I had quite a bit to post last week, but I was way too busy with work to think about the blog. Today, I want to catch up a bit and pass along a few of the links that I have meaning to share recently.

The Paper Bicycle, designed by Nick Lobnitz, was recently exhibited at Velo City 2010 in Copenhagen (the bike that you see pictured here has the event’s logo on the chain guard). It comes as a 1 speed or an 8 speed, but as Philip Douglas of Simpel points out, “for hire systems it also comes with the new NuVinci N360.” Personally, I am happy to see a new bike that was designed with bike sharing programs in mind. In addition to the Paper Bicycle, Nick designs bike trailers. You can read an interview with him on that subject at the Bike Trailer Blog.

On a related note, Sightline Daily posted recently about cargo bikes. The article covers several different types and features quite a few pictures. Definitely worth a look.

A few weeks ago, Brian Mitchell sent me images of an electric hub-driven bicycle that he designed as a team project with three other students. I never got around to mentioning it, but you can see several pictures of their prototype in this designboom post.

Christophe Robillard is another design student who recently submitted a concept bike. You can see images of his Victor city bike at his blog.

The “world’s fastest electric bike” has been hitting the design blogs lately. The carbon fiber frame PG-Bikes Blacktrail, which looks a lot like an old café racer, has a claimed top speed of over 60 mph. All that speed doesn’t come cheap though. The limited edition e-bike will set you back 59,500 €  (close to $77,000).

Atomic Duck is an online project to develop an open source velomobile. Patrick Fenner of Deferred Procrastination explains:

“The Atomic Duck is intended for daily commuting, as an option for some of the people who want to ditch the car, but still want the weather protection. It’s being released open source, so you’ll be able to see how it comes together as design continues, full designs will available online, it’ll be open for anyone to tinker and improve, and we’ll be asking for local businesses to produce it, in an attempt make it available everywhere in the world.”

Sounds like a very interesting project…definitely one that I will be watching.

There seems to be a lot of bicycle themed jewelry on the market these days. Some of it is quite unimpressive (and a bit tacky), but the stainless steel Penny farthing and tandem earrings and pendants from Polli are nicely executed. Polli is an Australian uses recycled materials and has been certified as Low CO2 by the Carbon Reduction Institute. They have new bike themed designs coming out soon (including the earrings pictured here), so keep an eye on their website for those.

According to The {Design} Blog, this e-trike concept produces sustainable energy using photosynthesis. Nice renderings, but I am skeptical.

Another concept bike I don’t think I have posted before is “The Glide”, an urban fixie that features hubless wheels, an integrated iPhone dock, and a very aggressive riding position. Though the design is completely impractical, it is an interesting form study. I know that some of you don’t disagree, but I still sort of enjoy seeing “blue sky” concept bikes like this from time to time.

Finally, a long rambling post like this one wouldn’t be complete without a Tour de France mention. Murray alerted me to this great collection of photos at the Boston Globe, which I think really captures the excitement of this year’s race. Today’s stage was another one that kept that excitement going. The change in the GC made me think though… maybe Third Eye should step in as Saxo Bank sponsor for next year. Seriously though, I do run a chain watcher on my road bike, and they are not uncommon in the pro peloton either. Hindsight is 20/20, but that ounce of prevention would have really paid off for Schleck today.