A bike for Abruzzo National Park by Alessio D'Onofrio

Wow! 2010 has been off to a busy start. I was hoping to get my review of the Batavus BUB urban bike posted before the end of the year, but I just can’t seem to find the time to sit down and write a few paragraphs. It is on my to do list for the coming week though, so look for that review soon.

Today, I want to quickly share a project from Italian architect and designer, Alessio D'Onofrio. Alessio worked on a thesis project titled "Inter-modal system aimed to the conscious and assisted fruition National Park of Abruzzo” as an architecture student at the University G. D’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara in 2006. He focused on a both a system and a product (the bicycle) to create a sustainable way for tourists to visit the Abruzzo National Park. Below you can read Alessio’s abstract describing his project, and see a few of the images from his slideshow presentation:

Introduction

The reflections about the theme of environment, suggested in this paper, come from the consideration that the Italian territory shows a large environmental estate, which has been scarcely developed, while the demand for eco-tourism has been increasing more and more.

The landscape of protected areas between development and defense

Italy owns an extraordinary natural protected estate, which needs to be defended and made accessible and comfortable to be lived. In order to love and defend the environment, it is necessary that use, fruition and preservation of our environmental heritage, become integral part of the estimation developing activity. All this requires both the promotion of environment resources knowledge and an action of design ethically responsible.

Strategy orientation and guidelines

In this perspective, the protected areas of parks, are the ideal scenery to make tests on new patterns of sustainable intervention without separating protection from development. Protected areas are surely required to defend the most sensitive and precious eco-systems due to biodiversity, but they are also an extraordinary instrument for the sustainable development in several strategy-sections like tourism, agricultural food production, craftsmanship and management of natural and environmental goods.

The sustainable solution

On the basis of these methods guidelines, the theme of sustainable mobility has been afforded in protected mountain areas. The application regards a project of an inter-modal System meant for tourist fruition in the National Park of Abruzzo.

The National Park of Abruzzo

The National Park of Abruzzo has been chosen as “sensitive landscape” for the particular
combination between spontaneous nature and landscape created by man on a land inhabited since long time ago, shaped and transformed by traditional culture and thousand year old civilizations (Lepore, 2001). In these last years, the problems connected to eco-development have been raised. That is, the need to harmonize the preservation and the urgent requirements by man of natural resources, between the maintenance of dynamic balance referred to eco-system structures and the necessity of socio-economic development of local population. In particular, the most relevant problem concerns the alteration of the environmental context due to the effect of man's pressure submitted to a tourist-receptive system showing a high level of non-sustainability: increase of vehicle mobility inside the Park, surface, acoustic and air pollution, overall life quality decrease of the residents.

THE SERVICE:

The inter-modal system for the conscious and assisted fruition of the National Park of Abruzzo

Inside a general pattern of strategy guidelines established by the Park Corporation, the sustainable solution which has been found responds to question on how it may be possible to manage and enhance the activities of tourist fruition in the Park, respecting the delicate environment balances. The proposal consists of an inter-modal System for the conscious and assisted fruition of the Park. The solution has been suggested as a service which provides information, assistance, minimal products and equipments for those who want to visit the Park by means of a resource management advanced service entrusted to the Park Corporation.

The system is a network spread all over the area of the Park and it is mainly based on different and interrelated transport modalities characterized by lighter ecological imprints as the demand of tourist fruition is shifted from the populated areas easier to be reached, to places of higher nature value and difficult to be reached (vehicle + electric shuttle + bike + walk).

The service, in fact, includes several strategic points of inter-modal exchange that play also a role of support for the different leisure, sport, didactic and scientific activities. In these points the service offers information, assistance, maintenance, small equipments and products useful for the fruition of the Park. The service guarantees also a good system for collecting rubbish separately. Further, through satellite technology, the interaction between the service manager and the users of the Park is constantly and continuously updated. The service also requires the use of different tools like: digital media interfaces for first aid emergency, orientation and geographical, botanical, geological and zoological information, able to record texts as well as moving and fixed images, signs, furniture products and the small, light and flexible receptive structures spread on the territory of the Park in order to equip picnic areas as well as those meant for didactic, scientific and sport activities, electric bikes for going along the routes of the Park together with specialized supporting Kit to be used for the activities.

