Social design organizerion Design 21 recently launched an inspiring bicycle-focused design competition called Power to the Pedal. The challenge is to design a biking accessory or add-on for existing bikes that will improve the bicycling experience and encourage more people to make biking their primary means of transport – more convenient, more enjoyable, safer and more integrated into daily lifestyles – whether it’s for commuting, working, shopping, transporting, leisure or all of the above.
We are aware that the push for bicycle use is gaining global relevance, and, as D21 explains, “not just as a leisure activity, but as a solution to a range of problems like pollution, congestion, rising gas prices and issues surrounding community health.” In urban areas around the world, advocacy groups are staking a claim for bicycles and educating the public about the benefits of biking as a means of transport, fitness and fun. Cycling is great exercise, its good for the environment, and is the most energy-efficient form of transportation known to man. So if you are a bike fan, check out this fun design competition, and maybe you could even win a cash prize!
DEADLINE: Wednesday April 30, 2008 at 11:58PM UTC.
PRIZES:
1st prize: $5000
2nd prize: $3000
3rd prize: $1500
Most Popular prize: $500
JUDGING CRITERIA:
Overall effectiveness: How well does the solution provide an answer to the design problem?
Creativity: How innovative and cost-effective is the thinking behind the design?
Practicality: How successfully can the design be produced or put into practice? Can it be adapted for local production? Does it add to the safety of the cyclist, too?
Aesthetics: How strong is the design in terms of overall form and presentation?
Ecology: How well does the design respond to environmental concerns through considerations such as choice of materials, production techniques, life-span, upgrade, durability, weight, recycle, or re-use factors?
The competition jury includes Wendy Brawer (USA) , Emiliano Godoy (Mexico) and Jens Martin Skibsted (Denmark) of Biomega.
+ D21: Power to the Pedal
[...] inhabitat.com – Social design organizerion Design 21 recently launched an inspiring bicycle-focused design competition called Power to the Pedal. The challenge is to design a biking accessory or add-on for existing bikes that will improve the bicycling experience and encourage more people to make biking their primary means of transport – more convenient, more enjoyable, safer and more integrated into daily lifestyles – whether it’s for commuting, working, shopping, transporting, leisure or all of the above. [...]
The interface-points are the things that matter most:
Shock Seat-Post
( http://www.thudbuster.com can save your spine, and is gloriously-better than full-shock-frame, for most riding — parallelogram-hinge moves in the *right* direction, when one hits a bump )
Clip-in pedals that give “float” freedom, and-so don’t harm your knees
( Speedplay Frog pedals, with whatever mountain-bike shoes fit you right )
Click-shifters that you like
( SRAM mountain are excellent )
Shock-fork that eats the fatigue from your upper-body
( Action-Tec shock-fork is ideal for general-riding/commuting, SRAM iRide fork is a cheaper less-rugged equiv, conventional 2-shock forks are heavier, but better for “mountain” riding )
Good soft/grippy grips
Good stroboscopic lights red-rear & white-front
( creates *distinct & conscious* awareness among other road-users )
Good steady-light for seeing the road
Excellent tires
( Schwalbe Marathon Supreme – summer / Marathon Winter for the rough-season, some other brands are reputedly equal, but I can’t get the Vredesteins here, & all others I’ve used don’t compare with these-2 )
Disc brakes ( Avid BB7: no oil to contaminate the earth )
Pannier mount-points that are higher ( in back ) to keep one’s panniers out of one’s heels!
( & to keep one’s centre-of-balance closer to one’s body )
These things *already* make such a huge difference,
that anyone who is used to the department-store bikes,
or hardware-store bikes,
who tries a correctly-configured bike rigged this-way,
will *fall in-love* with riding,
right there on the spot.
Instead of trying to find some new gimmick,
why-not get people to try what works excellently right-now,
as that’d make *more* difference to our individual-survival,
as well as to our racial health?
( I used to do 1000km/month as a courier,
in the winter,
so I know the difference between effective + junk, in this stuff.
For winter-riding,
cold-face-masks from Cabela’s are also a necessity:
they’re like ski-masks,
but have a module for heating/humidifying one’s incoming air,
by capturing heat/moisture from one’s out-going air )
The simple fact that bicycles have been around for years,
but *only now are becoming popular* for day-in-day-out living,
shows that the problem isn’t the lack of Some Specific Thing,
it’s a lack of lifestyle-embrace,
that is all…
These best-of-breed changes all contribute to making cycling a living-embrace, rather-than something one does periodically, and THAT would make the biggest difference.
Feel free to tell me to go-to-hell,
but TRY this stuff & compare the ride,
before jumping on conclusions…
Cheers,
Trajan