Filed under: N.P.D. | Tags: charlotte atkins, female cyclists, life cycle, women cyclists, womens design service
The other half
A visit to the Department of Transport website has yielded some interesting information. Above is a graph which represents the amount of women who cycle vs men in Great Britain. It appears that only half the amount of women cycle compared to men; a subject addressed in a speech given by the former minister for transport Charlotte Atkins at the 2005 Lifecycle UK/GOSW Cycling & Social Inclusion Conference. Ms Atkins then said
“I know Life Cycle has pioneered work in this area and I was also pleased to see women and cycling feature strongly in today’s conference agenda.
But just 8% of women cycle regularly, compared to 18% of men. So what actions can we take to encourage more women to get on a bike?
It’s important to recognise that women’s cycling needs are different to those of men. Women are more concerned about safety in traffic, and personal safety out on the road.”
This statement had me interested and I wrote to Life Cycle in Bristol explaining that I was a Masters student in Bath Spa and was currently researching a topic for a module we had in ‘New Product Development’. I asked them if they would be able to put me in touch with any female cyclists or whether they could suggest an alternative methodology. I received a very short and polite email back from the Director, Peter Andrews explaining that they would love to help but they were not able to do so as they didn’t keep a mailing list and didn’t have a database of female cyclists (?). This left me slightly confused, it’s not really what I was after. No further information was given and I was left scratching my head but following this dead end, I had a bit of luck on google when I discoverd the ‘Women’s Design Service’ who
“works to ensure that the design and use of the built environment reflects the needs and aspirations of women.”
Not only that but they, it seems, as early as 2004 have already been addressing this very issue, detailed here. It made me wonder, does the left hand talk to the right hand? I wrote back to Life Cycle thanking them for their swift response and asked them if they were aware of the above project? In the meantime, my thinking is that this area presents a very interesting problem to tackle. In terms of there being an opportunity for ‘new’ (as we’ve been asked to do in our brief, I thought it to be more than suitable.
Interestingly, according to the WDS report, in other countries the amount of women cycling mostly reflects the demographic. So why aren’t there more women cycling on the roads of Britain? One other article I was able to find on this topic (however related it is I’m not quite sure) but Women, it seems, are more vulnerable on the roads than men due to an unfailing ability to obey traffic lights! If there are any women cyclists reading this Blog and would like to offer me any of their insights as to why they think less women are cycling on the roads of Britain, please comment.
Filed under: History, N.P.D. | Tags: bamboo bike, calfee, sustainable bikes
Bamboozled
Calfee Design is the brain child of Craig Calfee. Calfee, according to the company site, has been on a quest to build tougher, more durable frames ever since a ’spectacular head-on collision in Boston’ back in 1987. Since then, Calfee, as a company, have gone on to pioneer hi-tech frames (generally made out of Carbon Fiber) but in 2005 Calfee produced their first ever Bamboo frame. Originally started as a publicity gag in 1997, Calfee built 12 of the frames for family and friends. But reports came back so positive that Calfeee then decided to go into full production. More recently, Craig Calfee has seen another advantage of the Bamboo frame
‘Back in 1984, when Craig was wandering around Africa, he noticed three things: 1. There was a lot of bamboo, 2. People used bikes and didn’t have enough of them, and 3. they needed jobs. Perhaps people could build their own bamboo cargo bikes. So he put a small notice on the website to see if someone wanted to fund a trip to Africa to see what it would take to get the idea rolling. The Earth Institute at Columbia University decided it was worth trying, so off we went! Craig determined that it was possible and proceeded to set it up. Media attention on the idea was phenomenal!’
What’s more, Calfee have teamed up with ‘Organic Athlete’. Organic Athlete is an ideological movement that wants to promote the training of Athletes on non animal products (in this instance Vegan). The organisation is made up of ‘chapters’ around the world ‘with a mission to promote healthy living, ecological responsibility, and compassion for all life.’ and according to Quickrelease.tv
‘An elite cycling team was formed last year and now has five team members on bamboo bikes.’
The bikes retail for about 2,000 dollars; so perhaps that’s not in everyone’s pocket when they walk into their local bike shop. Still, it proves that natural resources can still be used to produce imaginative products that, according to one of the founders of Organic Athlete Bradly Saul
‘I’ve been riding a bamboo bike for over a year now. I can honestly say it’s the best riding bike I’ve ever had.’
More can be found on the Bamboo Bike Project on their site. It contains photos and a comprehensive Blog on the progress of the project.
