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- CommentAuthorjordanye
- CommentTimeAug 10th 2009
http://ems.tumblr.com/post/155550380
"An intelligently designed single speed bike built specifically for optimal city use: a solid piece tobtube/ downtube/ seattube/ and headtube in a great color that reflects light at night. Gorgeously designed seat cluster, with rear brake and signal lights. Front signal lights on the bar, equally gorgeous. Looks like it has an internally wired front disc break, and the pedals have a counterweight at the bottom making it super easy to slip your feet in the cross-designed cages.
Ingenuity and great looks: if this is priced right, and the components are respectable quality, more people will be thrilled to ride a bike instead of hop in their cars."
whats your thoughts?. it looks really futureistic -
- CommentAuthorbensonisajew
- CommentTimeAug 10th 2009
it looks cool and all but i rather buy a frame with regular tubing thats me not big fan of that design its cool though -
- CommentAuthorjordanye
- CommentTimeAug 10th 2009
yeah a little bit too flashy. car drivers might stare too long and get in a car accident -
- CommentAuthorscottybonesss
- CommentTimeAug 10th 2009
uhh idk im not feelin it the way the blue tubing is shaped it is very ugly
but i bet its a nice ride looks smooth -
- CommentAuthorsuicide_doors
- CommentTimeAug 10th 2009
A better link would be this one.
I wonder what material they are thinking for the solid tube, doesn't look like it could be made with metal. It also looks like it would do some serious damage to a male rider's balls were he to land on the top of the frame. The saddle looks equally scary.
Keep in mind that Teague is an industrial design firm and this is therefore simply a design exercise. That said, they have some interesting ideas. The signals and luminescent/reflective frame, especially. The pedals are nothing new, my 40 year-old Schwinn exercise bike has exactly the same thing, minus the cool design.
Teague did come up with the Phantom Lapboard which was a pretty exciting concept tied to a totally failed product. Here's hoping someone takes this and runs with it. -
- CommentAuthorcarbon fiber15
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009 edited
it looks like it would flex like a mother with the open down tube -
- CommentAuthorJoshua A.C. Newman
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009
There's nothing I can see that would keep that channel at the top from a: bending in the middle and failing catastrophically, and b: filling with swampy crap.
Also, it looks like there are a lot of nonstandard parts on this. That reduced theft up until the point where they start to become popular. -
- CommentAuthorsuicide_doors
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009 edited
Posted By: Joshua A.C. Newmanand b: filling with swampy crap.
Here, here. -
- CommentAuthorstinky pete
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009
I would hate to smack my nuts on that top tube... -
- CommentAuthorHyde
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009
Ouch! I was expecting something a little more space age. That's gonna kill a few unborn sperm, not that it will hurt our cause or anything... -
- CommentAuthoriron jaiden
- CommentTimeAug 11th 2009
Haha do you guys really rack your nuts on your current top tubes that much that a change in design would be the end your baby makin abilities?
Learn to ride your bikes fools!
But yeah I can see the obvious flaws in the design. Especially, as mentioned, the fact that the top tube is nothing more than a channel to collect gnarly shit in. I can't imagine the "half tube" is really anything other than a neat looking design element though as a bike like this isn't concerned with shaving weight.
I do like the integrated lighting from an aesthetic standpoint but so many times integrated electronics is just a disaster. It's really not that difficult to throw your Knog Frog on your seat tube when the sun goes down. Besides if you wanna change out components you're not losing a light with em.
Reflective paint job ftw though. And the reflective spoke nipples are pretty cool.
So in conclusion I agree with most here. Fuck that bike, nice paint though. -
- CommentAuthoreaglerock
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009 edited
Posted By: iron jaidenSo in conclusion I agree with most here. Fuck that bike, nice paint though.
Well, okay. But since it's a design exercise, why not expand on the theme? For example:
1) If concave half-cylinders cupped upwards are crap-accumulators, how would it work if the half-cylinders were flipped - concave side down, so that "crap from above" stayed in the the channel? If they were all directed concave-side down, they'd still get road splash; but they wouldn't collect rain.
2) Anything with a convex collection point is going to get junk in it. How about going a different direction - change a large, hollow cylindrical tube into a solid rod of equivalent stiffness? Such a rod would be much thinner than a standard tube; I'd bet that such a rod would also be lighter than an equivalent tube, since it wouldn't need as much mass to maintain its shape as a thinwall tube would.
