I was doing a little more research on the internet in my constant search for an Urban Bicycle Design and I happened across a guys blog who emailed me a few weeks back named gwadzilla (Please see comments page on this blog). His site lead me to another website called urbanvelo.org and I must share with all of you that I saw 2 designs that made me scream out "Those are nasty!" Nasty being a good thing where I come from. My heart is still racing at this very moment that I write because for the 1st time since I have been working on my project I actaully saw some designs that made me think "Now why didn't I think of that?"
These designs hail from a 'Handmade' bicycle design show and are very creative. The design to the left was simply titled 'Roark' and as you can see, from a distance it looks very bland. When one takes a closer look at this design, it is creative in very simple ways. The 1st being the handle bars which are some sort of 'Ox Horn' imitation. These handle bars are worthy of the monikor of 'Funk'! I do not propose to you that these handle bars should in anyway be produced on a mass scale because when we take a closer look at the Handle Grip section, they come to a point, a sort of stabbing point, which can be very dangerous if one's body is thrust into these bars somehow. The fork also resembles some sort of brown and white tusks! Once again dear readers, 'I saw the funk, and it is good.'
This next design is from that same handmade bicycle design show. This is a girl's bike and after you look at those "Butterfly" style rims, need I say more? My point to all this is very simple. Why can't you and I go to our nearest bicycle retailer and have the experience of seeing these kinds of designs on the shelf? The reason is what I stated many months back on this same blog. The 'Big Boys' are lazy and worried more about saving a few pennies than getting the market excited! As a matter of fact readers, the only Urban Bicycle Designer you know, namely me, is going to write to Pacific Cycles, Huffy, Phat Cycles and a few more and ask them what I have always wanted to know, where is the creativity? As stated above, I think I know, but until I actually hear it from them, how much do I really know?
With the next few posts, I am going to wax philosophical on the very real issue of Americans losing jobs to foreign countries and make a case for the fact that when we lose jobs, we also lose our edge on bicycle innovation. To clarify, many of you may believe that when I say the word innovation, I mean something mechanically different than what came before. That is a valid argument. However, innovation, to me, can mean a different type of paint job, structural configuration, new rim styles, or just something that produces an emotional response that wasn't present before. I have commented on several occasions about my belief that the brand 'Next', produced by Pacific Cycles and sold at Wal-Mart are uninspiring, cheap and basically a piece of junk. I still hold that opinion. Even those bicycles can be reworked to a point that they do produce an emotional response and a need to own by the buying public.
Before I go any further note: I AM NOT SAYING THESE BIKES ARE THE FUNK!
I have posted several pictures that I came across during the research phase of my project for your review. I can't honestly say that they made me 'Freak Out' but they are very nice and different type of designs. The mountain bike in the top right hand corner has a very eye catching paint job, loud attention getting tires and the seat ties in nicely with the over all color scheme. The Design directly below this paragraph is sure to get the attention of any browser looking for something that is different and eye catching. The description says it is a Mountain Bike and my initial thought was "This doesn't look like a Mountain Bike". After further consideration I recanted my statement and thought "Who am I to say what a Mountain Bike should look like." Yes, me! Now if I am on the search for funk and innovation and I thought like that, what are people who design bikes and are in the business thinking?
Anyone can tell a company's overall thought process by the products they produce. A company's culture is determined by those in charge. 4 of the last 5 designs I have seen that emotionally move me have been produced by foreign companies. More about this in my next posting. Back to the title of this post. With the loss of jobs, comes the loss of inspiring thought to produce innovative products in any particular field. The bicycle industry was HUGE in this country during the hey-day of American Cycle Racing in the late 19th century. Bicycle factories where popping up all over the East Coast and HOOOTTT products soon followed. Innovations such as the 'Chain less Bicycle' which was developed specifically for Marshall 'Major' Taylor to smash all velodrome speed records came along.
We went from the old school 'High Wheel' Bicycles to what came to be known as 'Safety Bicycles' which survive even to this day. The auto industry came along a few years later and the hey-day of American Bicycle Racing had passed. Racing was still popular in Europe and Australia during these years but the damage was done to the American Bicycle scene. I do not know if we can get back there and take over the bicycle innovation business, but what I do know is that the American bicycle design crowd (myself included) should really take a hard look at what we are doing and how we are doing it.
Whoever you are, email me and let's get a dialogue going on what we can do to bring the funk back into the marketplace. Sit back and enjoy these CHINESE designs for now. I will post again soon and continue this dialogue. My next post will be a stunner to most of you. It deals with the obesity in this country and unfortunately with the fact that we have become and indoor culture and how this has affected our ability to innovate with bicycles.
These designs hail from a 'Handmade' bicycle design show and are very creative. The design to the left was simply titled 'Roark' and as you can see, from a distance it looks very bland. When one takes a closer look at this design, it is creative in very simple ways. The 1st being the handle bars which are some sort of 'Ox Horn' imitation. These handle bars are worthy of the monikor of 'Funk'! I do not propose to you that these handle bars should in anyway be produced on a mass scale because when we take a closer look at the Handle Grip section, they come to a point, a sort of stabbing point, which can be very dangerous if one's body is thrust into these bars somehow. The fork also resembles some sort of brown and white tusks! Once again dear readers, 'I saw the funk, and it is good.'
This next design is from that same handmade bicycle design show. This is a girl's bike and after you look at those "Butterfly" style rims, need I say more? My point to all this is very simple. Why can't you and I go to our nearest bicycle retailer and have the experience of seeing these kinds of designs on the shelf? The reason is what I stated many months back on this same blog. The 'Big Boys' are lazy and worried more about saving a few pennies than getting the market excited! As a matter of fact readers, the only Urban Bicycle Designer you know, namely me, is going to write to Pacific Cycles, Huffy, Phat Cycles and a few more and ask them what I have always wanted to know, where is the creativity? As stated above, I think I know, but until I actually hear it from them, how much do I really know? 
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