THE BICYCLE:

The product concept: the bike of the Park

The analysis of the service map has allowed to get its key-product: the “ Bike of the Park”. It consists of a vehicle made of two wheels, alternative to the traditional motorized mean of transport, meant for a tourist who feels responsible of his role searching in protected areas a fruition experience rich in content at social, cultural and environmental level. The context features, the strategy orientation of the Park Corporation, the targets and the list of service specific requirements have defined the project brief. The concept comes from the careful management of all the inputs coming from disciplines (ergonomics, environment requirements, material technology) where it is absolutely necessary to obtain from, to develop an object to be used according to the patterns of design.

The high quality formal product innovation consists of: experimental employment of carbon fiber, connection to the satellite information system, versatility (leisure activities, competition, transport of things), use adjustability, assisted cycling pace, equipment and service tools as part of the frame (universal case -kits for emergency, orientation and first aid, leisure, scientific, didactic activities exc.), a flexible bag for litter to be inserted under the saddle, joint trailer outfits, eco-compatibility according to the criteria of Life Cycle Design.

Cannondale Dutchess follow-up

The blog's stats for the last couple of days show that my last post, about the Cannondale Dutchess concept bike for women, has generated a LOT of interest. That certainly doesn’t surprise me. Having seen quite a few student designed concept bikes over the years, I can say without hesitation that this is one of my favorites. For that reason, I wanted to find out more about the bike, and the ideas behind it, from it’s designer, Wytze van Mansum. I got quite a bit of info from Wytze, so this post will be a bit longer than usual.

Before going into some of the details, I will share his short, official explanation of the design:

“This is the Cannondale Dutchess; the result of the graduation project of Wytze van Mansum at the Delft University of Technology in assignment of high-end bicycle manufacturer Cannondale.

There is a revival of the city bicycle as a mode of transport throughout the USA in congested cities like New York. And Cannondale is eager to serve the high end of this new market.

This elegant commuter is designed with young urban women in mind, who care about their looks, health and the environment, but don't want to be bothered with technical details or bicycle maintenance. To fill this desire of a carefree and stylish ride the design was approached as a fashion item. Although the looks of this bicycle are of a deceiving simplicity, the underlying technical details are far from that.

Dutchess refers to the typical Old Dutch bicycle, the ‘Omafiets’, but integrates its form elements in an innovative way. The rear fender acts as a structural part of the frame; it holds the carrier with a load of up to 50kg. The eye-catching arch connects the whole bicycle from handlebars to taillight both structurally and visually. At the same time it expresses the sturdiness, comfort and ease of ride of the ‘Omafiets’. What she didn’t inherit is the weight; loyal to the Cannondale philosophy the weight of the complete bicycle is kept under the 14kg by the integration of parts and functions.

The integrated transmission with the gears in the rear hub means the bicycle can be ridden in formal clothes and at any speed.

The hub brakes are completely integrated and hydraulics makes them self adjusting to compensate brake pad wear. Because the brake lines are fully integrated into the frame the brakes can double act as wheel locks. The lock in the handlebar stem locks up the oil flow and keeps the wheels locked.

The adjustable handlebars allow for different riding positions from upright to extremely sportive and they can be folded together for easy storage. They also can be used to secure the bicycle to a fixed object with the same lock that is used to lock up the wheels

High up and well visible, the bicycle rider sits on a pedestal compared to other road users. While car drivers are tucked away in metal boxes and pedestrians go up in the crowd, the Dutchess’ cyclist paddles along gracefully, displaying herself to the world. By this rational a bicycle could well be considered a fashion accessory. And this clean, maintenance free concept bike could even be sold as such.”

Pretty interesting…and you can read more about the Dutchess project (as well as see more development images) if you download Wytze’s portfolio. Several of his other bike concepts are included in the pdf, so I would definitely recommend checking it out. You probably still have some questions about the Dutchess though, so lets get into some of the features.

