I hope that you have been enjoying the holidays. I have been taking time off work to spend with my family, so the blog hasn't been getting much attention in the last week or so. That doesn't mean that the links haven't been coming in though, so today I want to quickly pass along several links that have come to my attention recently.Murray is a reader who sends me links pretty often. He forwarded these pictures of a nice looking custom Naked bike with some interesting details.
A while back, Murray also sent me a link to this French electric hybrid bike, the Matra MS1.
Several readers let me know about Africa Bicycle Design's new blog. I will be following along as the design team chronicals the development of new bikes for a Cycling out of Poverty project in Kisumu, Kenya.
Before Christmas, BikeHugger was asking readers to submit questions for Trek's art director, Mike Pfaltzgraff. The deadline has been extended so hurry up if you have questions about the graphics that go onto Trek bikes.
Gizmodo posted a unicycle built for two. It certainly doesn't look easy to use, especially with riders of different weights.
Good.is posted an article titled, “What the bicycle can teach us about the design challenges of the next century".
Don't fall for this claim from Ritte Racing that the UCI banned their bike for “being too good looking”. It is pretty funny though...good marketing for the bikes too. Via Cyclelicious.
Airnimal just released a new fixed gear folding bike that I think looks pretty nice. I would love to have something like this for travel.
Seth pointed out this student designed wooden recumbent trike that is worth checking out.
Wend Magazine tells us that the “The Dweeb-Free Bicycle Helmet is Finally Here”. I am not so sure about that, but take a look and decide for yourself.
Inhabitat posted about a “Recycled Christmas Tree Made of Bike Wheels”. It reminded me of our Bikeville parade float from last year, which featured different diameter wheels to make up the tree.
OK, I will close this post with that last Christmas themed link. I need to get back to the framesets that I am building up with my 11 year old. I was a little nervous yesterday watching him thread a bottom bracket into a new aluminum frame, but we are having a lot of fun assembling the bikes together.
Photo credit: Swhittingham on Flickr
I found Fredrik Rudenstam’s Nishiki urban commute concept bike while browsing though Coroflot portfolios this week. Rudenstam designed the carbon fiber commuter as part of his Master thesis project at the Jönköpings University in Sweden. The rendering doesn’t show any provision for cargo, but it is a good looking bike and the integrated LEDs are a nice touch. Fenders don’t seem to be an option either, which would be a dealbreaker for many commuters. I personally commute on a lightweight road bike with no fenders, so a bike like this would work for me if it had a small integrated rear rack for a light trunk pack.
