Giant wins EuroBike Gold Medal for Urban Bike Design
Eurobike, one of the bike industry trade shows, was this last weekend and with it, the bike industry rolled out more of the latest, greatest hits in high performance carbon fiber items. While thus far, carbon bike on utility bikes has been limited to Bontrager’s questionable seat post rack, there is some indication that the bike industry is slowly waking to the idea of you can design bikes that aren’t just toys for weekend warriors.
Giant's City Speed, Gold Metal winner for Urban Bike Design at EuroBike
So far, I’ve been unimpressed with silly prototypes coming out from the big boys like Trek’s single speed prototype, a bike designed to look cool and do little else. However, Giant Bicycles’s award for their City Speed bike at EuroBike last week for Urban Bike Design makes me think there is still some hope. While I still have some major issues with some of the design features of this bike in application for utility bike use, it’s nice to see someone putting R&D money into innovating the transportation biking market.
The biggest leap forward on this bike is an integrated front light in the handlebars and rear light in the seat post as seen in these pictures at VeloNews. Freeing up handlebar space and removing excess wiring seems like a nice advance for utility cycling. Also as someone who locks up outside for hours during the day, it would be nice to not have to remove lights every time I go inside for fear of theft.
Other not so revolutionary features of the bike include an internal gear hub and disk brakes. Missing from this bike however are such damn near necessary accessories as fenders, a rack or basket, and a chain guard. (In fairness, the VeloNews pictures do include fenders, but Giant’s website lack these, so I assume they are aftermarket add-ons.) The geometry of this thing also seems pretty aggressive and flat mountain bike handlebars instead of the more useful swept back bars of English Roadsters and Dutch city bikes. This performance focused specing of the bike shows just how hard it is for the bike industry to shake it’s racing roots.
Does this mean bikes designed for transportation are finally going to move to the front of the bus (or even be allowed on the bus?) I don’t know, but I think this is a promising move for those of us who want to get from point A to B, not just ride in circles.
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on Sep 17th, 2008 at 12:45 am
I’m just guessing, but I think the bike companies have a difficult sell for “real” city bikes in the US. If I look around Austin, it seems the conception of a city bike is a track bike with a front brake. Carrying stuff is to be done with a messenger bag.
From that standpoint, this bike looks like a winner.
Given the Austin terrain, a lightweight, somewhat aggressive style bike would seem to be warranted, so I don’t have a problem with the flat bars. But my personal utility scale runs more toward having racks with saddlebag/basket/panniers to hold stuff. Then fenders/chainguard, and a permanently mounted light system with generator (hub). At that point, however, it is close to being too heavy for Austin’s terrain.
Our city bike market is still very young. Most people have not been using bicycles in this manner for very long, and among cyclists, they are a small minority. I think the sensibility that says, “yeah, its heavier, but worth it to me to have xxx features on my city bike” has not really developed here (as demonstrated by the track bikes).
It strikes me now that our conditions are significantly different than those in europe or japan. Our trips are longer, and our cities were designed without regard for human scale. I hazard to guess that a 5 mile trip is on the longish side for europe, whereas a 5 mile round trip is my nearest useful destination (grocery store). In Tokyo, a subway station is usually within 1 mile.
My guess is that this will ultimately lead to the adoption of a somewhat sportier type of city bike, for most areas of the US.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Just because you see hipsters riding track bikes around Austin doesn’t mean real transportation bikes wouldn’t sell. I’d argue that you aren’t seeing them because we are being offer this product.
Dutch bike stores in Seattle and Portland, cities not know for flat terrain, are regularly selling out of their stock because the bikes meet transportation needs so well. In fact, Austin’s hills are down right wimpy compared to Seattle. As long as the bike is properly geared, the terrain should not be an issue.
The comments you’ve made on this point reminds me of the American auto industry that regularly tells government that they can’t make fuel efficient because the American public won’t buy them. Fuel efficient cars are now the hottest part of the market and American automakers are taking a bath on all the SUVs they’ve built. I think there is a real market for true transportation bikes, a market that would group bike sales and use overall. I think the bike industry just needs to have the imagination to provide serious products for this market and realize it’s OK to offer something that is not performance inspired.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
More or less, I agree. I think the companies have a short-sighted vision similar to the auto companies. But I do see a number of offerings, such as the schwinn world GS, and the electra amsterdam that are headed in the right direction. Electric bikes are also starting to boom. There was a model I saw recently that was actually looking quite good. About 30-40 lbs total, but about $2200. Electric bikes also have a leg up on lighting!
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Yeah, the electric bikes are becoming more popular along with scooters. Alien Scooters, our electric bike shop, seems to be doing well lately. They seem like a good option for some.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
To date, every attempt at selling “transportation/utilitarian” bikes in the USA has been a commercial disaster.
Specialized had a wonderful line of World Bikes a decade ago. Flop. Other manufacturers tried to follow (i.e., Bianchi). Flop. The venerable and legendary Joe Breeze has tried to come out with a line of commuter/utilitarian/transportation-only bikes (with a sideline business in bike planning). Excellent product, including folders. He hasn’t flopped yet, but he is teetering.
Brompton and Birdy folders have been driven from the US market twice.
Fixies and $1200 hipster Dutch bikes just won’t make a dent. Boutique bikes for junior art directors.
Of course, the real market for utilitarian bikes is being met by Goodwill and Craigslist.
Utilitarian/transportation cycling is always an economic issue first and foremost. Whether it’s London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, or Manhattan, what moves people to bicycles is high population density combined with high land values. I first began commuting by bicycle in San Francisco because I couldn’t afford a place to park my car. Gas was cheap, real estate wasn’t.
If we will slowly cease subsidizing automobile parking, we will begin to see a shift to other modes, but ONLY if we can keep suburbs from bleeding cities dry. Round Rock is licking its chops at the thought of car park restrictions/fees in Austin. The “white flight” to the suburbs of the 1960s will be exceeded by the “car flight” of the 2010s.
on Dec 12th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Looking at this bike from the standpoint of a mechanical designer but a recent newcomer to bike commuting, several things stand out.
This bike, as has already been pointed out, has rather aggressive geometry, more aking to a racing bike than to a comfortable transportaion bike. It also has some ‘hipsterish’ features that while giving it a ‘cool’ look, wouldn’t seem optimal for a commuter. Flat bars, for instance, are not at all ergonomic. I get very uncomfortable on flat bars in short order, because they put my wrists at an unnatural angle. There is one good flat bar out there (I can’t remember who makes it, either Nitto or Soma) that is like a flattened ‘Mary’ bar, with back angled grip areas that would put your wrists at a much more natural angle. I haven’t tried them yet, but I do ride on a low-rise ‘Mary’ bar a lot, and find it to be the most comfortable and low-strain bar I’ve ever used.
The good features of this bike are the disc brakes and the internal gearing; both great features on a true city bike. The discs may be a little overkill, though, when V-brakes will do the job just fine, and at far less expense & complexity. And a good city bike ought to come from the factory with fenders/mudguards and perhaps even more a chainguard than that ‘pie-pan’ thingy.
I didn’t see any mention of the price of this Giant bike, but I’d be willing to bet that it tops a grand, very easily. Maybe as much as $1.5K. What I’d really like to see is a commuter bike that’s perhaps not so loaded-up on the latest & faddest features, using tried & true brake & drivetrain components and a comfortable, stable frame geometry, and would be affordable to people who just simply don’t have a kilobuck or two to spend on a bicycle; something in the under-$500 range.