Bike | Inhabitat

Don’t Miss Our Live Webinar with Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman TODAY at 3:30pm EST!

Do you like the green / health benefits of cycling, but are concerned about the safety of biking in your city? Would you like to see your city made more safe and convenient for cycling? If you care about bicycles and the urban landscape (and we hope most of you do!), then be sure to JOIN US today at 3:30pm est to talk to Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman. We’ll be discussing Boston’s new bike initiatives, including the new bike sharing program - which will put 3000 rentable cycles on the streets of Boston to enhance public wellbeing.

Nicole is the driving force behind Boston’s new bike love, and what will be the biggest bike-sharing system in the United States, so she definitely knows a thing or two about the topic at hand. She’s also a former Olympic cyclist and has played a pivotal role in making Boston a more bike-friendly place as the director of the city’s bicycling programs. We are SUPER EXCITED about this can’t-miss webinar with Nicole today, so please JOIN US, and take part in the conversation!

SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION >

Eco 7 Bicycle Folds to Fit Within a Suitcase

by Dan Mendes, 10/13/09

Although the idea of a folding bike isn’t new or novel, Mexican designer Victor Aleman has managed to spice things up a bit with his Eco 7 Folding bike. Aleman has designed a modern folding bike with wheels that compartmentalize and disassemble into a neat and tidy package – a perfect space saver for the urbanite.

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Human Powered Velomobile Bikes over Land or Sea

by Daniel Flahiff, 10/13/09

Now that it’s clear that the flying cars we were promised as youngsters are not going to appear anytime soon, we can perhaps take comfort in the arrival of the brilliant HEPAV 1.1, a human-electric powered amphibious vehicle from the creative mind of Czech designer and inventor David Buchwaldek. Like an eco-superhero’s signature ride, the HEPAV 1.1 can travel the streets in style and drive straight into the water without missing a beat. Sustainable, human-powered locomotion never looked so good.

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Bicycle Diaries: David Byrne Bikes the World’s Cities

by Mike Chino, 09/21/09

For most people, bicycles represent a means of transportation, a fun activity, or even objects of affection. For David Byrne they’re much more – they offer a unique opportunity to experience the culture, history, and vitality contained within our built environment. Due for release today, Bicycle Diaries is a freewheeling travelogue that finds Byrne pedaling through the cities of the world as he expounds upon architecture, infrastructure, and life within the world’s great cities.

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Camper Bike – Pedal-Powered RV For One

There’s a sense of freedom to be found in loading up your RV with all you need to survive and hitting the road to explore new places and commune with nature. This RV does it a little differently – as you’ll notice it’s completely human powered, about half the size of a normal cab-over camper, and it’s completely emission free. Designed by Boston-based artist Kevin Cyr, the Camper Bike is both a fully functioning RV and the subject of a number of Cyr’s amazing paintings.

Contortionist Folding Bike Rolls Up Smaller Than a Wheel

There’s a reason you don’t see too many people toting around folding bikes; many have small wheels that make for an uncomfortable ride, and the ones that don’t tend to be too clunky when folded up. Enter the Contortionist, a sleek folding bike that uses full-size 26 inch wheels. Designed by Dominic Hargreaves, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, the bike contains pivots in its frame and a lockable universal joint in the front fork that let it roll up to an ultra-compact size that fits within the width of its wheels!

Top 5 Sexy Cycles

We’ve made no secret of our never-ending love for bikes here at Inhabitat – as one of the world’s most efficient modes of transportation they’re also an emission free, healthy, and enjoyable way to get around. There’s no better season to ride a bike than in the summer, so we figured the time is right to bring you a collection of our favorite pedal-powered rides. Without further delay we present to you our picks for the sexiest cycles around!

Hybrid Squared: Ingenious Energy-Generating Bike Rental System

Designer Chiyu Chen has conceived of an ingenious transit system that encourages the use of sustainable transportation by crediting people for renting and riding bicycles. His Hybrid2 system consists of a fleet of rentable bicycles that are capable of generating and storing kinetic energy, which is then used to power the city’s hybrid electric buses. Simply rent a bike, charge it up with kinetic energy from pedal power, and then return it to a kiosk – the station feeds energy into the city’s smart grid, and you receive a credit towards your next bus pass!

Solar Flyer: DIY Solar Motorcycle Tops 90MPH

The Arizona sun is strong–so strong that one Phoenix man is using it to power up his motorcycle. Richard Gryzch’s Solar Flyer motorcycle, named after the Radio Flyer red wagon, has a 50 mile range and can supposedly top 90 MPH. The inventor is so sure of his bike that he sold a home and a number of other motorcycles to finance it.

Transportation Tuesday: May is Bike Month!

If you have a bike, and have always wanted to ride it to work, get ready to give it a go. The League of American Cyclists is gearing up for Bike-to-Work week, which is running from May 12 to the 16th – just one of many events celebrating May as Bike Month. If cities were designed to have more people using a bike, then perhaps, we wouldn’t have as many problems with congestion and air quality as we have right now. And this initiative is a great way to prove it!

The Human Powered Mercedes-Benz Trailblazer

Today, on Earth Day, we wanted to celebrate alternate modes of transportation, and what better way to do so than showcasing a beautiful bike from Mercedes-Benz. Starting in May, MB Accesories GmbH will add the Trailblazer mountain bike to its bicycle collection – the latest in the growing range of the Mercedes-Benz line of high-end bicycles. Perfect for going out to the trails or for trekking around the city, this bicycle has all the high-quality components that you would expect from a company like Mercedes-Benz.