7 Awesome bike-centric projects:
Amazing Record-Playing Bicycle Blasts Music as You Pedal
Yves Behar Unveils ‘Local Bike’ Utility Cycle With a Cargo Container
Silverback Builds Urban Bikes with USB Chargers for Your Gadgets
INTERVIEW: We Talk to Bicycle Library Founder Karta Healy
Innovative RoundTail Bike Frame Cuts Vibrations 50-Fold
Oracle Beater: Bike-Powered Paper Mill Turns Invasive Plants Into Paper in Ghana
Soft-Ride WOW Bike Designed by Ron Arad Has Steel Tires
Amazing Record-Playing Bicycle Blasts Music as You Pedal
Several Dutch designers got together to create a few “feats per second” (a play on the word fiets, which means bicycle). The team outfitted a 30 year old Alpina bike with turntables and a battery-powered amplifier so that the bike pumps out tunes while the user pedals down the street. A little bit of music will get even the most uninspired biker back on the road.
Yves Behar Unveils ‘Local Bike’ Utility Cycle With a Cargo Container
We’ve never seen an Yves Behar project we didn’t like, and “Local Bike” is definitely no exception. This striking cargo bike effortlessly combines utility and style while performing in a variety of terrains. The beige platform in front has tall walls and guard rails so that nothing will fall out – a major improvement on old-fashioned basket bikes.
Silverback Builds Urban Bikes with USB Chargers for Your Gadgets
If you were thinking about staying home a little while longer while your favorite gadget charges up, now there’s no reason to do it thanks to Silverback’s amazing Starke bikes. These urban bikes have a USB gadget port that connects to a hub on the wheel, harvesting the energy created while pedaling. And even when there are no gadgets plugged in, the same system charges your bicycle’s lights!
INTERVIEW: We Talk to Bicycle Library Founder Karta Healy
Do you ever see a project and kick yourself for not thinking of it first? That’s kind of how we felt when we first saw the Bicycle Library founded by Karta Healy. Along with a few friends, he re-vamped a double decker bus and populated it with bicycles that are available for Londoners to loan. Step on in to read our brief interview with the founder and be inspired!
Innovative RoundTail Bike Frame Cuts Vibrations 50-Fold
Sometimes not wanting to get on a bicycle is as uncomplicated as having a sore rear end from all the bumps hit along the way, but Tortola’s amazing Roundtail bicycle reduces these painful vibrations by as much as 50 times. How does it work? The shock of impacts is transferred to two hollow round tubes at the back of the bicycle, where conventionally, designers have triangles. It’s quite expensive, but who can put a price on a bruise-free bum?
Oracle Beater: Bike-Powered Paper Mill Turns Invasive Plants Into Paper in Ghana
We love humanitarian design, but it doesn’t get much better than a bike that helps underprivileged folk in Ghana. Mary Hark, professor at the Design Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founder of HARK! Handmade Paper Studio, created this very cool bike that power a paper mill. This isn’t any old paper mill, mind you. Instead, invasive plant species are converted into paper, so this project provides exercise, a small income, and gets rid of pesky plants that mess disrupt the local ecosystem.
Soft-Ride WOW Bike Designed by Ron Arad Has Steel Tires
Israeli designer Ron Arad needs few introductions, so it comes as no surprise that he has WOWed us again with this incredible (and functional) steel-wheeled bicycle. The wheels are shaped like flowers and provide a surprisingly soft ride. We hope that if you needed some prodding to get hit the road, this collection of projects has got you inspired!