bicycle – Page 4 – DesignApplause

A new bamboo bike.

Dec 2, 2010

bamboo is lightweight, strong and it grows quickly.

Why it’s not a more ubiquitous material is lost on me. It’s best known use, in recent years at least, is bicycles. It’s no surprise that after its inception a few years back, several designers have jumped at the chance to work with bamboo on bikes of their own. The latest design comes from the Mexican startup, Bamboo Cycles. Their fixed gear, single-speed model features metal angles, a curved rear support and weighs in at less than 20 pounds. If there’s a bike-lover on your holiday shopping list who’s been extra nice this year, this two-wheeled beauty is a moderately priced $325.

producer: bamboo cycles

about perrin drumm

NYC seeking 10,000 public bike system.

Nov 27, 2010

New York City plans to implement a public bicycle system that the city is looking to start with a year-round system of 10,000 bicycles at about 600 stations in an area “south of 60th Street in Manhattan” that would “span more than one borough.” [RK]

Introducing pedal power with the Re:energy bike.

Nov 14, 2010

bike designs seem to be getting more and more ambitious all the time,
but Re:energy, from Korean designers jinsik kim and boseung seo, might just trump them all.

Not because it’s faster, sleeker, lighter or smaller, but because it enables the rider to create and store energy just by pedaling. The bike’s front wheel has a plug that supports both the standard 2-pronged plug and USB.

So, for example, if you’re riding your bike to the park to work on your computer, you can plug in your laptop or your phone, iPod, whatever. Or, once you bring your bike indoors after a ride, you can charge up with the energy you yourself created instead of plugging into the wall and paying for it. Re:energy won an iida 2010 design award.

designers: jinsik kim and boseung seo

about perrin drumm

Write a bike.

Oct 22, 2010

fun concept. can’t wait to see these in the ‘hood.

designer looking for a producer.

Designer: juri zaech

[not to be confused with write a bike.]

Seoul cycle design competition 2010.

Sep 28, 2010

The Seoul Design Foundation together with designboom presents the winners of an international design competition. The Seoul Cycle Design Competition’s theme, ‘cycling with design: Seoul style,’ and is part of Seoul’s city-wide effort at improving its design brand and image. Once considered a ‘hard’ city, Seoul is making strides toward becoming a ‘soft’ city, embracing design concepts that will redefine its urban environment with an emphasis on themes centering on green, blue, history, and human. The winners were announced September 19.

and the winner is…
Bike 2.0 by Nils Sveje, Inoda Sveje design studio & IPU Produktudvikling

designer’s own words: bike 2.0 the next generation bicycle, will give you more fun with energy boosts when you are cruising around. it makes your daily ride more comfortable with energy leveling and the stepless gearbox. you can even add the seat-tube battery and get there faster. bike 2.0 has a generator and wires instead of a chain, so you will never get oily pants or fingers from the chain again. the two wireless control-units will control any aspect of your ride. you can easily control all this with the two wireless rings on the handlebar.

short listed concepts included…
Beik by Lukas Jungmann

left: featuring audi branding, folding mechanism, articulated frame steering and the untypical frame setup.

Full Circle by Sanghyun jeong & Jun-Tae Park

left: foldable compact size, large wheel size (508mm, 20inch), no chains but free wheel gear directly connects to pedals.

Tribune by Thüring Lukas, Lukas Thüring & Florian V

left: electric operated tricycle-recumbent bike, external battery, lockable boot to store items above rear wheel, adjustable headrest / pedals, flexible backrest, front / rear lights.

Molecule by Yongjin Lee

left: body is modeled on the river Han of Seoul.

Ridenpush by You Ho Jeon

left: a riding bicycle with a wagon can convert into a pushcart when heavy, intended for the elderly.

X Bike by Woogyeong Go, Dong-ha Kim & Kyeongpyo Cho

left: looks like the letter “X”, no chain technology.

T-bike by Jung Geun Tak & Shinhyun Kang of T.A.K studio

left: iconic design, folding handlebars doubles as lock, embedded GPS, E-INK and EPD technology monitor, adjustable seat with seat height index indicator and can be adjusted while seated.

Carrier Bike by Shin Hyung Sub Shin

left: a convenient carrier, shelf located in the middle of the bicycle, designed to help carry the users luggage.

Helo by Junkyo Lee

left: unique body, integrated lock design to prevent theft.

Unico by miguel angel iranzo sanchez

left: constructed in one piece without welds, every part is recyclable, pigments (even fluorescent ones) can be mass-injected, rigid frame / flexible fork.

left: folding cycle, super-formed aluminum frame, hubless pedal system, hollow main axis, neatly folded look.

Resources:
designboom
seoul design fair
yanko design

Bike sharing on smartphone.

Aug 25, 2010

cyclists use their smartphones to locate, check out, and lock bikes.

