Category: Utility / Cargo Bike
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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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Concept bikes from the Peugeot Design Lab
Earlier this year, I posted about the Peugeot DL122 concept bike, designed by Neil Simpson. There was quite a bit of interest in that original bike, so Neil decided to add a battery and motor to make an e-bike version that they could show at Eurobike. He redesigned the handlebars to hide the cables and…
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Kickstarting a trailer for the minivan lifestyle and a new gravel road bike
At any given time on Kickstarter , there are quite a few bike related projects seeking funding. Some of them, like Revlights most recently, do meet their funding goals and move forward into production. Most seem to struggle to get the funding that they seek though, and never see the light of day. Last week,…
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ISUDA Bike Share Design Competition
It has been quite a while since I brought up the idea of staging another design competition here at Bicycle Design. That post late last year generated many great comments, and I hope to be able to use a few of your competition ideas in the future. One common thread in many of the comments…
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Step through folding bikes and an improved seatpost/floor pump
Show season for the bike industry is right around the corner, with Eurobike 2012 kicking off at the end of this month. One new design that will debut at the show is the ultra low-step frame “Swoop” from Tern. According to the company, “The Swoop top tube is only 28 cm (11″) off the ground,…
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Velomobile technology, design, and engineering seminar
Though I have yet to actually ride in a velomobile, I mention them on the blog fairly often. It is definitely a transportation category that interests me, and one that I would very much like to learn more about. For that reason, I really wish I could make it to the 7th International Velomobile Seminar,…
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The Faraday Porteur and more
After a longer than average trip to China, I am especially busy this week trying to catch up in the office. I do have a few links that I want to pass along though, so I’ll take a quick break from my backlog of emails and drawing approvals to share a few of them now.…
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Petal Velomobile by Eric Birkhauser
Architect Eric Birkhauser recently sent me a link to his entry in the B’Twin/ Local Motors design competition (see the other entries here). His velomobile, with LED lights integrated into the shell/frame, sounds pretty interesting, so I want to share a few of the image boards here along with Eric’s description of the concept: “The…
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Tulip Fun Fun rack and the Shape Field bike
I saw Margus Triibmann’s Tulip Fun Fun bike rack yesterday, and mentioned it on Twitter and Google+ saying, “This is a clever bike rack design. I’d be interested to see how it holds up over time in an urban environment though.” A few people replied with concerns about the security of a flexible bike rack,…
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2011 recap for Bicycle Design
I finally had a chance to review this site’s stats from 2011, so it’s time for another year end recap post. Continuing the trend from 2009 and 2010, Bicycle Design’s traffic seems to be growing slightly. Google Analytics reports just over a million total pageviews (1,138,282) for the blog during 2011 from 191 different countries.…
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A wooden fixie, cargo bikes, a social statement, and more
What happens when a woodworker who normally rides a softride decides to build his own fixie? This custom wooden frame by Ken Stolpmann is the result. A post at Fixed Gear Gallery (which includes many more pics) explains: “The frame itself is entirely wood with some metal bolts and inserts for the bottom bracket and…
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Cargo bikes from Johnny Loco
JP Magis, the Design Director for Johnny Loco in Amsterdam, mentioned one of the company’s cargo bikes to me recently. At a weight of 28 kilos (just under 62 pounds), the aluminum frame bike is lighter than many similar cargo designs on the market. I like the way the shape of the frame tubing carries…
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Oregon Manifest winner and a fast cargo bike
I am back in the U.S. after another busy product development trip in China. I worked long days on this trip, and the 12-hour time difference always hits me harder when I return home, so I am not up for writing much of a post this afternoon. My brain is fried, but I want to…
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Eurobike 2011 and a new cargo/utility e-bike
It’s hard to believe that it is already the last day of August, but Eurobike is now underway in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The show, now in its 20th year, kicked off with a demo day yesterday that broke the previous attendance record. Bike Biz reports that 350+ new products will be debuted at Eurobike this year.…
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Catching up with links
If you have seen the carbon/titanium Exogrid frames from Holland Cycles, you already know that they are works of art. Filmaker and photographer Jeff Katz recently documented the Holland Cycles framebuilding process starting with selection of the tubes and ending with a ride on the complete bike. The laser cutting of the titanium outer tube…
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NuVinci Harmony automatic shifting for e-bikes
Automatic transmissions for bicycles are not a new idea. One that many of you may remember is the Browning transmission, which was licensed by Suntour in the 80’s. More recently, Shimano’s Coasting group featured automatic 3-speed shifting, but like the Browning transmission, it was not really a commercial success. Those are just two of many…
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Le Tour bikes and other Friday links
Wow, that was an exciting day in the Tour! I won’t give anything away for any of you who didn’t watch it live, but I will say that watching the stage this morning put behind a bit on work that I need to get done today. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen, but…