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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

After a disappointing Tour start this year, Mark Cavendish seems to be back on track with his second stage win in two days. The attention is back on Cav, but the bike that he is riding, the recently unveiled SCOTT F01, deserves a lot of attention as well. The new aerodynamic road racing bike, which SCOTT developed in close partnership with Team HTC-Columbia and Drag2Zero services, was presented at a press conference in Rotterdam right before the Prologue.

The goal of the F01 project was to “achieve aerodynamic performance with a light and stiff profile.” Specifically, SCOTT set out to:

•Reduce overall drag of rider and bike at 45 KPH by 20 watts, between 0-20 degree crosswind with a 20 to 30 % reduction of frame drag compared to standard tube.

•Reach Addict stiffness with only 5% increase in weight

The design was developed and tested in the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Wind Tunnel. As you can see in the slide image from SCOTT’s presentation, it uses a 3:2 ratio tube profile that looks like an airfoil shape with the tail removed (like a very short Kamm tail profile). If you look at the picture above, the red colored sections on the backs of certain tubes indicate where the trailing airfoil edges have been removed. According to the company, the result of this project is a frame that is stiff and 20% lighter than most of the other aero frames on the market.

The bike is not available to the public yet, but it is a great example of an equipment sponsor really putting a new design through the paces during the three weeks of the Tour. That is something that I always like to see, and it really is what makes the Tour de France the race to watch for bike geeks.

Back to Cavendish though…it is no surprise that he wanted flashy custom graphics on his Project F01 bike. Check out this Bike Radar profile of his bike to see how the graphic designers at SCOTT interpreted his request for a “ninja theme.” Creating a tasteful design with splattered blood as a primary element is no easy task, but I think they did a pretty nice job with it.

Bike-inspired fused art glass by John Sweet

An avid cyclist, John finds inspiration for many of his fused glass pieces in both the landscapes he cycles through and the discarded bike parts he comes across in bike shop recycling bins, garage sales and more. He usually uses found objects, such as bike hubs, to display his fused glass pieces.

Spending most of his career in the construction industry, John has no formal art training. “I try to have fun with it,” he says.

John’s not alone in his lust for used bike parts—the rebike movement is growing strong, especially among artists in bike-friendly cities such as Bend. A town of about 80,000, Bend has created 21 roundabouts and three new pathway bridges; 85 percent of arterials have bike lanes; and the city recently installed a new European-style raised bike lane. It received a Silver rating from the League of American Bicyclists. It’s also home to Commute Options for central, a three-county effort to reduce reliance on the automobile.

We’d love to hear about bicycle-inspired artists and organizations in your town. Send us an email or comment below!

A few days ago, Carlton Reid tipped me off to this London Daily Mail article, which features a bike design by Kevin Scott, a young UK based designer. To address the rising problem of bicycle theft (according to the article, more than 52 bikes are stolen in London every day), Mr. Scott designed a bike that literally “wraps around a lamp post so it can be locked-up safely – without the need for a lock or chain.” A ratchet system built into the top and down tubes allows the frame to bend when a lever on the seat tube is released.

It seems like an interesting concept, but honestly I would probably be a bit nervous at cruising speed knowing that an accidental flip of that big switch would turn the frame into an uncontrollable mess of noodle like tubes. Maybe there could be a fail-safe to keep the switch from working while the bike is moving. I am sure there are many other issues that need to be addressed before a concept like this could become a real product, but that is what the product design development stage is for. For now, Mr. Scott has an interesting idea that I believe is worth further exploration.

Scott’s concept is a runner-up in the UK’s Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award. The Core77 blog also posted about this design and they point out that he is dumping the award money back into the project for further development. That is good to hear. I’ll look forward to seeing the next iteration of his design.

Image credit: Tony Kyriacou/Rex Features via Core77

Photo credit: RoadBikeAction.com

Racing isn’t usually the focus of this blog, but when July rolls around, I do get pretty excited about the Tour. This year’s race has been a great one so far, and I am already in the pattern of following some of each stage live in the morning, then scrambling to get my design work done as soon as the stage ends. That pattern makes for hectic days, but I just can’t wait until later to watch the replay. As I do most every year, I have been watching the live English language Eurosport feeds, which can be found at Steephill.tv. In addition to the video feed, I have been checking out the live blog discussion at Bicycling Magazine during the last couple stages. Honestly, I haven’t paid much attention to Bicycling Magazine in many years, but I really do like the way that they are covering the Tour this year. The commentary and discussion on the live blog and in their recent podcasts is pretty interesting, and I like the way that they are interacting with readers during each stage. I have been somewhat critical of the magazine in the past, but I really do want to give them kudos for what they are doing with their web coverage. Maybe, I should give the print edition of the mag a second chance too.