Shareable reports on ryan rzepecki’s social bicycles system (SoBi):

Instead of relying on kiosks and docking stations to connect users to bikes, cyclists use their smartphones to locate, check out, and lock bikes–everything is portable, wireless, decentralized, and self-contained. The tech is stored in a small “lock box” attached to the rear wheel, which connects the bike to a central server. Users create an account with SoBi, find a bike through a call or smartphone app, and receive a code which they can use to unlock the bicycle from an ordinary rack. They can just enter their account info directly into the lock box; they use the same pin code every time, “just like with a bank card.”

20 bikes to be tested in nyc in 9/2010.

The new bmw bike.

Aug 17, 2010

bmw chose europe’s largest bike race, vattenfall cyclassics, held in hamburg, germany this past weekend, to debut their two latest models: the alize and the diablo.

above: diablo

above: alize

As you may have guessed, those aren’t cars, but high-performance bikes cooked up in a collaboration between BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA and sporting equipment manufacturer NeilPryde. As NeilPryde is best known for their windsurfing gear, it’s a departure of form for both sides.

above: monocoque frameset

Bike geeks who can’t muster the $3,950 – $5,400 price tag will definitely want to check out the behind the scenes look of the design process, which includes innovations in aerodynamics like the optimized profile and extended Kamm tail design. For the Diablo, the team developed an “exoskeleton design of continuous carbon fibers fully integrated into the monocoque front triangle…resulting in a frameset that has been optimized for its unique material characteristics.”

designers: designworksusa
producers: neilpryde

Resources:
vattenfall cyclassics
“behind the scenes look:”

about perrin drumm

Livestrong. Yes, I am precious.

Aug 10, 2010

a bike with a brain.

what’s this post all about ? as their website says, “It’s pretty simple really. It’s about taking a self-indulgent goal—riding across the USA—and using it as a two-wheeled vehicle for helping those fighting the biggest douchebag of all, cancer.”

the livestrong foundation, brand, does a great job of staying in our face in an inspiring way.

designer: breakfast, new york
producer: livestrong
info: yes i am precious

Ditch your car. Ride a pi.

Aug 5, 2010

marcus hays, founder and designer of pimobility, has hit on something pretty special with his electric-hybrid bike, the picycle.

The bright red, swooping frame immediately grabs your attention, and its statistics, like the fact that it produces zero-emissions, hooks you. The $3,000 – $5,000 price tag may put you off, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but when you consider that the yearly operating cost is almost nil, it ends up balancing out, saving you thousands that you would ordinarily spend on gas and maintenance for a car.

While it can’t boast the speed of a car, for getting around the city you couldn’t ask for a better ride. The Picycle reaches up to 30 mph (although the legal speed for electric bikes is 20 mph in most states) and runs for about 20 miles on a single charge. It uses a Lithion-ion battery, which is housed in the arcing aluminum frame, and takes only 2.5 hours to charge. You can ride it like a plain old bike, with electric-assist or completely under electric propulsion. Not having to pedal up a hill or in the heat means that if you’re someone who uses their bike to commute to and from work, no more arriving to work in a sweat-soaked dress shirt. And for the weekend joy-ride or trip to the beach, there’s no more sitting in traffic or stopping to tank up.

Pi electric bikes price: $2,999 to $4,999.
designer: marcus hays
producer: pimobility

about perrin drumm

The best bike cities. 2010.

Jun 9, 2010

america’s top 50. via bicycling.com
1. Minneapolis
2. Portland, OR
3. Boulder, CO

40 acre bike park in boulder

4. Seattle
5. Eugene, OR
6. San Francisco
7. Madison, WI
8. New York City
9. Tucson, AZ
10. Chicago
11. Austin, TX
12. Denver, CO
13. Washington, DC

san francisco

14. Ann Arbor, MI
15. Phoenix/Tempe, AZ
16. Gainesville, FL
17. Albuquerque, NM
18. Colorado Springs, CO
19. Salem, OR
20. Scottsdale, AZ
21. Louisville, KY
22. Chattanooga, TN
23. Long Beach, CA
24. Cary, NC
25. Milwaukee
26. Boston
27. Philadelphia
28. Pittsburgh
29. Charleston, SC
30. Arlington, VA
31. Sioux Falls, SD
32. Boise, ID
33. Kansas City, MO
34. Columbus, OH
35. Tulsa, OK
36. Grand Rapids, MI
37. Billings, MT
38. St. Louis
39. Cleveland
40. Greensboro, NC
41. Lexington-Fayette, KY
42. Omaha, NE
43. Salt Lake City
44. Miami
45. Indianapolis
46. Fargo, ND
47. Anchorage, AK
48. Baltimore
49. Little Rock, AR
50. Rochester, NY

left: amsterdam top 10 cities via reuters

1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Bogota, Colombia
4. Curitiba, Brazil
5. Montreal, Canada
6. Portland, Oregon
7. Basel, Switzerland
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Beijing, China
10. Trondheim, Norway

sorry, can’t find the source for the following list…

1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Trondheim, Norway
4. Lund, Sweden
5. Berlin, Germany
6. Basel, Switzerland
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. Paris France
9. Ottawa, Canada