almost nobody changes their diet/exercise habits after twenty, which makes the few who do more laudable.

    Reply
    1. Andrew Avatar
      Andrew

      Correlation does not equal causation, though. Or more significantly, doesn’t show the direction of causation. I doubt if they’re fat because they’re riding an assisted bike – more likely they’re riding an assisted bike because they’re fat.

      Reply
  5. Seramik Avatar
    Seramik

    how the belt can be install ?
    because it pass accross the frame ?

    Reply
  6. City Concept Commuter Bike for Non-Cyclists @ Technology News

    […] City Cycle concept bike [Bicycle Design] […]

    Reply
  7. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    I Agree with Andrew. Furthermore, If you look at the third image from top, there appears to be almost no tyre clearance on the “wishbone” seat-stay junction versus the ample clearance on the front. Two decades as a bicycle mechanic (doing everything from mending punctures to repairing (steel) frames) taught me to hate such design errors. Fitting mudguards (fenders) is the archetypal mechanics’ nightmare.

    Why have different tyre clearance for front and rear wheels? I’m sorry to be harsh, but such a decision on the part of a designer appears to me to be sloppy, ignorant or arrogant.

    Likewise, the belt drive gaff. If a ‘gate’ is proposed to facilitate belt removal, it should be shown at this stage of the design process.

    The elongated wishbone on the forks seems to serve no purpose other than to shorten the head tube and placing the head bearings closer together. Why would one want to do that?

    Finally, if the goal is a tamper-proof bike, why have brake cables hanging out in the breeze for all and sundry to mess with? If these are hydraulic lines, less obvious routing would be a thoughtful touch.

    Sorry to be a grouch. I’ll finish on a positive note, I like the motor idea. When living in China (’01-’04) I saw a lot of electric bikes. Not many of the people riding them were fat. I rode my regular, 1 speed Chinese bike everywhere, but on a 40 degree Celsius day, the folks on electric bikes probably got to work less sweaty than I. They rode electric bikes mainly because the city government put a moratorium on motorbike registrations. In an urban situation, electric bikes make more sense than electric cars, let alone gas guzzlers. 30-50 kg of personal transport makes more sense than 1500 kg. So, whether the riders are skinny or fat, I’d much rather share the road with more electric bikes and fewer cars. In my years of daily cycling in China, not once did I feel physically threatened by an electric moped!

    Reply
    1. James T Avatar
      James T

      I do agree that the tire clearance should be the same front and rear (with ample room for fenders). It appears that the spacing is the same in the renderings, so that may just have been an issue with the prototype. I can’t say that is the case for sure, but since I remember how difficult it was to hand make prototypes in school (with limited time and resources), I will cut him some slack on that tight rear clearance.

      Reply
  8. Wednesday Afternoon Headlines | The Daily Crank

    […] City Cycle concept bike – The City Cycle concept was the final school project of Christian Vollmer, a recent graduate of the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany. The bike is a Pedelec type, meaning that the electric motor assists pedaling, but cannot replace it (no throttle control). (bicycle design) […]

    Reply
  9. agusto cardinal Avatar
    agusto cardinal

    can anybody find a better desighn they are all at old century with new look need more

    Reply
  10. Jackie Hewitt Avatar
    Jackie Hewitt

    Lots of very strong opinons about this design, we’ve put our comments here. Andrew and Chris – we even talk about the fenders!
    http://www.autodeskshowcase.co.uk/design-visualisation-and-presentation-the-sum-is-always-bigger-than-the-parts/

    Reply

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