The Bike Design Project is a huge effort to push urban cycling into the future: Five teams across five cities designed what they believe to be the best urban bike for their respective home towns. So what does a bike designed specifically for San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and other major American cities look like? Cool as hell, for starters.
The final designs in the project were officially unveiled last night, and Gizmodo even got to see one of the bikes up close. But below, check out the rest of the bunch and see what you think. If you like what you see, vote for your favorite to be put into production here.
DENNY, Seattle
The Denny is the result of a TEAGUE and Sizemore Bicycles collaboration. It aims to take cycling to its utmost carefree, comfortable, and safe level. It utilizes automatic shifting, pedal assist, turn signals, brake lights and so on. It's almost like having every feature in your car—but on a bike.
EVO, San Francisco
The EVO, designed be HUGE and 4130 Cycle Works of PCH Lime Lab, is a stab at making the perfect bicycle for hilly San Francisco. The big selling point of the EVO is its front and tail modular systems—which mean that different accessories can be mounted with ease.
THE BLACKLINE, Chicago
MNML and Method collaborated on an incredibly tough-looking commuter bike for the equally tough Chicago streets. Incorporating blinkers on the tips of the handlebars as well as a modern belt drive, this is certainly a forward looking bike.
SOLID, Portland
Solid is a fascinating 3D-printed bike designed in collaboration between Industry and Ti Cycles. The Solid uses a combination of haptic feedback—in other words, vibrating—in the handlebars in conjunction with an app to guide commuters through beautiful areas of Portland without having to stop and look at a map.
MERGE, New York
The Merge is a bike designed in and around New York City. Built thin and compact, but as useful as a utility knife, this killer bike was designed by a team comprised of Pensa Design Studios and Horse Cycles.
Head over to the Oregon Manifest page to vote for the bike that's your favorite. Whichever bike wins the vote will be made into a limited production run.