Brian2015AD

I have been reading this forum for months, mostly for tech tips, and finally registered to become an official member to tell others about what I saw!

I was in Huntington Beach yesterday and I saw someone riding a plastic bicycle. I was on my Fuji and I caught up with him to ask a few questions.

He was an industrial designer named Matt Clark and he actually let me ride the bike!
It was stunning! I expected it to be flimsy and break apart...I'm not exactly a lightweight (hence my biking ;-) It wasn't flimsy AT ALL. In fact it was very rigid!!!

It's all polypropylene plastic and recyclable. It uses reinforced polypropylene as well (inner chainstays). I actually thought it was a plastic case on a bike until I saw the sunlight through it.

He said that he presented it at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena to staff of Caltech,etc.
Has anyone here been to Art Center lately??? Seen the presentations???

I just emailed him this morning and he sent me a few photos. I'm not gonna post all of them...I don't want to bog down the blog. I'll post a couple--if anyone wants me to post more I will.
He doesn't have a website--I asked--but his email is on the photos.
He seems pretty approachable and answered the questions i had.


I just wanted to share the news

tinrobot

Great idea... ugly bike.

He needs to get one of those designers from Art Center to redesign the plastic so it looks less chunky.

cjbruin

Thanks for sharing this. Always cool to see different stuff. That said, it is the 2nd ugliest bike I've ever seen.

umd

What was the first?

GP

Isn't carbon fiber just an expensive term for plastic?

Garfield Cat

Plastics. Reminds me of the one liner in the movie "The Graduate".

DScott

Interesting. I'm still working on the answer to the question "why?".

How is this in any way superior to standard bike construction?

I also wonder how the seatpost, bottom bracket, and headset are held in place.

blarnie

In the future, if you're going to call something the "coolest thing ever", it had better be.

That, my friend, is not.

Chucklehead

This is actually really cool. It may be ugly, but it's easy to see the potential in it.

Remember this?


Refine the design a bit, have it accept front and rear DR's, and it could be awesome.

AngeloOldSpokes

...and it's WHITE!!!!

urbanknight

My wife went to art center, and I've seen some of the trans design displays. Almost every car on the market today was designed by a graduate of Art Center. One of the fun things about living in Pasadena is many of the prototypes that never hit the market run around town all the time (mostly interesting looking motorcycles).

I think my wife showed me this bike in a magazine in the last month or two, and I thought the same thing as people are saying above. Great idea for recycled materials, but how much does it weigh and can they make it less ugly?

cjbruin

Yours

thedips

good idea.. ugly bike...

voltman

Ever is a rather long time.

chimivee

Actually, this the Coolest Thing Ever.

The_Spaniard

i think it would be great is the performance is similer, how was the feel of the bike, meaning smoothness of the material?? I would think plastis is way cheaper than carbonfiber, if the material performs jsut as well why not use that plastic, you could mold it very easily too, you can litarally do that make molds put some of that melted plastic in cool sand down the excess and bam a frame. its ugly but hopefully this thing gives us another option for frame material, that would be kewl.

MrRamonG

No. This is the coolest thing ever.

chimivee

My coolest thing ever would crush your coolest thing ever.

roadfix

I could build a frame out of 2x4's and would look way cooler that than, if you don't mind the weight.

1955

Just as concrete without rebar is not nearly as strong, plastic without a fiber to hold it together is not as strong.

MrRamonG

Joy destroyer. "I am Chimvee's robot... must stomp on the Bike-O-Bar and squash the keg!!" Partypooper.

chimivee

Coolest partypooper ever.

CritEastwood

Smells like Spam...

Join Date: 07-10-08

Posts Total Posts: 1 (0.96 posts per day) Last Post:
Coolest Thing Ever!!! Ever
07-10-08 03:47 PM Find all posts by Brian2015AD Find all threads started by Brian2015AD

Brian2015AD

You're right! It is on the chunky side. I said that too...but it seems to be an exercise in form following function. It looks much better in person. It's especially cool in sunlight. It practically glows!

He mentioned that the design was intended to incite a paradigm shift in terms of manufacturing and design by reducing material costs and the labor associated with frame building. I knew a guy who built metal frames...it's pretty intense. Notching, bending,welding,aligning,etc before you even paint it
i just ride

The prototype is basic and minimalist, but could be designed with automotive surfacing like no bike has before.

He sent me lots of photos in addition to design concepts that are possible using this method as a basis.

I thought it was a good idea too...every concept has to have a starting point I suppose

I don't want to put words into his mouth...
I told him about the site. Maybe he'll join or at least tell more about it...no promises though

Regardless, I'm glad to share- it's good to hear from people...I was hoping someone else saw him yesterday

DScott

I also think that's just a steel framed bike with plastic covering it. You can see the metal seat stays and head tube, and the seat post is in a funny place.

Probably a "concept" piece.

Did he send any close ups of the head tube, seat stays/chain stays junction, or seat post area?