The frame shape is quite different, with its flowing lines and lack of seat stays, but it still comes across a clean, updated traditional bike form. That is the core of what initially appealed to me about this design. Wytze explains his idea behind the form;

“It should stand out in the shop, really something special; but when the user is riding it, the attention should be on her, not on the bike. She wants to be seen, not been stared at as if she was riding some sort of circus attraction.

I achieved this by making the form logic; normally a diamond shaped frame is the most logic form, but this is for a sports bicycle. Add the rear fender, the luggage carrier, the chainguard and the step through frame to the equation and you will see that this is a more logical form then the diamond shape. This is the reason why everybody sees it as a regular bike even though it is so different.”

The pivoting handlebars in this design allow the rider to tailor her position on the bike. Toward the middle of the pivot, the bars allow for a very upright typical “omafiets” position with good visibility for city riding. When the bars are positioned all the way forward, the riding position is much sportier (see the picture that illustrates these two positions). The system is continuously variable, so the rider can choose any position and lock it down with the handle in the middle. The fact that the handlebars also close and function as a lock is really just a byproduct of the hinged system. Wytze explains:

“There is a central locking point in the stem, it locks the handlebars (as in the video), and it locks off the flow in the hydraulic brake lines, so the wheels can be locked. Brakelines are inside the frame, stem, handlebars. Thieves need to cut into these vital parts to mess with it.

The handlebars lock is not always practical, it was mainly designed to fold together for easy storage. In the concept a cable lock was integrated inside the long arch which could be pulled out, wrapped around a fixed object and inserted in the stem, double acting as a steering tube lock.”

The modular wheel idea is another interesting element of the design. According to Wytze:

“The hubs / wheels are identical; it is transformed into the specific front or rear hub by inserting either a dynamo or gear 'module'. This whole thing asks from you to completely forget what you know about dropouts. You have a cheap, empty shell as a hub/wheel. You slide it between the forks, insert the brake modules and the specific modules, tighten them and the wheel is all set. This is as fast as a normal set up, but you can't take out the wheels when the brakes are engaged (hence the brake - wheel lock). Furthermore as a bike mechanic working at my LBS I have to re-lace many wheels because the gear hub wheels can't be bought as stock part because there are so many possible combinations. Here you can order cheaper prefab (prelaced) wheels and slide in the expensive gear modules.”

This is a concept bike though, so regarding the wheels, Wytze goes on to say; “This is dreaming: this is a better standard then the current solution, but it will never happen.”

Also because it is a concept bike, the drivetrain is not completely explained. Wytze says that “it is maintenance free, it has an efficiency of 96% (compared to 98% chain efficiency). It works.” The hole in the bottom bracket is visually striking, but it had another purpose in the design; “it is the legacy of the idea to give the customer the option to fit the bike aftermarket with an electric pedal assist.

Nowadays you either buy an electric bike, or you don't. Transforming one into the other is not simple. But here you can slide an aftermarket motor in the crank, slide the battery pack in the oversized seattube, and you have pedal assist for at least a range of 10 miles (for most commuters far enough) you can slide out the battery pack and fast charge it in half an hour. You can take out the motor and batterypack and have the advantages back of a lightweight bike.”

Wytze spent 8 months on the design and 5 months on the build, but due to time constraints, there were still quite a few details that didn’t make it into the prototype. I will let him outline some of those details for you:

- the luggage carrier is modular, you can exchange it for a basket, they love having a basket in the rear in Germany ;), or a childs seat (as the rearfender is the frame, it can be legally attached to the fender under european laws)

In the concept there are skirt guards covering a large part of the rear wheel (the arch and fender are the contours) the skirtgaurds contain envelop bags or very flat paniers as you might call them. Up front there is a basket / bag hybrid. Here in the Netherlands at the show that (lack of storage) was what bothered most people about the prototype.

- the saddle was to be a lot nicer then the stock one I used here. (see render on my site)

- there were even airless tires incorporated to really achieve that maintenance free bike I had envisioned.

- kickstand is included in the design, just not in the prototype; it is a double legged, sturdy kickstand that slides from the straight part in the rearfender near the bracket, remember the rearfender is actually a tube so it can contain the kickstand

- (though it isn’t shown in the pics) the rear fender is a hollowtube as mentioned before, there is actually a small plastic fender extension that slides out of the back, to make the fender long enough for the really rainy days.