Filed under: History, N.P.D. | Tags: BMX, lead user, open innovation, Schwinn bikes
BMX Bandits
It gets even better. Further research last night has revealed to me that not only were Schwinn responsibe for Chopper bicycles, and had a hand in the creation of ‘Mountain Biking’, but they were also there for the birth of BMX. ‘Joe Kid on Sting-Ray’ is a film that charts the birth of BMX right up to the present day and guess where it started? With the Schwinn Stingray. Those kids chopping up bikes on the West Coast of America it seems were destined to take it a step further. Not only did they want to look like the older boys, they wanted to race like them too. The film looks as though it’s in much the same vein as ‘Dogtown and Z Boys’ with fast punk rock music and grown men talking about how macho they were as teenagers (midlife crisis ahoy!). But again, this innovation is hotly contested, not by Raleigh this time but by one of the most traditional biking nations in the world; Holland. On this site FatBMX, there is another version of history being told
“As a matter of fact, although not known as BMX (Bicycle Moto-X), in Holland BX (Bicycle Cross) got off the ground in the mid 1950’s and also because of youngsters imitating the, at the time, motorsport moto-cross stars from Holland and Belgium.”
It’s worth taking note that the above image was not taken in sunny California but Holland (courtesy of FatBMX) and according to the publisher, dates back to 1958. (That’s put a stick in the spokes!) Further reading on FatBMX will reveal that Bicycle Cross (as it was known in Holland) had something else going for it
“Just last year May 7 th in Holland a special Reunion took place of the moto-cross riding sons of the ‘Van HEUGTEN’ family. This famous moto-cross family had 15 children of which 5 daughters and 10 sons. All ten sons were at any time active in the moto-cross sport”
“Anyway, besides the famous van Heugten family, there was also the famous Karsmakers family . This family had 8 children, 2 daughters (of whom I married the oldest one, Mieke!) and 6 sons. Only 5 from these sons were active in the moto-cross sport and also they started out in the woods near their home in Waalre – Holland, imitating MX stars, riding adjusted normal road bicycles.”
A slightly bias account perhaps but why hasn’t there been a movie been made of this? It’s got everything going for it, dueling families!? In any case, the design innovations that lead to the actual BMX bike were to come from California and in any case, all of this arguing appears rather trivial in light of the fact that BMX, for the first time ever, has finally been recognised as an Olympic sport and will feature this year in Beijing’s Olympic games.
Filed under: History, N.P.D. | Tags: Eric Von Hippel, Klunkers, open innovation, Raleigh chopper, Schwinn
Sting in the tale
Even at this early stage of research, I am finding an awful lot of evidence that ties bike design in with open innovation. On the institute of manufacturing website, there is a good account of how the Raleigh Chopper developed. Taking its inspiration from ‘chopped’ motorcycles known as Choppers, children in California went on to make modifications of their own to push bikes, producing a new and distinct category of bicycle. The IFM also makes reference to Eric Von Hippel (author of the book ‘Democratizing Innovation’) who seemingly refers to this process as ‘the “lead-user” phenomenon.’
However, the site credits Schwinn with being the first to respond to this open innovation not Raleigh. In 1962 a young Schwinn engineer named Al Fritz picked up on this growing trend for ‘chopped’ bikes and made the trip out to California to see it for himself. (This is where it gets interesting) This is taken from Schwinn’s site
“[...]he set out to create a bike that not only looked like the newest West Coast creations, but also lent itself to customization, enabling kids to trick out their wheels just as older kids were customizing their hot rods and choppers. After scanning the dictionary for just the right name, he christened his new bike the Sting-Ray, after the winged creature of the sea.”
The Sting-Ray series ended up with the Orange Krate, a bike Raleigh would soon copy with its Raleigh Rodeo in 67′; an obvious evolutionary step towards the Chopper. These iconic bikes are a direct result of open innovation that not only was Fritz clever enough to pick up on but also smart enough to encourage, ensuring his designs could be further modified. More research on the Web provided me with this article on the development of the Chopper; no great inventions it seems are left uncontested.
“I’m here to spill the ugly tin of beans…… Raleigh had for some time been, basically, copying every move that Schwinn made.[...] Raleigh always had a range of bikes exclusively for the US market that never appeared on our shores. These bikes usually had the Schwinn style cantilever frame design, with two thin crossbars curving gracefully up from the rear wheel to the headstock. Also, unlike our familiar front forks with chrome ‘dimples’, seen on UK Raleighs, the US bikes often had a front fork almost identical to Schwinn’s. It comes as no surprise, then, to discover that Raleigh, seeing the popularity of the Schwinn Stingray, and in unison with every other company selling bikes in America, soon brought out a Stingray lookalike.”
I came across Schwinn earlier on this week in a similar context when reading the book ‘Fat Tire’. Schwinn also featured at the centre of the ‘Mountain Bike’ phenomenon when kids from Marin county rode customized bikes they made up of old Schwinn frames and ‘Balloon’ tyres they referred to as ‘Clunkers’ . This really comprehensive commentary on Clunkers by downhill pioneer and bike builder Alan Bonds documents the history of this invention.
