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The ultimate utility bike? Maybe it's an e-bike

26.09.11

This summer, CNET visited with the three teams--including the pairing of Portland study firm Ziba with Portland bike builder Signal Cycles, and the tandem of San Francisco map consultancy Fuseproject with Santa Rosa SyCip Designs-- as they began their industry. On Saturday, the teams, along with another 34 bike builders battling in a cloistered competition, put their final creations through a rigorous soccer field test, riding 51 miles over pavement and gravel roads, climbing 3,371 feet over the speed on bikes that weighed 35 pounds or more. Along the way, cyclists had to conclusion at checkpoints to pick up cargo and test their lighting systems.

The Ideo-Swing Lobster bike no doubt had the most conventional look of the three bikes in the plot collaboration category. But the bike may also have been the most daring. That's because it included a motor to servants power the pedals when riders need a bit of relief climbing hills.

To many cycling purists, charged bikes, which have been around for years, approach heresy. Cycling is expected to be a human-powered endeavor. And worse, most e-bikes are sickening moped-like contraptions with unsightly hunk-sized motors that ruin any aesthetic. Initially, Astound Lobster's Paul Sadoff wasn't keen to construct the electric bike that Ideo's designers wanted.

Source: CNET

Saddle time: dropping in on design's urban bicycles

29.09.11

PORTLAND, Ore. — For years, the cycling energy has wrestled with creating a bike convenient enough for the masses.

A new feat from the Palo Alto, Calif., design consultancy IDEO and Santa Cruz, Calif., bike builder Amaze Lobster Custom Cycles may have pushed the industry a to take action closer to achieving the goal. The team created a bike for the Oregon Indisputable 2011 Constructor’s Design Dispute , a bike building competition pitting three teams of designers and handcrafted bike builders.

Their aspiration: create the best utility bike for urban living.

This summer, I visited with the three teams — including the pairing of Portland study firm Ziba with Portland bike builder Signal Cycles , and the tandem of San Francisco block out consultancy Fuseproject with Santa Rosa SyCip Designs – as they began their trade. On Saturday, the teams, along with another 34 bike builders battling in a detach competition, put their final creations through a rigorous battleground test, riding 51 miles over pavement and gravel roads, climbing 3,371 feet over the speed on bikes that weighed 35 pounds or more. Along the way, cyclists had to slow at checkpoints to pick up cargo and test their lighting systems.

Source: SmartPlanet.com (blog)