It is hard to pinpoint the exact reason that I started this blog in 2005. I could say that it was to showcase the work of industrial designers in the bicycle industry, or to give students a place to share their bike related ideas and concepts, or maybe the idea was just to generate discussion and get people thinking about the potential of bicycles, and other types of human powered machines, to change the world for the better. Over time, I believe the blog has served all of those purposes, but when I quickly put together that first post over eight years ago, I wasn’t thinking any of those things. The fact is, this blog was something I started one day on a whim, and I never imagined that it would ever last so long… or reach so many people.
In 2005, it wasn’t easy to find content about the design of bicycles on the web. The Bicycle Design blog filled a niche, and I like to think that it played some small role in generating the level of interest in bicycle design that we see today (that may or may not be true, but I still like to think it, so don’t burst my bubble). These days, blogs like Core77, Dezeen, Fast Co. Design, designboom, Yanko Design, and many others post bike related content on a regular basis. Every year it seems, there are more and more outlets for industrial designers to share their bike related work, and that is definitely a good thing. I feel like the end of Bicycle Design will leave a small void on the web, but I think it is one that can be filled by many of the other excellent design blogs out there (and by new ones as well).
If you just discovered Bicycle Design or haven’t looked back in a while, I encourage you to explore the 8+ years worth of archives that you can find in the dropdown menu in the sidebar. There really is some great stuff in those archives, so I want to again say thanks to all you who have shared links, contributed your designs, participated in the competitions, or added to the discussion over the years. You guys all made this experience a great one for me… and I really do appreciate it.
Outside of my design job, my focus will now be on other projects. After all these years, I don’t think I can quit blogging entirely though. My new blog at JCTdesign.net will be a place for me to occasionally (likely very occasionally) talk about design, my projects, and anything else that interests me. I will also continue to be active on Google + and on Twitter at @JCTdesign (and yes, I’ll continue to post about bikes and human powered transportation in those places). So this is not really a goodbye post… just moving on to a new chapter. Thanks again to all of you for reading and contributing to Bicycle Design for the past 8 years! I hate to end with a cliché, but it really has been a great ride.