Hey, if Calfee can make spiderweb frames out of carbon, who's to say I'm nuts? -
- CommentAuthorRideEveryday
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
Besides, it has no fender or rack mounts. "Optimal city use." Prehaps not. -
- CommentAuthorcicadashell
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
Posted By: eaglerock
2) Anything with a convex collection point is going to get junk in it. How about going a different direction - change a large, hollow cylindrical tube into a solid rod of equivalent stiffness? Such a rod would be much thinner than a standard tube; I'd bet that such a rod would also be lighter than an equivalent tube, since it wouldn't need as much mass to maintain its shape as a thinwall tube would.
the word "stiffness" is not precisely defined in this context, but i will assume you mean equal deformation under equal bending moment. in that case we are looking for a solid cross section with an equivalent "flexural rigidity", borrowing a term sometimes used in solid mechanics. if we further assume that this solid rod is made of the same material as the hollow tube, and thus has the same modulus of elasticity, then we are looking to equate the moment of area of a solid circle to the moment of area of an annulus, both about a neutral axis. we can also use these two areas, of equivalent moment, to determine the relative weight of the thin rod versus the hollow tube.
a little algebra should convince you that a solid rod will always weigh more per unit length than a hollow tube of equivalent flexural rigidity. using a somewhat standard steel tube of 1 inch diameter and 0.02 inch thickness, the diameter of the equivalent thin rod is about 0.62 inches (not very thin, actually), which would be nearly five times the weight per unit length. this is why bicycle tubes are hollow.
i think the half-annulus concept is going to fail, too, although it's a little trickier calculating the moment of the half-annulus about a neutral axis. if anyone has the formula handy, or can derive it, please go on ahead. -
- CommentAuthoriron jaiden
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009 edited
Posted By: eaglerock
Posted By: iron jaidenSo in conclusion I agree with most here. Fuck that bike, nice paint though.
Well, okay. But since it's a design exercise, why not expand on the theme? For example:
1) If concave half-cylinders cupped upwards are crap-accumulators, how would it work if the half-cylinders were flipped - concave side down, so that "crap from above" stayed in the the channel? If they were all directed concave-side down, they'd still get road splash; but they wouldn't collect rain.
2) Anything with a convex collection point is going to get junk in it. How about going a different direction - change a large, hollow cylindrical tube into a solid rod of equivalent stiffness? Such a rod would be much thinner than a standard tube; I'd bet that such a rod would also be lighter than an equivalent tube, since it wouldn't need as much mass to maintain its shape as a thinwall tube would.
Hey, if Calfee can makespiderweb frames out of carbon, who's to say I'm nuts?
Thing of it is they're attempting to fix a problem that doesn't exist. When I was an engineering major way back when I remember constantly being asked "yeah but is this just a solution looking for a problem? If so drop it and move on". I agree with that philosophy. The bicycle is an almost perfect machine in need of very little re-design. Only part of the above concept that really accomplishes much is the reflective coating on some surfaces (the integrated lights are more problem than solution). Too often young engineers act more like people in the marketing department and concentrate on how a product looks and how well it'll sell.
Where's the self-truing wheel? the chain that never needs lubrication? the truly self sealing rubber for use in tires and tubes? These are the things I wanna see design nerds working on :) -
- CommentAuthorcarbon fiber15
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
i want to see the self truing wheel -
- CommentAuthorSkidMark
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
Being that they are comparing it to a Ducati Monster I don't think attaching racks and full fenders is the type of urban use they were looking for, more of an "urban assault" bike.
The U-section tube is shaped that way so it can be one continuous tube that wraps around and that the head tube and seat tube fit into. Cool except for the drawbacks that have been pointed out. You could always fit a solid cylindrical top tube pad in that recess, though.
I would think in Seattle they would realize how useless flat narrow bars are for climbing hills. -
- CommentAuthoriron jaiden
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
Posted By: carbon fiber15i want to see the self truing wheel
Haha me too. Not that it's an easy thing to create but they do make machines that "self correct" their radial trueness while they spin. These are high precision machines used for scientific research but usually the self correction is done very simply by using centrifugal force and counter-weights. I wonder if the same concepts could be applied to a new type of bicycle rim.
I'm not an engineer so I have no idea but that's the kind of research I wanna see done! -
- CommentAuthorwes m.
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
The turn signal dealio might be cool on the back of a helmet but only if I could control it with my psychic powers. As far as the chain that needs no lube, thats sort of been invented in a backwards way. Those old english 3 speeds with the fully enclosed chain guards only need lube about once a decade.
Its about time that someone invents rust proof everything, high pressure tires that grip in pooring rain, and a cheaper lighter internally geared hub that can be shifted with downtube/bar end shifters. -
- CommentAuthorJoshua A.C. Newman
- CommentTimeAug 12th 2009
The swampy crap issue is only a minor one compared to the collapsibility of that top tube.
Hold a toilet paper tube between your palms, with your palms on the ends. Now squeeze. That's compression force, like that your top tube gets when you go over a bump.
Now cut the tube lengthways and push.
Turning the channel the other way, (ignoring the reasons the designer did it, which has to do with it fitting onto the seat tube and down tube) would, in fact, be better, since the compression happens at the top (since the pivot point would be the bottom bracket). It's still far, far weaker than a tube. You'd need much heavier material to get it as strong as a tube of the same material.
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