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This weekend, the Oregon Manifest kicked off with their Oregon Manifest Constructors Challenge contest and race. The Oregon Manifest, their hand built bike show, has expanded this year from a long weekend highlighting local builders to a six week celebration of all things bicycle related. The schedule of events puts our annual Bike Month celebration to shame and definitely gives Austin something to shoot for.
Pereira Cycles, the winning design, had this clever integrated U-lock. Beautiful bike, but one wonders what happens if the rack is not on that level with the bike. Image courtesy of Elly Blue, BikePortland.
As a builder of custom transportation bicycles, I was excited to hear about the Constructors Challenge. The challenge called on builders from all over the U.S. to "design and build an innovative, modern transportation bike in this technical trial of engineering dexterity and fabrication mettle." I was unaware of the contest until after the submission deadline but was excited to see what some of the best custom builders in the country would come up with. I've been pretty critical of the larger bicycle industry in its focus on racing and recreation design prejudices when offering transportation bicycles and had high hopes for my frame building brethren in this challenge. Unconstrained by the demands of meeting high volume price points or marketing schedules, surely custom builders would show up the big boys when it comes to designing something from scratch for a specific purpose. Well, it turns out my fellow builders share many of the same biases as the mass market builders.
Over the weekend, I took a look at a gallery of the 31 bikes submitted for this contest thanks to the excellent coverage of the event by BikePortland. (The Oregon Manifest site is pretty static and has no such coverage or pictures.) The bikes were beautifully made and great eye candy for the bike geek. How well they meet the needs of the transportation cyclists is another matter.
My favorite, the Ahearne step through looks great and nails all the needs of the transportation cyclist. Image courtesy of Elly Blue, BikePortland.
Here are some interesting observations:
- Front racks favoring the larger Porter style were the norm.
- The vast majority of bikes had road drop bars.
- Only two of the design winning bikes had chain guards.
- Out of the 12 selected design winners, I saw kick stands on only 4 bikes.
- Out of the entire picture gallery I saw only a half dozen bikes with kick stands.
- One of the winning bikes had no rack.
- Half a dozen entries did not have fenders.
- Three of the entries did not have an on-board lighting system.
- One of the builders seemed to have completely ignored the stated purpose of the contest and submitted a straight up fixed gear road bike with no fenders, rack, or lights lacking even the eyelets to retrofit these necessities.
- Another resorted to the tried and true bike industry tactic: mounting a rack on a straight up mountain bike and calling it transportation.
The beautifully painted Circle A Cycles entry adopted the French light touring design that was very popular in the entries. The design is a limited on carrying load but would make a good transportation bike (with the addition of a kickstand!) Image courtesy of Elly Blue, BikePortland.
If we are designing transportation bicycles, they need to address the functions of every day mobility: how to get you in regular cloths and your things from here to there in a variety of weather conditions both night and day. It appears over half the entries fail on at least one of these points. The widespread omission of kick stands alone is baffling as anyone who has ever tried to load groceries on a bike knows a kick stand is worth every ounce and risk of Fredness. This is even more important with all the huge front racks on display as loading heavy front loads can make the bike quite unstable as the front wheel flops.
Natalie Ramsland of SweetPea rode my personal favorite, the Ahearne step through. Unlike many competitors, Ramsland wore street cloths doing it up right with the little black dress. Image courtesy of Elly Blue, BikePortland.
In fairness to the builders, the language of the Challenge was much more touchy feely and less specifically practical than my design parameters. The technical trial also no doubtedly played a part in the designs as well. The trial was based on the old French touring bike technical trials of the 20s and 30s that helped innovate the industry with the development of reliable derailluers, strong brakes, and light weight steel frames. The idea of testing the bikes in their element to drive innovation is a great one and the Manifest organizers had a real potential to do something special here. Unfortunately, they choose a 70 mile course that involved only one stop to pick some beer up. No wonder the road bike/light touring bike design was the favorite and many choose spandex over street cloths. The winner was determined by the best time while the French trials involved a points system that rewarded overall speed but tempered practicality where the fastest rider was not necessarily the winner. If this course's purpose was to determine the best transportation bike for every day living, the organizers need to go back to the drawing board. Let's see points for wearing regular cloths, carrying a two bags of groceries, locking and unlocking your bike, and the state of cleanliness of your cloths at the end.
This course is hardly a fair representation of what transportation cyclists need every day. The average urban cycling trip is less than 5 miles and involves navigating city streets and locking up your bike. Replacing a car means carrying groceries and children and wearing street cloths. The bike well suited for a 70 mile ride is not the same as a bike for daily urban life. There are trade-offs in functionality and performance made to meet these two different tasks. I don't know a good design that will do both equally well.
Another integrated lock on the Cielo by Chris King. A bit more flexible but thin cable is lower security. Image courtesy of Elly Blue, BikePortland.
If we are to get more of the general public using bikes as practical, every day transportation, we need to jetison our more extreme past. Most people just want to get from point A to B in comfort not race. I think these kind of users would have a hard time seeing their life lived on two wheels with most of the design entries. The builder needs to think about this and not let their own riding style dominate their design. If he or she is not willing to do that, the builder should pass on the build and recommend another builder who is passionate and invested in the riding style and needs of the rider. Similarly, the Oregon Manifest needs to get more specific in their challenge. Are we designing the best bike for a randonnuering brevet or the bike that will inspire someone who does not consider themselves a cyclist to get out of that car and experience the sublime simplicity of city cycling? If it is the latter, you can expect an entry from me next year.
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