“[...] all based on mild steel frames from the coaster brake one speed genre. Many were pre-war and some from the forties and fifties. Some of the riders considered the pre-war frames superior in quality and construction. The hybrid version of these bikes had upgraded stems, bars, seatposts, cranks, rims, seats, pedals and had drum brakes, gears, deraillers, shifters and brake levers added.”
Mountain Bikes may have been the last great innovation in Bike design. Before, kids contented themselves with modifying Bikes, these days it’s all about hacking your Wii.
Easy Rider
The Raleigh Chopper must have been the most iconic and innovative bike that Raleigh ever put into production. It’s design was so unusual yet incredibly desirable. The bikes, with a large back wheel and long slung back saddle, made every child who rode one an instant rebel. On the cross bar featured a unique gear shift system that echoed the gear box of an automatic car. Tall curled back handle bars and built in carrier at the back and the white band on the saddle, are just some of the features that distinguish the Chopper as a bike not to be messed with. This nostalgia piece on YouTube, sees the bike in action and also contains footage of the Raleigh factory being torn down; The two images extremely jarring.
The other more notable features on this bike is the front chain ring made up of the Heron heads, rear suspension on the saddle and, on some models, rear reflector on the saddle. I was able to discover that the design of this bike was initiated by Tom Karen; who was responsible for a lot of other classic product designs. According to this site, the Chopper was an impractical design but its style won over its content. The Raleigh Chopper was quite literally a dream bike for children and it captured their imagination in a way that has never happened since.
Filed under: History
Burning up
It seems as though Raleigh have very cleverly decided to take advantage of consumer nostalgia by re-issuing their classic Team Aero Pro Burner as a 25th Anniversary edition. Raleigh team burners are synonymous with British racing champ Andy Ruffel who used to present a morning programme ‘BMX Beat’. I’m curious to know what their strategy is here and who their target market might be. The generation who would have ridden these bikes in the 80s would most likely have children of their own now. Is their a hope that certain adults will be re-living their childhood dreams vicariously through their own children? Is this the Mid-Life crisis market? Or are they appealing to the Peter Pan demographic? Comments on ‘Single Track World’, where I came across this story, are filled with nostalgia. This is just one example
If I’m not careful I’m gonna have a very upset GF…I can see it now…………… “Whats that!!”
And this, which is most revealing
hey theres a burner jam this year on wollaton park in nottingham some time in june will have to keep checking burner world website for updates.
Following this advice, I googled Burner World and indeed there it is, an entire community of men in their mid 30s to early 40s celebrating their child hood obsession. The site is replete with a forum, bike of the week slot and tutorials. So Raleigh, quick on their feet, have been very clever in re-releasing their classic BMX model in response to this Peter Pan community, keeping the dream alive.
Filed under: History | Tags: nottingham, raleigh bicycles, saturday night - sunday morning
Pushing off
Getting deeper into bicycles now. I have chosen a territory for my MA research which is bicycles. The reason I’ve chosen this is because I feel bicycles lend themselves to open source. For study, I have chosen a well established British brand; Raleigh. I think we’ve had more than a couple of Raleigh’s go through our family and they were highly priced growing up. However, by the time I was a teenager I’d moved onto different bikes with different brands and now I own a Specialized ‘Rock Hopper’. It seems as though I am typical of a generation who moved away from Raleigh’s safe family image and onto more edgy American brands like Specialized, Cannondale or Scott. One thing I hadn’t realised till I made a cursory shuffle around the internet is that part of the film ‘Saturday Night – Sunday Morning’ was filmed on-site, at the Raleigh plant itself. Sadly, this may stand as a poignant document as the plant is no longer there today. In my research, I was lucky enough to stumble across this document which gives a very good overview of the history of Raleigh right from its inception up to the present day. Today, most of Raleigh’s manufacturing is in South East Asia whilst in Notingham, Raleigh still maintains control of the design of its product. Having viewed Raleigh’s website, I was quite disappointed, it didn’t deliver on my expectations. I remember a time when Raleigh’s communication was fun and imaginative. I was very sorry to see this as their main portal for sales on-line. For part of my MA, I will be taking a look at Raleigh’s brand and making my own assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. I will be looking at Raleigh’s past, Raleigh’s present and Raleigh’s future. Anyone out there who wants to share their Raleigh thoughts or knows anybody who’s connected with Raleigh, former employees etc., please get in touch.
Saddling up
Bottom Bracket is an academic research blog that is running as a side arm to the blog Withoutthought. Bottom Bracket will document all of my research findings in the field of bicycles whilst Withoutthought will contain more theoretical material. The hope is that the two blogs will aid synthesis, enriching my study. Any comments you may have for either blog would be appreciated.
