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Mode of Transformation
It is no secret that I love books about bicycles. The latest one that I have added to my collection (thanks to Kim at Williams and House) is not commercially available though. Mode of Transformation, from Mohawk Paper, is a beautifully designed promotional sample book that was created to showcase the company’s highest grade of…
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Bicycle Design on Bike Radar
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the piece about BicycleDesign.net that appeared on Bike Radar last Friday. I think Matt Pacocha, the US Editor of UK based Bike Radar, did a great job profiling this blog in their “Website of the Week” feature. Previous websites of the week include Red Kite Prayer and…
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Forzer off-road handcycle by Marius Hjelmervik
As an avid mountain biker, Marius Hjelmervik wanted to work on a bike related design for his final student project at the School of Architecture in Arhus, Denmark (where he studied Industrial Design). “Modern bicycles really look good, and they work better than ever,” he said. “The way design and engineering work together in a…
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Nectar, Elixir, and assorted random links
Nectar, a fixed seat clamp, and Elixir, quick release seat clamp, are the latest products from Swarm, a product design firm based in Salt Lake City. Both clamps feature a bottle opener that is nicely integrated into the form (unlike similar products that I have seen). They are launching the products using Kickstarter, so be…
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Does the bicycle industry need new ideas?
“The bicycle industry needs to move away from unsuitable sporty racing bikes and focus on the needs of non-enthusiasts if cycling is to become a mode of transport used by the majority.” That is the opening sentence in a Design Week (UK) cover story this week (which I discovered via Bike Biz). If you have…
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2011 Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge
I mentioned the winners of the first Oregon Manifest “Constructor’s Design Challenge” last year. For any of you who you missed your chance to submit an entry in 2010, registration is now open for the 2011 Constructor’s Design Challenge. This year’s event, which is sponsored by Levi’s, will take place in Portland on September 23rd…
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Rain Bike by Frederic Boonen
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will remember Torkel Dohmers’ “ThisWay” concept, the winning entry in the Bicycle Design “commuter bike for the masses” design competition a couple of years ago. You may also remember that the pick was not without controversy. People seemed to either love it or hate…
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Diesel/ Pinarello urban bike
I have mentioned bikes from fashion brands in the past; the GSUS bike and the G-Star Raw Cannondale are the first two that come to mind. This latest fashion company branded bike, “Only the Brave”, is collaboration between Diesel and Pinarello and is geared toward the urban singlespeed/fixie crowd. About the collaboration, Fausto Pinarello himself had…
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19th century innovation: The Pony Star
A recent Road Bike Rider newsletter featured a link to String Bike, “a Hungarian-made bike that uses cabling (string) instead of a chain as its propulsion mechanism.” You can read more about the concept, and see an animated video on the website. Those of you who are familiar with Archibald Sharp’s book, Bicycles and Tricycles,…
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Picchio carbon bicycle by Nicola Guida
Nicola Guida is an Italian designer who created this racing frame for Picchio, a small manufacturer of racing cars based in Ancarano, Italy. The bike design was his final student project, and Picchio helped him out with the construction of a prototype. See more of Nicola’s renderings (shown with Campagnolo components of course) and a…
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DIY Snow Tires
Here in Greenville, SC, significant snowfall is a fairly rare occurrence. The 6 to 8 inches that fell on Monday morning may not sound like much to many of you, but here in the southeast it was sufficient to shut down the city for most of the week. For me, it was a great opportunity…
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Rael: a road bike concept by Evan Solida
I have posted about Evan Solida’s Cervellum Hindsight digital rearview camera a few times in the past. In a post last August, I mentioned that the concept is moving forward and will be ready to ship sometime this year. Accident recording capability is something that people hoped for in earlier versions of the concept, and…
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Simeli dress guards and other links
Crocheted dress guards have been around for a long time. In the late1800’s, women quickly figured out that rear wheel guards were the best way to prevent flowing dresses and skirts from getting caught in the spokes while riding. Now, a Dutch company, Simeli, is making hand crocheted dress guards for traditional upright bicycles with…
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2010 recap
2010 was a big year for Bicycle Design. In late February, I finally moved the blog from the old blogspot subdomain to the current location at BicycleDesign.net. The old URL had quite a few incoming links, so it took a while for traffic at the new location to ramp up. There are still thousands of…
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Holiday links
I hope that you all are having a Merry Christmas (or a happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, Festivus, or anything else you choose to celebrate this time of year). I have been spending time with family and haven’t found the time to post in the last week or so. I do have a few links…
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Disposable brifters
I have two pairs of old non-functioning Shimano STI shifters sitting on my workbench at the moment- a 9-speed Ultegra set and a 9-speed Dura-Ace set. Unlike Campy and SRAM shifters, Shimano’s are not intended to be serviceable. Basically, when they wear out Shimano expects you to just pony up the cash for a new…
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Tjeerd Veenhoven’s carbon bike
There has been a lot of discussion in the last month or so about equipment sponsor changes for pro teams in 2011. Obviously those discussions are centered on flagship carbon fiber road bikes from companies like Cervelo, Specialized, Scott, and Trek. The high-tech bikes that are raced at the pro level these days go through…
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FlooW and more
I’m still slammed with work after a couple weeks out of the office, but I want to quickly pass along a few links of interest. I don’t have a lot of information about it, but FlooW is a pretty interesting mobility concept. You can read more about this high tech recumbent quadricycle design (in Dutch)…
