Would I Ride You? Yes I Wood. (iv)

For my loyal and dedicated readers, I’m sure you are aware of my fascination for bikes made of wood and today I present to you another bike that I wood ride!

It’s a bike that has been touted as what a bike would look like if Ikea made it. Designed by Dutch designer Jurgen Kuipers, the design of this bike made out of plywood has won an IBDC/IF Award 2013.

From the pictures you can see that it is constructed in the way that a model toy kit would come in. How novel!

To read about other wooden bikes, please click the following hyperlinks!

Wooden Bike 1

Wooden Bike 2

Wooden Bike 3

Photo Credit: gizmag

Even Trees Want To Cycle

Oh silly you I’m just kidding how can a tree ride a bike!

But okay in all seriousness, this 1950s era bicycle embedded into this tree has been a mystery for 50 years! Until the true story was uncovered by 99 year old Helen Puz from Washington. Apparently, her son, not too pleased with being given a girl’s bicycle to cycle with, decided to chuck it in the woods and claim it was lost. But as nature would have it, the bike is still in ‘usable’ condition with the front wheel still able to turn!

Brooks Cambium C17

Brooks are releasing their first ever non leather saddles for the first time in a very long time (on 17 June) and they want 100 cyclists to test it out for them (on 17 May)! Apparently it’s unlike anything out in the market so this sounds like a really interesting opportunity and it’s open internationally!

If you’re interested, please click here and follow the instructions on the Brooks webpage! Do remember to thank us at indibikes if you get selected! Good luck!

The World’s Lightest Bike

To give you a rough perspective of how light the world’s lightest bike is, imagine magically transforming a 15inch Macbook Pro into a bike. The Macbook Pro is 2.56kg and the world’s lightest bike stands a little heavier than it at only 2.7kg!

And this bike proves that light does not necessarily mean it’s not strong as it has clocked over 20,000km over the last two years! That’s more mileage than I have ever done on my full carbon bike.

The frame is manufactured by Spin and the rims were manufactured by Formula 1.

Total cost? A cool US$45,000

Credits: BikeRadar & TriRig

Enough Said

Bike of the Future: X-9 Nighthawk

This 2012 concept bike frame by Brano Meres Engineering and Design (their logo looks strikingly like BMC’s don’t you think?) was designed with bike and design buffs in mind, and packed with super innovative features.

“Developed by Atomic22, the infiniti3D bicycle component security system is one of the major technologies featured by the X-9 Nighthawk. Carbon fiber was used to attach, laminate, and water-jet cut the aramid honeycomb sandwich panels from which the structure of the frame was built.”

What is this infiniti3D system by Atomic22 you might be wondering? Well okay I don’t know if you were but I was definitely wondering what that was. From what I found, it is a super high-tech bike lock! No more lugging around U-locks or bike chains with you while cycling. This system protects every single component of your bike by replacing the existing fasteners on your bike with specially encoded fasteners that can only be removed by the owner of the reciprocal key, that is, you!

Now that’s a smart bike! No more riding a bike with cheap components to deter theft!

Now Ride-Less

Now here’s something which I find really peculiar because it seems like technology is moving backwards for the bicycle. It seems like a cross between a skateboard, a bicycle, and plain simple ol’ running.

This is the FLIZ. I believe this stone-age concept bike got its name from the Flintstones who would use their feet to drive their vehicles. So instead of pedaling, the rider has to run to move the bike forward, and ‘only resting his feet on special posts near the backwheel when enough momentum has been reached.’

Designed by German designers, a rider must strap his or her body into a harness, which hangs from the bicycle frame.

According to the FLIZ designers, they said that the laminated, carbon-fiber frame and ‘five-point belt system’ actually makes the FLIZ more comfortable and ergonomically sound to ride as compared to traditional bicycles.

“These aspects reduce pressure on the crotch and distributes the body weight while running”, they explain.

Source: DesignTAXI

Enough Said

More About Me

I’ve been contemplating about writing this post for a while now because when I started indibikes, I wanted to remain anonymous. I received comments from friends that mentioned I should have a ‘About’ page as it helps my readers connect to me better; and so I did create one and true enough it did increase my viewership. The other reason why I wanted to remain anonymous was because I felt that it was too pompous or whatever to talk about myself!

BUT WAIT! Before I talk a little more about myself, I would like to apologize to all my dear readers and followers who still come visit even though I haven’t been updating for a while. You see I am a recent business school graduate and I have been running a small business since my university days. Upon graduation, I decided to take it to the next level and as such it has been keeping me very busy! If you have read my ‘About‘ page, I mentioned that ‘my ultimate ultimate end goal would be to create my own brand of bicycles with the brand iNDi Bikes!’. Now you must be wondering if the business I’m running now has anything to do with iNDi Bikes; and I’m afraid I will have to disappoint you because the answer is no. Nonetheless, I have been making inroads into starting a bicycle retail business – talking to suppliers and manufacturers, etc etc. I have contemplated utilizing this blog as a platform to kickstart my bicycle retail business dream and I think I very well might!

Anyway, more about myself now:.

1) As mentioned, I am a recent business school graduate from Singapore and I have a strong passion for entrepreneurship and bikes.

2) I used to cycle a lot more than I do now – competing in road cycling races and triathlons. However my athletic roots belong with long distance running and that’s what I do most of the time now. I am currently training for the Singapore Marathon that will take place at the end of the year. (Below is a picture of my very underused road bike)

3) I am currently running a small business retailing nail polish both online and offline in a physical store.

4) I love to eat fast food; but I am trying to cut down due to my athletic pursuits.

5) I started this blog because I realized I really liked looking/reading about bikes online and decided that this would be a good way for me to keep track of all the awesome stuff I see/observe online and offline

Well that’s about it for now and thanks for reading!

Only in Singapore

How to keep your bike safe from theft! Keep it on high ground away from sight.