Cyclecide - Bike Rodeo

A few days ago the television show of one of my favorite blogs premiered on US television. I'm talking about Make. There is no excuse for anyone to miss this fantastic show because all the individual fragments are available through the major video sites (YouTube, Vimeo). But, and this is even better, the entire show can also be downloaded for free, legal.

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about my fascination for Makezine. So on the premiere episode was this a-ma-zing feature about Cyclecide, a San Fransisco based group of people that do the impossible with bikes. They have a couple of hard-core, highly creative bicycle engineers that create awesome stuff. What? I'll show you.

At first sight this seems just a regular carousel. It is, in fact, but the Cyclofuge Swing (as it's official name goes) is not powered by electricity or steam. No, it's powered by none other then us humans. If you look carefully there are four people at the center pedaling like a bunch of crazymen just to keep the four other people in the swing seats going.

The best of all is that the Cyclofuge Swing has been create out of old bicycle parts that have been recovered from dump yard. Isn't that like the furthest end of awesomity you know?

The Cyclecides do way more with bikes. They make tall bikes, mini bikes, flame-throwing bikes, inverted steering bikes, swinging bikes and even instrumental bikes.
So, if you think you're ready for a dose of pure awesomeness, a fair share of humor and a perfect piece of engineering you should absolutely check out the Cyclecide feature from Make Television; here it is. (Or check out the official Cyclecide website of course).

Bike Hero

About a year ago, Guitar Hero became somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine. I played often but the novelty of the whole thing sort of wore out after a while. I’ve noticed that this has become a recent trend with a lot of the latest video games, people become consumed by them and after a while, they just sort of forget about it. Well I just found a healthy solution to this problem. Take a look at this...

I can’t even begin to imagine how long it took to arrange this but I loved every second of it. A high five to Jaron Albertin for directing this. Now, I fully understand that this viral video could’ve been created with the underlying purpose of promoting one of the “hottest gifts” of the holiday season but I chose to view this video differently. Through the SuperForest lens I saw a video that was not only healthy and promotes exercise, but a video whose creativity is beyond words. Instead of promoting Guitar Hero World Tour, let’s imagine this is promoting bikes and spending time with friends and loved ones to create something truly spectacular. Now those are two gifts that should top any holiday wish list.

Love to All,

Carla

The IV-1 Plastic Bike

I've seen bikes made from cardboard, bikes with cool LED's and bikes with very cool transmissions. But as far as my memory goes I've never seen a bike made from plastic. Recycled plastic to be more specific.
This is the IV-1 prototype by Matt Clark.


Matt Clark is one of the few very bright designers who think before they do. When designing the IV-1 Clark kept the (costs of the) production process, material costs and the environment in the back of his mind. The bike is intended for mass production and can be assembled without screws. Yes, the plastic is constructed in such a way that the entity can be clicked together.

The plastic parts may look a bit weak. It's plastic though. But in fact the parts are built up of triangles, which gives a tremendous amount of sturdiness to the vehicle.

The IV-1 seems a great way to commute to work the healthy way and in the same time go easy on the environment. The best part is that the designer kept mass production in the back of his mind, so this could be just around the corner.

via:bike commuters

-jdh