BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Grand Prize winning bike was the Freewill designed by two US-based Koreans.
"With a pithy styling, Freewill can be freely transformed between a bike and a scooter simply by turning the frame by 90 degrees. It is highly creative while highly feasible at the same time," said the judges.
Hmm.
Apparently, there were 1131 entries from 58 countries.
The second prize winning design was also a bike-cum-scooter. The City Stepper "combines the functions of a bike and a scooter. Riding at a standing position, its driving mechanism is similar to that of an elliptical fitness cross-trainer. It provides physical exercise as well as the pleasure of riding. Specially designed spherical handle not only improves safety but also enables easy handling."
The pic at the base of this article shows the One Piece Bicycle from a Dutch designer. Dunno how it steers, as everything appears to be, quite literally, in one piece!
Those UK consumer websites which picked up on this Bikebiz.co.uk story also carried many bulletin board comments about the glorious unfeasibility of the designs.
On Velovision.co.uk, site visitor John Turvey said:
And some people think I ride funny bikes! – now I know that riding a recumbent is normal in comparison to the winners of this competition – at least mine all work and come with chains to transmit the motive power (fairly useful if you want to go anywhere on a bike) and brakes to stop when necessary (a significant safety feature that, until now, I always thought was necessary)."
The saddle on the Freewheel also attracted many comments. One reader said it wasn’t a saddle, it was a black-pudding holder.
Check out more wacky award-winning inventions on the website of the 6th International Bicycle Design Competition http://design.runride.com
