When you think of bicycles, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Right: Messengers, sports fanatics and fearless families riding alongside highways like ducks walking in a row. Some guys are spending between three and six grand for a downhill bike. But many of us haven’t even had a bicycle since our school days. (Which of course depends on where you live.)
Republic builds and ships colorful, custom made fixies for under $400.
Funriki: Custom made bicycles from Japan.
I doubt it’s the global warming catastrophe we are heading for with high speed. But bicycles are currently experiencing an incomparable renaissance.
MIT’s engineers picked up on the concept, improving it with a cybernetic acceleration system that gives back energy it accumulated throughout the ride.
In Germany, newcomer Grace began producing an electric bicycle that can make up to 45 miles per hour. (Don’t hold your breath until you heard its price tag, roughly $8,760.)
But rarely are bicycles seen as a fashion statement. Let me change your mind with these awesome bicycles from Bertelli in New York, Miami based Republic and FunRiki from Japan. At the bottom you’ll see examples of the Copenhagen Wheel from MIT Senseable City Lab).
How can you not love that?
Republic, for an example, lets you custom select your combination of part colors and ships the finished bike anywhere in the US, for under $400.
Crazy, sexy, cool.
It's up to you to pick a colorful combination with a frame like "wasabi" in this model, or stick with a more classic, subdue color set.
Bertelli's bikes are new classics.
Bertelli's bicycles are unmatched in beauty and purism.
Bertelli combines wood, steel and aluminum with simplistic elegance.
The Copenhagen Wheel, a masterpeace of modern engineering.
(Pictures and video from Republic, FunRiki, Bertelli, MIT Senseable City Lab)
