Comments

1
I know I'll get run out of town, but for an urban utility bike, electric assist, lights that won't get blocked by cargo, and an awesome lock gave my vote to Seattle.
2
25k? Fuck Off.

So the scaled-down "lay person" market models will be, what, 5k, at best? Also fuck off.
3
It seems like they're inventing problems to solve.
4
Hey, you know who's really making some goddamned useful urban bicycles? Fucking Flying Pigeon out of China. This shit up above is just a bunch of twee-bullshit that'll never translate into useful products.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Pigeon
5
Air bags and surround sound please. Also where's the goddamnd GPS.
6
"The pedals alone cost more than your bike"

People are really dumb with money.
7
If you need an app to ride a bike, you are doing it all wrong, please move to some other city immediately. If you spend $5,000 on a commuter biker you have far too much damn money. All the bikes were elitist, ego masturbating, jokes, but at least Seattle's bike had blinkers and a front rack.
8
The Ultimate Urban Bike is a 70s' steel frame built for 27" wheels you found by a dumpster, then threw on some drop bars, a plastic back fender (or matching duct-tape set), a back rack with a milk crate, and the cheapest used parts you could find. THAT is the bike that represents Portland.
9
How do you get 11 speeds? I can understand 5, 10, 12 and 18, but I don't get 11.
10
It's a design competition, not a market bike for your ass. Gotta say though, the portland entry is the most pretentious and lame, a fucking biking ap is the big feature? The Seattle bike has some cool features, I like the build in handle lock and auto activated lights that are integrated, and it could actually carry stuff. The fenders are innovative as well assuming they work. The interchangeable rack on the SF bike has some cool applications, and the retractable lock on the NYC bike is cool as well, then you don't have to plan too much. Yes, you can put together a better value than this, but that isn't what this competition was about.
11
at 25k, I will be looking for an Elio-coming to a showroom next spring (2015),@6,800 bucks you can darn near buy 3 of them for the price of ONE and you don't have to pedal it! These ridiculously priced hipster bicycles.I totally agree with you Roark Turner--Go Schwinn Suburban!!
12
So they couldn't find someone who spoke English in Portland? That video was painful to listen to.
13
I love the optimism and drive of these projects! It's going to be a great day.
14
The Portland team has broken new ground by showing that something can be butch and overwrought, but twee at the same time. Breathtaking.
15
At least Dave Levy's entry has traditional ergonomics and adjustability (did you check out the seat posts on the Merge and Devo?! And although admittedly super-expensive as unveiled, the total cost of ownership over the life of the (comparable high-end) product with titanium is surprisingly actually lower than with any other material on earthβ€”as it will far outlast them all! No painting, no rust, no anodizing, heat-treatment, no routine risk of catastrophic failure, etc. 3D-printing also actually "scales" very well with sufficient up front capitalization, compared with more labor and materials-intensive (=more costly) traditional methods. A classy and yes SOLID design, if stratospheric in cost and less obviously "daring" (but I do really dig that elegant/cool solenoid shifting!) Just saying'...

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.