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Mike Davis (U. of Oregon, Metrofiets)GREEN ENVY | With its rear carrying rack, airless tires and disc brakes, University of Oregon’s compact and stylish prototype entry won the Oregon Manifest’s Best Student Team award.
In a world of skyrocketing gas prices and diminishing oil reserves, the option of discarding the Range Rover in favor of a bicycle doesn’t seem that ridiculous—especially if it is a bright magenta bicycle with an electric assist, a stereo and a lockable metal box.
A bike fitting that description won the title of “ultimate modern utility bike” at last month’s Oregon Manifest’s national bicycle design competition and grueling 50-mile course.
Part fashion show, part concept-vehicle demonstration, the mission was for 32 top bicycle innovators to create two-wheelers that, while not necessarily fit for mass production, may nonetheless generate ideas that could trickle down to the big-guy manufacturers.
The destiny imagined by Oregon Manifest is a world where bicycles are perceived less as frivolous weekend cruising tools or exercise conduits and more as convenient and comfortable vehicles for commuting, lugging stuff and actual travel.
New Bicycle Prototypes
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Daniel Cronin for The Wall Street JournalJosh Muir of Frances Bicycles and his cargo bike.
