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Galleries // 2012 Spark:Product // LOCAL bicycle

LOCAL bicycle

Winner - Bronze

Competition: Spark:Product
Designer: Yves Behar - Founder/Chief Designer
Design Type: Product
Website: http://www.fuseproject.com

LOCAL is the ultimate urban bicycle. Challenging the definition of a “cargo bike”, LOCAL integrates function with form, ensuring that while the bike answers safety concerns and carrying capabilities, the aesthetic remains simple and elegant, everything you would want from a bicycle. When you have anything to carry, the ease of jumping on a bicycle is hampered by racks that make a bicycle unbalanced or large messenger bags that crush together any load. The LOCAL bicycle fits comfortably into a modern urban life. As we grow up, children, chores, and hobbies all begin to make the utility of a bicycle implausible. To solve this, we created a platform for carrying various loads, with integrated tie-downs make for security. The steering is independently controlled and the axis sits below the level of the platform, creating good weight distribution and a good turning radius. This combination of carrying capacity, a light frame and agile steering make LOCAL perfect for a quick commute to work or a weekend ride around the neighborhood, where you can grab anything you like as easily as with a pick-up truck. One of the biggest issues people have with urban cycling is the danger involved in riding on city streets. To truly make LOCAL an everyday bike, we needed to integrate visibility, security and comfort elements into the design, rather than relying on aftermarket solutions. The brakes are unique dual front hydraulic disks, with ample stopping power even when carrying a heavy load. Front and rear lighting is built directly into the frame and can be controlled while riding. The traffic side tire is a bright accent color, enhancing visibility and calling out the width and presence of the bike. A ‘U-lock’ is built directly into the cargo platform for convenient locking and storage, wherever you are. The idea of a cargo bike is not new, but because they traditionally lack the appeal of a simple, elegant machine, their adoption has been low. Many bikes in this category look assembled, with baskets and lights grafted on existing designs for a cluttered aesthetic. LOCAL integrates the functional elements needed for this type of transportation, and wraps them all into a lean, modern frame that can keep up with traffic and turn heads at stoplights. The lines of the frame give it a poised stance and the full size rear wheel gives LOCAL the proportions of a proper bicycle rather than a folding commuter. LOCAL is designed to be accessible to a wide range of riders and compatible with clothing options due to its low step-over height and uncluttered internal hub.