If you don’t already follow Bicycle Design on Facebook and Twitter, you are occasionally missing out on interesting designs that never seem to find their way to the blog. As much as I would like to share every interesting concept I see here, sometimes I just get busy with other projects and never get around to working them into a post. Today, though, I want to quickly mention five of the links that I shared on social media recently.
“Stoke” is an interesting retro motorcycle inspired bike by Martin Aveyard. Check out his website to see pictures from the build of that bike, as well as a few others. Via Johann’s Velo Design blog.
This cargo bike design by Nele Dittmar, shared from a VeloVision Magazine post, is a subject that was quite popular on the Facebook page recently, with more than 100 likes and over 7,500 views. The design has several interesting details, from the foldable cargo tray to the chain driven steering system. Read more about it at Woman on a Wheel, or at the Velophil blog at Zeit Online (in German).
It is never too early to start riding a practical utilitarian trike, at least that is the thought behind the Mini-Cargo bikes from Republic Bike. According to the company, the design was “inspired by classic, three-wheeled cargo bikes, the highlight of the design is the front wooden crate, perfect for hauling beginner typography books, Pantone/Crayola conversion charts, or even little puppy Gehry (little sister definitely not recommended).”
If you haven’t seen the carbon fiber urban bike from Vanhawks, I recommend that you check it out. In addition to front and rear lights, the bike integrates technology including a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, speed sensor, GPS receiver, mesh-network, and blindspot detection sensors into the frame. They feature quite a bit of good design content on their blog, so it is definitely one that is worth following.
Finally, I’ll mention smrtGRiPS, a Bluetooth enabled pair of grips that promise to communicate turn by turn directions and other information to the rider via haptic feedback. It is a pretty interesting concept, so I will be interested to see how it works if it moves to production. Boréal Bikes, the company behind this idea, is currently seeking funding on Indiegogo, where you can read more about it. Also, you can watch a short video on YouTube that does a good job of explaining the concept.
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