I am also checking CyclingNews, VeloNews, Road Bike Action, Pez , Bike198, and other cycling sites daily for race reports and, more importantly, tech features from the Tour.  I won’t point out all the tech articles, but there are a couple so far that I want to mention.

I love time trial bikes, so RBA’s time trial tech pictorial caught my attention (still waiting on part 2 with more TT bikes and components from the Prologue). Speaking of the Prologue, check out the winning bike, Cancellara’s castrated SHIV (to borrow a term from the guys at the VeloCast in reference to the UCI required removal of the stem/steerer tube fairing).

CyclingNews points out some of the technology (or lack thereof when you consider the box section rims) used in yesterday’s stage. It is interesting to read about the various team’s different equipment choices for that stage with its seven rough cobble sections. I understand the desire of some teams to keep riders on the same bikes, but in retrospect Saxo Bank’s use of Roubaix SL3’s in place of the Tarmac SL3s (for a few select riders) certainly seems to have been a good decision.

Thanks for the #FF mentions today from @AustinFit and @AustinCycling

Books on Wheels Spring Tour 2009

If I saw the big blue Books On Wheels bus rolling down my street, I’d flag it down and convince the mayor to let it stay a while. We all know the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The same holds true for bikes of course. Who wants to ride a bike that has sketchy brakes or skips gears every 10 seconds? Even more importantly, how is one to rely on commuting by bike if they don’t know how to fix a flat or make other essential repairs?

That’s where Books On Wheels steps in. In 2008, its fearless leaders—Ward Tefft and Shelley Briggs—set out on a multi-month tour, beginning in Richmond and traveling as far as Austin, Texas, to provide basic bike repair skills to hundreds of kids. Within three years, Teft and Briggs opened Books, Bikes and Beyond, a thrift store in Richmond that accepts donations for Books on Wheels. They recently launched a campaign to raise $10,000 to provide 10,000 new or gently used books to low-income families.

There are countless organizations that accept used books, used bikes and used bike parts, but if you live anywhere close to Richmond, consider donating cash or (bicycle) clunkers to this very cool organization. For those bike parts that are no longer usable—such as spent bike chains or cassettes—consider supporting a rebicycle artist, such as one of the students enrolled in a BICAS art class in Tucson, or a rebicycle manufacturer such as Resource Revival.

Bikes, like so many other things, often get tossed to the curb or stashed in the garage the moment they break down. I’m a fan of any organization working to keep bicycles on the streets rather than in landfills. Know of other innovative bicyclers in the U.S. and beyond? Send us an email.

I have mentioned Mark Sanders and his Strida folding bike on the blog quite a few times in the past (if you haven’t already read the excellent guest post that he wrote a few years ago, check it out before you continue reading this one). Though he has designed quite a few interesting folding bikes over the years, the Strida is the still bike that Mark is best known for. You may not be aware though that he designed and engineered the bike that would later become the Strida while he was an Industrial Design Engineering graduate student at the Imperial College London/ Royal College of Art. Just a few days ago, Mark scanned and shared his original 1985 Masters Thesis from that project on his Issuu page.

The research section of Mark’s thesis covers a few of the other Folding bike concepts that were on the market at the time. From there, his thesis moves on to the concept design section, where you can see a couple of his early development models. The section on ergonomics is also of particular interest as it compares a typical racing position to a completely upright riding position for city bikes, an idea that Mark points out has “almost become (his) manifesto” today. The market research survey, manual engineering calculations, and prototype detail sections are all very interesting as well. I highly recommend that you read through the entire 75-page thesis.

In addition to his Thesis, Mark also scanned and uploaded his original Business Plan for the Strida. In that document, you can see the first prototype, which Mark completed within 6 months of the college project. He points out that the design of that first production prototype is “still about 70% of the current Strida.”

It is interesting to see some of the publicity that the first Strida prototype received. Now, 25 years later, the latest version of the Strida is still often mentioned on design sites, so Mark must have done something right with that original design.

Simon L. (aka Ess) is a designer who is working on an interesting aerodynamic frame design. His blog is chronicling the development of the bike, which features openings in the head and seat tubes to allow air to pass through.

In one of his posts, Ess lists a few of the design details that help to minimize the bike’s frontal area:

1. The frame is hollow with open front and back vents.

2. Sides of the frame are parallel (made possible by placing the back cog on the outside of the frame, which suggests that you can remove the back wheel and keep the chain/sprocket in place!).

3. The headset is split into two (top and bottom).

4. Handlebar stem split into two fins

5. Integrated seat post created from two fins

6. Seat attached to the integrated seat post using a mono-fin

The design is still in the development stage, but I will continue to follow Ess’ blog to see how it progresses. It looks pretty interesting so far.