HTC Diamond 3 (but not made of them)

Through two iterations of the Diamond series, and there hasn’t been a nary of “diamond-esque” qualities to the lineup. The unique carved back of the original Diamond was the closest we ever got, so designer Sylvain Gerber envisaged a design worthy of the gem’s brilliance; the Diamond 3. Android equipped with the latest tech hardware but the “shine” is really in the case. You could blind someone with this bling.

Designer: Sylvain Gerber

Yankodesign

SR Suntour Swing Shock

Suspension for the road is not exactly a new idea. Many of you probably remember the Paris-Roubaix SL forkthat Rock Shox introduced in the early 90’s. Prior to the Roubaix fork, a hundred or so years prior to be specific, there were many other ideas floating around for suspension systems to take the edge off of rough roads. It is an old idea, but I think the Swing Shock that SR Suntour launched at Eurobike brings something new to the table. The Alloy and Magnesium Swing Shock was designed to replace the rigid forks found on many urban and commuter bikes. It offers 30mm of travel at a reasonable weight of 1300g (2.87 lbs), and it has simple lines that visually work on an urban fixie or singlespeed.

Those urban cyclists, who gravitate toward a clean aesthetic, are exactly the types of riders that the design team set out to win over with this fork. According to a spokesman at the company:

“They had to create a suspension fork, which would convince the rigid fork fans with a sleek and slim design coupled with suspension comfort. The 30 mm of travel absorbs the main hits from cobblestones, sidewalk curbs, little stairs and potholes. The rigid construction allows better acceleration whilst pedaling and the fork weight of around 1300 g is 400g under the lightest standard suspension fork. The low built-in-height allows rigid fork replacement without changing the original bike geometry.”

You can find more information about the Swing Shock on SR Suntour’s website. Also, be sure to check out their video on Youtube. I do think it provides a nice option for suspension on a clean urban bike…and I especially like the integrated fender idea. I guess time will tell if the fixie kids agree with me.



Posted in Commuter, Road.

Tagged with fixie, fork, singlespeed, SR Suntour, suspension, urban bike.

By James T – October 5, 2010

New and old pedal powered monorails

An Inhabitat post this week pointed outs that Google is investing $1 million in Shweeb, a company working on a pedal powered monorail system. The company was selected as the “innovation in public transportation winner” in Google’s Project 10¹⁰⁰program, which aims “to change the world by helping as many people as possible.”

Shweeb has been working on these pedal powered monorail pods for a while now. The New Zealand based company was founded in 2006, and you may have seen pictures of their two 200meter long test tracks before. The idea of a bicycle monorail system goes back well beyond 2006 though. In 1892, The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railway, invented by Arthur E. Hotchkiss, was built from Mount Holly to Smithville in New Jersey. According to Unusual Pedal Bicycles, the bicycle railway was not a success, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1898. Let’s hope that with the infusion of money from Google, Shweeb can last longer than Hotchkiss did. It’s certainly an idea that I would love to see implemented (again).

Posted in Commuter, Concept.

Tagged with Google, monorail, public transportation, recumbent, Shweeb, transportation.

By James T – October 1, 2010

OOPHAGA trike and a homebuilt wooden frame

I’m back from an extended weekend of mountain biking and kayaking at Tsali. I didn’t have (or want) phone or Internet access while I was out in the woods, so I am just now starting to look at some of the coverage from Interbike last week. Bike Rumor is one place where I have found good Interbike content so far. This “Lego-like” adjustable headset spacer from Trid Design was just one of the products they mentioned which caught my attention. As always, mtbr.com is a good place to find photo galleries from the show. Their Interbike pagespotlights some interesting finds, like this Ridekick electric bike booster trailer. Red Kite Prayer was focused on the road bikes at the show. They were at the outdoor demo earlier in the week too, so check out all their Interbike related posts.

I’ll get to more Interbike coverage later, but today I want to pass along a reader submitted design. OOPHAGA is a recumbent trike by Milos Todorovic. He explained the ideas behind his concept:

“These types of bikes need the looks to be more desirable, and that’s what OOPHAGA brings, it’s fresh and urban with an accent on aesthetics. Chassis is made of carbon fiber so it’s very strong and light, and it allows customization by specific measurements. Almost everything is customizable, the rims, the seat, color theme, decoration etc.

OOPHAGA is supposed to be driven on asphalt, but if one chooses it can be converted to an off-road bike. The trike also has shock absorbers for smoother ride. The headrest is removable and supports the head on a longer rides. Recumbent trikes are eco-friendly, which is crucial these days. With OOPHAGA you have a cool urban eco-friendly trike with endless customization options.”

While I am mentioning reader submitted designs, I want to point out this bent-ply frame by Jason Cram. Jason mentioned that an older Bicycle Design post inspired him to build it. He documented his steps along the way, so it makes for a pretty interesting DIY post at Instructables. Nice job, Jason!

Posted in Concept, Student Design, Tradeshows.

Tagged with DIY, Interbike, OOPHAGA, reader submitted design, recumbent, wooden bike.

By James T – September 28, 2010