Whew! Long post. For those of you who made it this far, I will say again that I am really impressed with this student project. If you have ever worked on a corporate sponsored project in design school, you know how many hours went into this. It is worth remembering that this design and rideable prototype was the work of one student, with input and guidance from Torgny Fjeldskaar at Cannondale (Update 11/21: Wytze had two other mentors on this project; Annemiek van Boeijen and Bruno Ninaber van Eyben).

I think Wytze did a great job. If you haven’t already, check out his website and watch the HD video of his prototype in action.

Cannondale Dutchess

dutchess_1, originally uploaded by carltonreid.

BikeBiz points us to the Dutchess, a new concept bike designed by Wytze van Mansum, a design student at the Delft University of Technology. According to a company statement, the bike was "designed for women keen to express their style amongst the fast paced and ever changing urban vibe."

The Dutchess is only a rideable prototype at this point. As has been the case with previous concept bikes though, elements of the design may make their way into future Cannondale urban bicycles.

See more pictures of the bike in Carlton Reid's Dutchess gallery on Flickr.

Update 11/17: Watch this video, made by Eelke Dekker, which shows the Dutchess concept bike in action. I have more information, straight from Wytze, about this bike's features and the ideas behind the design, so look for that in a separate post soon.

A carbon commuter concept and assorted links

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.

ROBRADY design was recently awarded a Gold Spark award for the design of their db0 electric folding bike. You can read more about the bike and the award here and here.

Treehugger posted about the PUYL Tire Pump, which features an integrated LED light. The battery for the light recharges as the pump is used. Great design…but unfortunately only a prototype at this time.

Ecouterre posted about LFLECT, a line of reflective knit accessories that look like regular clothing by day but illuminate at night.

Cyclelicious points us to Cargo Bike Gallery, a great place to see various cargo bike deigns.

Finally I will mention LimitedHype’s visit to Trek’s headquarters. I linked to some of their pictures in an earlier post, but I don’t think I ever mentioned their post, which includes additional shots of the design department. It really is a great creative space.

A student-designed velomobile

As you know, I like to share student designs from time to time. Joseph Campbell is a recent design graduate whose senior thesis project “dealt with bicycles and how they do not fit into Americas current grid”. As someone who has cycled for transportation for many years, I don’t completely agree with that statement, but I do see his point. There is much more that can be done both with infrastructure and with various types of pedal powered vehicle designs that can open human powered transportation options up to a larger segment of the population. I won’t discuss the inadequacies of our current transportation system in this post. Instead, I will share Joseph’s thoughts about the velomobile that he designed in his own words:

"As a frequent bicycle rider I quickly realized that bicycles don't work well with other vehicles. The problem that I found was that bicycles do not fit into Americas current transport grid. The roads were built for cars, trucks and buses but not bicycles. We try to fix this by adding bike lanes but in reality I feel this is only putting a bandage on the grid (unless they are separated lanes). This is where the concept of redesigning a velomobile came from. Currently most velomobiles are small, very aerodynamic, and European based. This concept sets to challenge that idea, questioning what if we make larger, more agile, have it mass-produced and blend into the Urban/Suburban environment.

The overall size is comparable to a small car at about 9' x 4-3/4' x 4'. This was done to improve visibility and blend in with other vehicles in the transportation grid. Its construction consists of a steel tubular frame with replaceable ABS panels. This was done to solve the issue of a damaged fiberglass monocoque. The suspension is a unique design with torsion springs inside pivot points of the control arms. This was intended to allow greater stability in turning by allowing the vehicle to lean into the corner. The rear drive system is also unique. Because it is such a long body shifting would become unresponsive using such a long stretch of chain. The derailleur was moved to the pivot of the rear swing arm and is set up much like a bottom bracket w/ suspension on a mountain bike. Instead of having pedals and a crank the cassette and belt drive pulley are attached.

This concept is the "standard" version based on a velomobile. Future planned improvements to this model include electric assist, all wheel drive, a removable "truck bed" body, internally geared swing arm w/ reverse, head/ tail lights and a solar film wrap.”