BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

They are all too complicated and overdesigned. Ideally, I think the best urban utility bike would have: 1) integrated ulock and wheel lock or at least an integrated lock holder. Cable locks can not be considered a primary lock in any city anywhere and it's damn stupid to advocate a hidden cable lock without providing provisions for a u-lock. 2) At least a front or rear rack. Preferrably both. 3) dynamo hub with integrated lighting that is not removable, basically hard to steal. (could use eddy current lighting model like magnic light does and build that in to fork / chainstay) so basic wheels could be used. 4) internally geared rear for simplicity of maintinance / tuning. 5) Disc brakes or drum brakes for all weather safety. 6) Fenders for comfort in bad weather. 7) Bash guard (protect wearer from chainring in case of throwing chain, protect pants from getting caught in chainring Things they don't need: 1) collapsible racks (NYC) 2) Modular proprietary racks. 2) USB Charging 3) Electric assist Most of these get a few of these right. Only one gets the locking bit, arguably one of the most important points.

As BSNYC pointed out, there are lots and lots of perfectly good urban bikes out there. You can just buy one.

Also, why don't any of these ultimate bikes have a stupid bottle cage?

@Benzo - you forgot chainless with the internally geared hub. (ex http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/). It's awesome!

@rgrasmus - I prefer something that can be maintained with commodity parts. I don't see a problem with a chain (though you could use a belt instead if you don't want to deal with chain maintenance), but that has it's own set of issues like lack of repairability in the field, a required frame cutout, hard to find in stock at local shops, need to buy new belt if you change gear ratio.

According to the page, the bike is supposed to go into some kind of production if they win. I'm guessing whatever bike wins will undergo massive changes before even going into limited production. They all look like crap from some futuristic video game. Also hard to take these people serious with their monoculture Levi jeans, which they're all wearing since the project is backed by Levi When I think of "ultimate utility" denim doesn't come to mind From the NYC page: "Many products today are incomplete solutions, complex contraptions, forgotten cheap commodities or accepted nuisances, and we can’t help but try to fix them. " Ironic given that that bike has the most gimmicky crap on it. I mean, do you even know how many times I get on my bike and I'm like "Damn it, I want to carry the weight of my rack, but I'd rather it be collapsed in my toptube, not just hanging over my wheel willy nilly"

The Seattle team won. http://oregonmanifest.com/teams/seattle/ I kind of like their idea of the handlebar becoming a lock. It seems like something you could make pretty strong. And since the part is already there, you don't need to add too much weight.

I agree with others above that vote *none of the above* what a bunch of dumb designs... what exactly was the criteria? It was almost easier to anti-vote, if that's a thing? The worst bike overall was Portland, because the thing would have been ridiculously expensive and to me, that is the opposite of what a utility bike should be. Runner-up was SF, which was utilitarian to the point of just being lame. I think I voted for Seattle, but honestly, I don't even remember now... the designs were that uninspiring.

I haven't followed this, though I did read BSNYC's takedown of the whole thing. I do have one comment: @Benzo's wish list read pretty much like the spec of all the bike-share bikes that I've ever ridden. So if you're really into that whole urban-utility thing maybe you shouldn't bother owning a bike. Just pick one up on the corner when you need it.

Surly straggler, dynamo lighting, front pizza rack, standard rear rack, fenders, alfine 11 speed rear hub, u-lock and bungie cord to hold it on the rack, maybe some pitlock locking skewers. there we go, solved it. Let's go ride bikes.

Well, I was thinking that maybe some of the individual features of the bikes could be useful, even if the idea of designing an "ultimate" bike didn't work so well, so I looked over the bikes. I like the idea of integrated lighting, not that it's new here, but it sure isn't present in a lot of the bikes that are sold as utility bikes. You have to add it, which adds a lot of retail-priced cost, and means dealing with wiring and bolted-on mounts. I also like the idea of an integrated cable lock (or other locking mechanism like the handlebar lock). If there was also an integrated U-lock mount the bikes would have an appropriate level of security for most urban situations, I'd say. I don't see much else that I like. I get the idea behind the belt drive, but don't like its limitations, including requiring the heavy hub for shifting. And adding stuff that can pop in or out of the frame is stupid, given what bikes go through; adding custom mounts for racks etc. is dumb because use varies quite a bit, and you won't be able to fit the rack you like to the custom mount.

Bikes should be like legos. You just plug on what parts you need. It bugs me when someone comes out with Yet another new standard for no good reason. I think an integrated cable lock makes people think that a cable lock is an adequate way to secure a bike, which I disagree with totally. I like the idea of the integrated ulock holder. I really love the walnut studios ulock holder which mounts on a rack (they have a frame triangle version as well).

Whoa! That looks awesome! But $110? :( Time to learn leather-working...

I'd never heard of Walnut Studios before. I guess, on reflection, there had to be step beyond Rivendell in terms of hipster biking chic, but I never knew what it was.

Walnut studios also make those wine bottle and beer can holders for your bike as well as other leather related goodness like bar tape and seat bags.

Kryptonite has a pretty decent lock holder that comes with the lock and costs nothing. Also doesn't take up pannier space. Mine is actually placed between where my panniers rest and the seat tube, so it's in a place where it doesn't block space for anything else

One of the main reasons I got seriously into biking about seven, eight years ago was that I was too damn broke even to ride the bus. Twenty bucks was a pile of money for bike, lights, OR parts/accessories. Dropping a three-digit sum for a thingy to hook my lock to the bike when not in use is just silly when a perfectly good bungee cord (that likely as not I found alongside the road) will hook it to rack or handlebars or seatpost just fine. But if you're rolling in dough and can't find enough ways or places to spend it, concerning your bike, well then, fine. I'll go read another thread.

I want to make a lock holster like that one from nylon webbing and velcro. Should be easy to build, cheap to make.

Speaking of fancy ways to incorporate locks into the bike design, there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pWYu8t5o4o It's a Chilean project, currently in prototype stage.

@jonawebb - This is really cool. The only disadvantage I can see off the bat is that it wouldn't be very good for locking up to a parking meter. However, we don't have those much anymore here. If they only made a breakaway on the top tube, then we could use this as an awesome travel bike

Uh oh, some cop might write her a nasty note for locking her bike up to a tree Also, speaking of crap bicycle design, anybody see The Giver? http://newsferret.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/kirstenbosch-5/ There's a brake lever on the right side, which the leads were riding while almost completely depressed. I knew the movie was going to suck as soon as those showed up

Somebody should make a thread for dumb bike designs. Here's my favorite from http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20140829-a-bike-for-every-terrain, the snow bike: Can anybody think of why this might not be the bike you want to be riding in the snow?

I saw the Giver this weekend. After Pierce's scathing comments, I had had some doubts, especially about the bicycles. I don't recall a movie featuring bikes as transportation as much as this one- which was cool. So this society of the future uses bikes a lot- I liked that idea! And in the big ceremony, at some age (9?) kids get their first bike, being told it will give them independence, but with responsibility. That stuck with me. I did notice the brake levers were not always on the same side- which was a little weird, but acceptable.