I spent a little time checking out Cyclorama.net last night. The website is the latest project of Company of Cyclists, a UK based group that I mentioned in a past post. Though the site is new, they already have a lot of content that will interest any of you who like to see various types of bicycles, including some pretty unusual ones. The “papoose bike” and the “human powered bus” pictured here are just two of the many unconventional designs that they feature in the “Ingenious” category. I encourage you to click through all of the pedal powered machines on that page…definitely interesting stuff. Cyclorama also has a blog on the site, which I have already added to my feed reader to follow.

I run across new, and interesting, websites all the time, so you may be wondering why I am so excited about this one. Well, it is probably because Bike Culture Quarterly & EnCYCLEopedia were by far my favorite bike related publications in the 80’s and early 90’s. Those are no longer in print, but I feel like Company of Cyclist is bringing exactly that type of content to the web with this new site. It is not just about slick, polished-looking new designs, but the site really is a showcase for all types of creative ideas pertaining to pedal powered machines. I have only scratched the surface in exploring the various sections of the site, but so far I am a pretty big fan.

While I am posting, I want to pass along a few additional links of interest.

Yannig Roth recently covered Bike Expo 2010 in Munich and he shared some interesting thoughts on the future of design in the bicycle industry in a blog post.

Treehugger posted about Monochrome Recycled Bikes, an initiative by Argentine designers Natan Burta and Alejandro Sanguinetti. As the post points out, the interesting part is not only that they recycle and refurbish the bikes, but that they do so while maintaining a branded identity.

Dave Weagle, inventor of the DW link used on Turner and Ibis full suspension frames, has patented a concentric dropout pivot suspension system called Split Pivot , which allows the rear axel to function as the pivot point. You can expect to see this system used on bikes from quite a few brands next year. Read more at Bike Biz and Bike Rumor.

Finally, I will mention this solar powered bike sharing system for Copenhagen. As bike sharing programs become more prevalent, I suspect that designers will increasingly view them as a unified system integrated into an overall transportation plan rather than an unrelated collection of parts… sort of like this, this, or this.

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Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar continues to lead the UCI World Cup Downhill Series with a 2nd place finish in Champery, Switzerland. Gee Atherton takes the win and tightens the margin to 13 points between he and Greg making it a very exciting season. The bad weather all week created difficult track conditions and took a toll on Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland. Steve had a 6th place qualifier and expected to do well in the final, but he had a small crash at the top, which put him in 18th place. Josh's crash in the qualifier took too much time and he did not make the cut.

Cast: santa cruz bikes

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A growing number of coffee roasters are realizing that if they invest in the farmers growing their beans, the payoffs for all are savory. Stumptown Coffee Roasters, based in Portland, Oregon, is one roaster leading the way when it comes to reinvesting in coffee suppliers around the globe. Its Direct Trade program ensures long-term relationships are cultivated face-to-face between the company’s owners and the farmers in the field.

Karaba Cooperative in Rwanda is at an altitude of 5000 – 6500 feet.

It was during a trip to Rwanda that Duane Sorenson of Stumptown Coffee Roasters learned that the coffee farmers at the Karaba Cooperative needed a sustainable means of transporting heavy bags of coffee beans.

That’s how Bikes to Rwanda was born. Four years later, the nonprofit organization—with the help of countless partners and donations—has deployed numerous “Coffee Bikes,” to the Karaba Cooperative.

The Coffee Bike, designed and developed by Project Rwanda with the help of Tom Ritchey and Ritchey Logic, has many unique characteristics, but perhaps most impressive is that they can support loads of up to 50 kilograms, have easy gearing, and are “remarkably light given how robust the bikes,” according to Bikes to Rwanda executive director Brian Gilmore.

The Coffee Bike can hold up to 50 kilograms and serves multiple purposes in "off-word" hours.

The best coffee is grown at elevation, he notes, where—even if the farmers could afford them—the roads are not suitable for most cars. This is a place where bikes are more practical than cars in almost every way.

Like many other successful bike donation programs, Bikes to Rwanda, has been able to expand because of the many used bicycle tools and parts that have been donated to support the bike shops in Rwanda.

“There are so many specific parts on bikes that the tools a resident of rural Rwandan villages would have access to, just simply wouldn’t cut it when it came to being able to reliably repair the coffee bikes,” Gilmore says.

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Jos Sluijsmans runs the Dutch website Fietsdiensten.nl and is one of the organizers of the African Bicycle Design Contest, which I mentioned in a past post. He recently created a YouTube video titled ‘Creatief fietsparkeren’, which features some great examples of creative bicycle racks and parking designs from the Netherlands and around the world.

I had seen many of the designs featured, but a few of them were new to me. The wall mounted Wheelylift system was one that caught my attention in the video. I have no problem storing my lightweight bikes on the wall, but this seems like a good solution for heavy utility oriented designs. As Jos points out, the Wheelylift racks “can lift bikes up to 35 kg. So they are also very handy for twowheel cargobikes or tandems.”

Other parking solutions featured in the video include:

• Freestanding designs like Bike Tree and CyclePod.
• A bike rack with an integrated pump by Heklucht.
• An inverted-U design from Pedaal Punt that holds the bike by a pedal
• A few of the New York bike racks created by David Byrne in conjunction with New York art gallery PaceWildenstein.
• The Potato Masher bike rack from Colorado
• Various types of racks from companies like Klaver Group, Veksoe, and Cabanes

All in all, the video covers some unique approaches to bike parking and storage. In addition to these, and the ones I have mentioned in the past, can you think of other interesting designs that are worth a mention?

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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.

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This week, Resource Revival headlined Gorge Green Drinks in its hometown of Mosier, Oregon, where a big crowd gathered to learn about bicycle-related businesses and to learn about alternative transportation issues in the Columbia River Gorge.

Chris Branch, Resource Revival’s production manager, set up a popular key chain and bottle opener station so Green Drinks attendees of all ages could get a feel for what goes on behind the scenes at this cool company.

When they weren’t checking out the Senkai Motors electric, solar-powered bicycle or getting bike maintenance tips from Craig at Mountain View Cycles, folks were enjoying local brews at The Thirsty Woman. Once home to the YWCA, this 450-square-foot bar is a cool re-use project in and of itself. (Fans of building re-use should check out the Building Materials Reuse Association.)

For those who have not checked out one of the hundreds of Green Drinks events around the globe, this informal networking event typically features businesses who are solving environmental and social issues through their business or nonprofit.

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Photo credit: James Huang, CyclingNews.com

If you have checking out the tech sections of the various cycling sites lately, you have probably noticed the SRAM Red rear derailleurs with carbon fiber cages developed by Wolfgang Berner. Rafael Hoffleit, whose bikes I have mentioned on the blog a couple times before, points out that he is handcrafting the small carbon pieces for those rear derailleurs. He mentions that though it is a very small part, he is a bit proud:

”Now I see the absolute elite of our sport cornering around with a small piece that starts in my hands – very nice.”

Rafael also recently received recognition for the Heidelberg singlespeed, which was selected as a BrandNewAward finalist. That bike, along with others from Rafael, will be on display at the Bike Expo in Munich from July 22^nd to 25^th. In addition to the urban oriented singlespeed Heildelberg, Rafael also has a new track bike based on his r-011 time trial bike. The “Spyder” (pictured here) looks very nice. As with his time trial bikes, I like the integration of a fairly standard stem into the frame. Nice details all around.

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