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@Polky
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11652/flex-by-ran-amitai-seoul-cycle-design-competition-shortlisted-entry.html
'flex' by ran amitai from israel is one of the shortlisted design entries from more than
3000 participants in our recent designboom competition, 'seoul cycle design 2010',
organized in collaboration with seoul design foundation.
the design of the compact city bike aims to achieve a holistic aesthetic by reducing
visual noise: the back fork is combined with the chain cover and the frame's form
is monolithic rather than a sum of different parts.
designer's own words:
'flex' is a compact city bicycle. the intention of the design is to create a bicycle that has a whole form,
as opposed to a normal bicycle which has many parts that are completely separated in terms of aesthetics.
to achieve this, I did two things: one was to create a monoblock form instead of many mechanical
connections; and two, I combined the back fork with the chain cover for one element, which reduces
the visual noise and creates a new iconic look. the brakes are located in the back wheel and operated
by reverse-peddling. the handle bars are narrower than usual in order to achieve better transferability
in crowded urban conditions. the body is made of carbon fiber which was formed on top of the fixed
*mechanical elements and still allows access to change old parts. *
How the hell did this get shortlisted for a design comp? Looks like terrible design. An urban bike totally made of custom parts and carbon fibre - how much is that thing gonna cost? How do you lock it up? ... and supposed to be practical but no mudguards, silly narrow handlebars, coaster brake. And so how do you access the chain for maintenance? And does it have some sort of ball joint at the top of the headtube, or does the whole massive stem and handbar sort of arc around as its turns? And wouldn't an urban bike be improved with some kinda lights and luggage options?