I spent a little time checking out Cyclorama.net last night. The website is the latest project of Company of Cyclists, a UK based group that I mentioned in a past post. Though the site is new, they already have a lot of content that will interest any of you who like to see various types of bicycles, including some pretty unusual ones. The “papoose bike” and the “human powered bus” pictured here are just two of the many unconventional designs that they feature in the “Ingenious” category. I encourage you to click through all of the pedal powered machines on that page…definitely interesting stuff. Cyclorama also has a blog on the site, which I have already added to my feed reader to follow.

I run across new, and interesting, websites all the time, so you may be wondering why I am so excited about this one. Well, it is probably because Bike Culture Quarterly & EnCYCLEopedia were by far my favorite bike related publications in the 80’s and early 90’s. Those are no longer in print, but I feel like Company of Cyclist is bringing exactly that type of content to the web with this new site. It is not just about slick, polished-looking new designs, but the site really is a showcase for all types of creative ideas pertaining to pedal powered machines. I have only scratched the surface in exploring the various sections of the site, but so far I am a pretty big fan.

While I am posting, I want to pass along a few additional links of interest.

Yannig Roth recently covered Bike Expo 2010 in Munich and he shared some interesting thoughts on the future of design in the bicycle industry in a blog post.

Treehugger posted about Monochrome Recycled Bikes, an initiative by Argentine designers Natan Burta and Alejandro Sanguinetti. As the post points out, the interesting part is not only that they recycle and refurbish the bikes, but that they do so while maintaining a branded identity.

Dave Weagle, inventor of the DW link used on Turner and Ibis full suspension frames, has patented a concentric dropout pivot suspension system called Split Pivot , which allows the rear axel to function as the pivot point. You can expect to see this system used on bikes from quite a few brands next year. Read more at Bike Biz and Bike Rumor.

Finally, I will mention this solar powered bike sharing system for Copenhagen. As bike sharing programs become more prevalent, I suspect that designers will increasingly view them as a unified system integrated into an overall transportation plan rather than an unrelated collection of parts… sort of like this, this, or this.