African Bicycle Design Contest
James T wrote this 1 month, 15 days ago.
Cycling out of Poverty is a non-profit foundation that raises money for projects that allow Africans to improve their daily lives through the use of bicycles. Currently, they are running an African Bicycle Design Contest at Wiki-Bike.com. On the website, you can read about the competition and you can upload your own ideas for durable and sustainable bicycles for Africa.
The deadline for the contest is 5 pm on Thursday, September 30th, 2010. At that point, a professional jury will judge all contributions and select 5 winning designs. Those five winners will be awarded with a design team who will develop the designs / ideas into working prototypes. The design team that delivers the best prototype will win a 10-day trip to Kenya to train and assist a Kenyan team in producing this bicycle. For a little background on the African Bicycle Design project, check out this video featuring a team of four industrial design students from the Delft University of Technology who worked with people in Kenyan last year to develop a street vending bicycle.
I am honored and excited to be serving as one of the jurors for the 2010 competition. It is certainly my hope that we will have many great ideas to choose from, so I encourage all of you to go to the site, register, and submit your ideas for a bike to help the people of Africa. Who knows…maybe your concept will be the one that really makes a difference.
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SYNDICATE – Fort William, Scotland June 5th 2010
santa cruz bikes wrote this 1 month, 20 days ago.
Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar (SRAM/RockShox) retains the leader’s jersey in the UCI World Cup Downhill Series with a 3rd place finish today on this dry, dusty, brutal track in Fort William, Scotland. Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland made improvements on their qualifying runs, but still battled to get the flow just right and placed 18th and 26th respectively. As always, the crowd and atmosphere here at Fort William was vibrant with over 7,000 people watching the downhill.
Starting the series with a win in Maribor and coming into Fort William wearing the leaders jersey was a great position for Greg to spring from. In Saturday’s qualifier Greg put together a solid run and clinched the 1st place points towards the individual ranking. Feeling happy with his result he did a few back flips into the airbag in the pits.
Fort William was packed on race day and the riders looked forward to hearing the cheers as they enter the finish arena. The crowd is especially loud for the UK riders and when Steve was on track they were roaring. At the second split we could see he was off the pace, yet the fans gave the reigning World Champ a hearty welcome as he crossed the line. Greg was the last man down with Gee Atherton now in the hotseat. He rode smooth and steady, but was just 1.21 behind Gee at the finish for third, with Cameron Cole in 2nd. “As a result it’s pretty good, but I wanted to win here,” said Greg. Josh had a run that felt solid, yet he finished 11 seconds off the pace.
Steve felt like he had some good moments in his race run but says, “This week I’ve been busy between launching the Steve Peat Syndicate and Steve Peat downhill game app, with practice and racing and I thought I dealt with it good. Today my practice to race time was busy. I usually get to sleep for an hour, but today I was also signing autographs at the Monster booth, and manning the SPS booth. It’s hard not to be around for the fans to sign books and autographs, and its good to see each and every one of the fans.
In my race I went quicker than my qualifier, but other people when faster too, and I wasn’t happy about that. I felt I did kill sections and in years past I probably could’ve won with a time like that. Guys are fitter these days and pushing even harder. I’ve had a busy winter so I’m not as fit as I could be. I want to make the most out of my World Championship title and I want to support and give back to the sport and the fans. This weekend it’s really kicked in and I’m going to knuckle down and get training. I’m going to ride a lot next week and get back on top of things.”
The next race up is The Wheels of Speed event this week in Willingen, Germany where Greg and Josh will compete.
Learn about the details of the Steve Peat Syndicate here: stevepeatsyndicate.com
Men’s Downhill results:
1st Gee Atherton 4:35.70
2nd Cameron Cole 4:36.18
3rd GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 4:36.91
4th Aaron Gwin 4:37.71
5th Mick Hannah 4:37.75
18th Steve Peat (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 4:44.27
26th Josh Bryceland (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 4:46.31
Men’s World Cup Overall Standings:
1st GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE): 420 points
2nd Gee Atherton: 405
3rd Cameron Cole: 282
4th Aaron Gwin: 240
5th Brendan Fairclough: 239
17th Josh Bryceland (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE): 138
25th Steve Peat (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE): 127
Thanks to the Syndicate sponsors:
SANTA CRUZ BICYCLES
SRAM, ROCKSHOX, AVID, TRUVATIV
EDGE COMPOSITES
MAXXIS
CLIF BAR
MUC-OFF
LIZARD SKINS
WTB
CRANKBROTHERS
CHRIS KING
TROY LEE DESIGNS
FIVE TEN
Cast: santa cruz bikes
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Trimtab 3×3 recumbent trike
James T wrote this 1 month, 20 days ago.
