Designer : Yirong Yang via TheDesignBlog

From the designer :

This project started for me in the broad category of personal transportation. Having seen numerous recreational products win previous design competitions, I resolved to develop a product that would not only be ecologically friendly but also offer health benefits to travelers. After some strong consideration it occurred to me that the large majority of unhealthy, polluters in our society were the millions of people sitting in their cars going to and from work every day. Perhaps many of them would like to commute via man-powered vehicle but simply haven’t found the right solution. I immediately set out to try and found what problems people had with the existing products.

It began by keeping the product parameters in as general a terms as possible so as not to limit myself creatively. I then commenced with the researching of existing bicycle commuters to try and understand what they liked and disliked about it. From there I went on to conduct some local surveying of non-bikers. In doing this I learned of several key problems that could be solved through better design. These concerns included lack of storage capacity, poor positioning, and size and bulk of the conveyance. I feel that after hundreds of hours of thought and months of hard work that my proposed solution resolves these issues

I began my design by solving the problem of user posturing. In traditional bike designs the rider’s feet are underneath them causing their torso to hunch forward in order to reach the handles. This results in unnecessary strain on the lower back, arms, and buttocks, not to mention poor aerodynamics. As illustrated I resolved these issues by moving the position of the pedals behind the rider and moving some of the pressure of their body weight onto the front of the hip bones, using a broad front section of the seat and onto their forearms with supports protruding from the handles. The new riding position helped solve the storage problem by freeing up plenty of useable space beneath the rider. In this newly acquired gap I decided to suspend a large bag for cargo. And as for the storage of the bicycle, after the destination has been reached and the cargo contained within the bag has been removed, it can be expanded and the bike can be folded and placed inside.

By trying to promote bicycle commuting this product not only benefits the user by making them happier and healthier but also society as a whole by reducing the amount of automotive emissions.

Designer : Blair Hasty

Designer : Eric So