Year: 2012
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A collection of concept bikes
I posted about Antoine Fritsch’s B2O bamboo frame bike in 2009. Since that time, he has continued his work using laminated bamboo with an electric scooter and the bamboo cargo trike that you see above. Italian designer Luca Feletti recently graduated from the University of Ferrara. For his thesis project, Luca designed an electric modular…
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A partial catch-up post
I have been especially busy with work since my recent trip, so I haven’t been able to keep up with the blog. I have seen some interesting things to share lately though, so I will quickly pass along a few of them today. I don’t know what it is about bike lights and Kickstarter, but…
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A birthday tribute to JK Starley
In keeping with the theme of my post from earlier this week, I want to mention another old design that has influenced the bicycle we know today. Actually though, to say that John Kemp Starley’s mid 1880’s Rover safety bike merely influenced all of those that came after it would be a gross understatement. Unlike…
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Two bike designers ahead of their times
I first saw the news on Bike Biz that engineer and inventor Dr. Alex Moulton passed away this week at the age of 92. For any of you who aren’t familiar with his work, Dr. Moulton pioneered the small wheel bicycle in the early 1960s with the launch of his first full suspension bicycles. He…
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Bike Zone, Bipo, Vind, Cyclingboom and more
Man… do I ever have a backlog of stuff to share! I have been really busy with design projects lately, so the links that I have been intending to post here at Bicycle Design have been stacking up. I can’t get to everything today, but I do want to quickly mention a few interesting designs…
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Graeme Obree’s first test run in “the Beastie”
A few months ago, I mentioned Graeme Obree’s plan to attempt the human-powered land speed record in a machine of his own design. In September, his prone position HPV was not ready for the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain, Nevada as originally planned, but Obree has continued work on the design with…
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2012 SRAM pART PROJECT NYC to benefit World Bicycle Relief
Last November, I mentioned the SRAM pART PROJECT, a unique “bike part” art exhibition and auction to raise money for World Bicycle Relief. The inaugural 2011 project was a big success, so they are doing it again this year with almost twice as many artists participating. The original art pieces, created with SRAM parts, will…
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The Bicycle Art and Design of Garrett Chow
All Chips On the Table: The Bicycle Art and Design of Garrett Chow is a bike art/design exhibition which is running through the end of this month at the Rapha San Francisco Cycling Club. Core77 featured an interview today with Chow, who is the Director of Graphic Design for performance road bikes, components, and wheels…
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RaceBRAID bike by Jacob Haim
German Industrial designer Jacob Haim recently completed a new racing bike design as his final student project. His RaceBRAID bike was built in cooperation with Munich Composites GmbH, using the company’s innovative carbon braiding technology. The shaped braided top tube and down tube both feature visible red fiber textures… a signature feature of Braid bikes…
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PowerPac- a pedal powered charging unit by Ideso
Just a few days ago, I mentioned bicycles being used to charge cell phones in post-storm Manhattan. That task could have been made easier for more people with a product like the PowerPac designed by Ideso, a South African product design consulting firm. The PowerPac is the “world’s first product to offer a removable power…
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The Donky Bike and the Rizoma Metropolitan
I have posted a few of Ben Wilson’s pedal powered creations in the past. His designs like the ARTIKCAR, the SeeBikeSaw, the Bike_Kar, and the Pocket Rocket 2 may have been one-off art projects, but his latest bike is a product that you can actually purchase. The 20 inch wheel, 3-speed Donky Bike features a…
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A moment for bikes in New York
I’ll take a break from sharing new bicycle concepts today to reflect a bit on what is happening in New York City this week. According to the NY Times, “in post-storm New York, the bike is having a moment of sorts.” In addition to reports about bicycles being the best (in some cases only) way…
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Two different approaches to “reinventing the wheel”
If asked to name an invention that has dramatically improved the bicycle in the last couple hundred years, the pneumatic tire would probably be at the top of many people’s lists. John Dunlop’s patent for an air filled bicycle tire in 1888 set the course for the tires that are used on almost all vehicles…
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Bikes and Books: A Celebration of Bicycle Design
I was traveling without internet access for a few days, so I am a bit late to pass this along. Those of you who are in or near the New York City area though, might be very interested in an event coming up this weekend. Bikes and Books: A Celebration of Bicycle Design will take…
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VeloTilt: Design of a low drag practical velomobile
Recently, Arnold Ligtvoet from RaptoBike sent me a link to an interesting project that he is involved with. The goal is to develop a velomobile that is both practical and fast, and the team that is working on the VeloTilt certainly has the credentials to make it happen. The development team consists of Will Schermer-…
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MiniMum by Omer Sagiv
MiniMum is the latest bike idea from designer Omer Sagiv, whose previous concept bikes I featured in a 2010 post. The MiniMum was designed as a simplified city bike; as Omer says, “using the minimum production effort, and on the other hand getting maximum user experience.” The frame is made from aluminum tubes and a…
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Eric Birkhauser’s ZIPcycle share concept
My post about Eric Birkhauser’s Petal Velomobile concept generated some good discussion earlier this year. The architect’s latest project, ZIPcycle, is a work in progress that will be part of a larger project that he is working on… a book on active transit systems. This time around, in addition to a sleek recumbent HPV, he…