David Parrott is developing an interesting semi-enclosed recumbent trike for his Master’s thesis in Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati DAAP. I mentioned his Trimtab 3×3 concept briefly in a previous post, but it is worth a second mention to point out that David is currently building a functional prototype of the design at Losantiville Kunstwerkhaus, a collaborative design/fabrication studio that he started in Cincinnati with a low-impact mobility theme. Take a look at the Trimtab 3×3 Flickr set to see additional renderings of the vehicle and photos of the prototype that is currently under construction. You can also follow the Losantiville Kunstwerkhaus blog for updates on the project as the prototype progresses.
David explained that he designed the Trimtab as a transportation design project created through the lens of “Slow Design”. He points out that, “it’s a 3WD, electric-assisted, lean steered delta trike with seasonal fabric skins & seating (breathable, ripstop nylon for summer; therm-a-rest style inflatable skins for winter), an acrylic aircraft-style canopy, and flatbed storage.”
He went on to mention that his design “challenges some of the basic dogma of the bike design scene (Rear steer! Yikes!) as well as the “I can draw it but I can’t build it”, styling-driven methodology” that is increasingly common in the Industrial Design field these days. I have heard some very strong criticism of all rear steer bike or trike designs here on the blog, so I am curious to hear what you all think of David’s lean steer concept. Hopefully when the prototype is complete, he will post some video of it in action to prove the concept, so to speak. I am definitely anxious to see the results…and I wish I could ride it to see for myself.
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Ahhh, Fort Bill, You Scottish Heartbreaker.
dark lord wrote this 1 month, 21 days ago.
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Two penny-farthings and a foil car
James T wrote this 1 month, 25 days ago.
It is almost the weekend, so I will leave you with a handful of fun links for Friday afternoon. Designboom posted a few bike designs by Peter Varga, including the glossy modern folding penny-farthing concept pictured here. While you are at Designboom, take a look at all the recent posts tagged with ‘bikes”. It has been a popular subject for them lately.
In keeping with the modern penny-farthing theme, here is one that is not quite as polished, but is definitely a head turner. Believe it or not, this monster trike is a fixed gear too (with a very low gear to get that big heavy tire rolling). I don’t know how difficult this thing is to ride, but I would love to try it and find out for myself
The Bicycle is Art is a brand new blog, but they already have a couple of interesting posts. The “aluminum foil faux Porsche pedal car” almost challenges the Monster bike tall trike for sheer outrageousness…almost.
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Dressing in Layer for Cycling
specialized411 wrote this 1 month, 26 days ago.
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Specialized's Apparel Product Manager, Adriel Dealy, and SBCU professor Allison Eddy, talk about a few of the different options available to cyclists for layering up for a ride. |
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specialized411
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| Time: 02:19 | More in Sports |
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Lynskey Performance Custom Level 4 Loft Titanium Road bike
Lynskey Performance wrote this 1 month, 26 days ago.
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Lynskey Performance, Titanium bike builder features a Level 4 custom painted complete bike in the Loft this month.
It won't be around long, but enjoy viewing one of the most beautiful bikes we've ever built, custom paint, 6/4 Level 4 Titanium tubeset, custom geometry, right between a Large and X/L, Complete Dura Ace drive train with Mavic Ksyrium SL wheelset, Edge 2.0 fork and Chris King Nothread Headset. Check it out in the Loft on our Website, http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/a/pages/lynskey-loft.php or call us for more details. 423.499.5815 |
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Etta by Nick Foley
James T wrote this 1 month, 26 days ago.
Nick Foley is an industrial design student at Pratt who has been working on a semi-recumbent bicycle design for his senior thesis. His goal with the project was to “design a safer, more accessible urban bicycle that was also more efficient and more convenient.” On his website, Nick lists a few of the key features of his “Etta” design:
- Integrated lighting
- Integrated cargo space
- Adjustable to fit a rider of any height
- Comfortable, high-backed seat
- Upright posture provides unparalleled visibility
- Car-like riding position is efficient and familiar
Nick hand built the fully-functional prototype that you see pictured here, which he estimates to weigh between 20 and 25lbs. For more information about the design, take a look at the Etta page of Nick’s website. He is looking for production opportunities, so contact him through his site if you are interested.
Update: Nick points out that his prototype will be on display at an exhibition about the “future of urban transportation” which is set to open June 24th at the Center for Architecture in Manhattan. Read more about the show at OurCitiesOurselves.org.
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Wednesdays With Who?
dark lord wrote this 1 month, 27 days ago.
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2010 ITU World Championship Series – Seoul – Barbara Riveros
specialized411 wrote this 1 month, 27 days ago.
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Action footage and post-race interview with Barbara Riveros Diaz from Seoul. |
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specialized411
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