A Cycle Revolution Tour for the Design Museum along with Red 325

      The 1888 Safety bicycle - solid tyres and a steel frame

      Note though the use of a chain transmission

As with my previous two tours at the Design Museum I'm finding that an engagement with the topic is adding to my own education and knowledge of the topic.

The intention I have is to show how the cycling four  tribes featured, namely High Performers, Thrill seekers Urban riders and Cargo Bikers  have a common root namely the  Safety Bicycle of 1888.

The Safety Bicycle was so named not for features that we'd consider particularly safe  but it was safe when compared with bicycles like the Penny Farthing - the safety being more about the attitude the user adopts than for example its ability to stop - it had no brakes as we'd consider today.

The High Performers

Of course once a bike as an effective form of transport was available it was not long before speed became a topic of competition and through the years the speed capability of regular bicycles has improved both by design and by the performance of the cyclists.

Definitely an example of a performance bike the Lotus 108

The speed improvements of late though are less dramatic than in early days and this can be seen for example by comparting average speeds on the Tour de France.
We may note too that there are physical limitations of the 'engine' (the cyclist) that have meant that there were times when speeds were only attained by the use of artificial means (drugs and cheating).

Although improvements are now marginalised the use of technology in both the materials used in construction  and the application of aerodynamic modelling can make some difference.

Chris Boardman MBE  in his career epitomised the sporting performance rider now he acts as an evangelist for widening the take up of cycling in the urban environment as a positive public good.

The Thrill Seekers

A fairly typical 'Thrill Seekers ' bike

Another tribe of cycling enthusiasts are those exponents of BMX riding a mixture of the cultures of Cross Country Motorcycling , Surfing and Skateboarding - one of the big names in this sport is

Shanaze Reade a young woman who epitomises the excitement and individualism it offers to younger people particularly in the urban areas of cities.

One of the areas of London famous for this sport and activity  ( a hub you could say) is Peckham a long way from the home of BMX in California.

The Urban riders

Perhaps the most significant group of cyclists today are those described in the exhibition as Urban Riders - this might seem a catch all category and it certainly wide and disparate, it can be those who travel by bike for fun and socially or who use it for their daily commute - like the previous 'tribes' design improvements have had an effect   - a rider of a small folding bike these days is less likely to have punctures and be covered in oil from their chain.

The UK's  Brompton 3 stage Folding

Sadly though they are an 'endangered species' when forced to share crowded roads with heavy traffic and facilities for safely storing their machines are still too scarce.

The Brompton story is an education in how a worthwhile product can gather dedicated followers and an excellent   export  record for the UK.

The Brompton  Company is  now based not far from me in Brentford West London.



The Cargo Bikes


As well as being used by  Messengers in such Sc-Fi  TV programmes as Dark Angel  (quite allegorical I suppose)   there's a real  future for bicycles as delivery vehicles in major cities particularly those that are mainly flat like London.

The Boxer Rocket - use it for your weekly shop

Recently at the Design Museum the forward thinking environmentalist John Thackara spoke about how the use of bikes was actually economic already and is supplanting more traditional white vans in some parts of Europe - in this section we can see bicycles that can carry goods and  passengers reducing harmful pollution.

Here the rather pricey Boxer Rocket nearly £5000 UK) is an alternative (almost) to the family car.

Red 325

I'm not too sure when Maggie's (a mainly burger joint in Ealing's Broadway) went red it started off a couple of years ago with a mainly white façade accented with some red but while I wasn't looking (fairly recently I guess)  it went redder, don't know if this is a reflection of anything but might give it another try sometime

Maggie's -The freshening up made it redder