NEW ROLLING WORKS OF ART
Last week, we shared the most beautiful longboard designs available right now. Today, we’ve put together a collection of some of the coolest, most elegant bike designs that we could find. Some are concepts or prototypes that we wish were available to buy. Others can be at your doorstep in less than a week, provided that you are willing to spend some $$$.
Peugeot is not a typical household name in the world of sharp design. However, at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, the French brand revealed their Onyx line, featuring the Onyx supercar, Onyx scooter, and Onyx bike (shown here). Keeping the black and copper design elements consistent throughout the line, designers at Peugeot have created one of the most beautiful bicycle concepts around.
The Onyx Concept Bike features a mostly carbon-fibre components, including the frame and wheels. It even has a full carbon monolink seat. Designed specifically for time trial races, the Onyx is light, agile, and fast. It’s built solely for tracks and smooth terrain, so if you’re lucky enough to acquire one of these, don’t take it down any mountains. For that, we recommend turning your attention to something a little more rugged...
German automaker, Audi, is known for its understated yet impeccable designs. In an ambitious project to create an electric bike that houses a powerful motor while still retaining a lightweight frame and incredible looks, the automaker company revealed the Audi E-bike Wörthersee.
The Wörthersee is built almost entirely of carbon fiber, an extremely resilient and lightweight material, which is what allows it to check in at an unheard of 3.53 pounds (without the battery). The wheels, frame, and even the front suspension forks were custom designed for this machine. We love the attention to detail, as the steely grey, carbon fiber black, and red accents combine to make a sleek, sexy bike that looks like it can take on the roughest of terrains.
Besides the built in WiFi and integrated smartphone controls for locking and unlocking the bike, Audi snuck one more fantastic feature onto the Wörthersee. With help of some clever algorithms and gyroscopes, the bike can flip into Balanced Wheelie mode, so you can ride around on just the back wheel without having the coordination of a stuntman.
Unfortunately, Audi has not yet released any information on the availability and price. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a soonish launch date.
These bikes in the Glow series from the folks over at Pure Fix Cycles are, lucky for you, available for purchase right now. There are currently four models offered, and though they look very similar at first glance, it’s when the lights are off and the glowing paint is illuminated that you can see the differences.
The secret ingredient for these glowing beauties is the solar-activated paint, which will provide an hour of night time fun for every hour of sunlight it soaks up. The paint is carefully applied to different parts of the frame to help you create unique streaks of light as you whip around at night. An added benefit is that you’ll be visible from a mile away for any car on the road so you can confidently pedal without the fear of eating metal.
Pure Fix Cycles are firm supporters of fixed gear bikes, which is when the rear cog is directly attached to the back wheel, as opposed to having a ball-bearing system that allows the wheel to freely spin independently of the cog. In other words, on a fixed gear bike, when you pedal forward, you will move forward, and when you pedal backwards, you will move backwards.
Why fixed gear riding? Well, fewer parts means a lighter bike and dramatically improved maneuverability. More important, though is efficiency and the wonderful feeling of being “attached” to the bike, as the power generated from your pedaling is directly transferred into the wheels. For those who are still doubtful, the bikes feature a flip-flop rear hub that gives rider the option to switch between riding fixed gear or single speed.
In contrast to the inherently simple design of the fixed gear bikes from Pure Fix Cycles, the Sandwichbike, imaged by Designer Basten Leijh, is a complex creation consisting of almost 50 individual parts... that you have to assemble yourself. Fun!
The Sandwichbikes feature two panes of beautiful layered plywood that are held together by “smart cylinders.” The finished effect is a deceptively minimalistic velocipede that is wonderfully exotic. If you do choose to pre-order and fork over upwards of $1000 for this wooden beauty, you’ll get everything that you need to start assembling right away in a small, flat cardboard box.
Don’t be surprised at how much attention you’ll get once you start cruising around in your local neighborhood on one of these.
Photo: Courtesy of CycleEXIF. Spyker Aeroblade
As an extra treat, because we thought this collection would not be complete without it, we couldn’t resist also including the stylish and refined Aeroblade, the result of a 2009 partnership between supercar maker, Spyker, and Dutch bike company, Koga. Though it was a one time collaboration and only 50 total were made, we are impatiently waiting, hoping, that a new model is made soon. Anytime now, guys....
Photo: Courtesy of CycleEXIF. Spyker Aeroblade
No matter if they are sleek, rugged, playful, or ergonomic, bicycles can be beautiful. Although to some, bikes will always be just another mode of transportation, we hope that after reading this post, you can appreciate the beauty of the rolling works of art.
Enjoy our other Beautiful Wheels posts this week, including The Most Beautiful Wheels Now, Beautiful Wheel Reinventions, Cool New Wheels Change Worlds, and Beautiful Food on Wheels Now. And enter this week’s photo competition. The theme: Beautiful Wheels (Deadline: August 11th, 2013).
