The Bicycle Design blog has opened up a competition, whose goal is to find bike designs that might convince more commuters to get out of their cars and on to a cycle as often as possible. Bike maker Cannondale has agreed to chip in one of its Bad Boy bikes (pictured above) as a prize for the winning design.

Contestants are asked to design a cycle that could, “persuade the average person, with no prior interest in cycling, to park the car and pedal to work.” No mean feat, to be sure, but one that we’d guess will provide a fertile starting place for ambitious concepts. Thinking outside of the current market will be a key to success here, though submissions are required to not “break the laws of physics, etc.” Fair enough.

Click through the link below for more contest details and submission requirements, and be sure to check back in to see the results after the contest is called on December 5th.

+ Bicycle Design

It seems as if the already rather geeky (and we mean that in the nicest possible way) cadre of Segway owners is taking a step towards the bizarre, by embracing the blooming trend of customization in the personal mobility market. Adorning their rides with acres of diamond plate and colored Lucite, these bold individuals aren’t afraid of standing out from the crowd—not as much as they fear walking a few blocks, at any rate.

Is a fully chromed and chopped Segway with matching tow-along trailer a true bid for individuality, or just another sign of the impending apocalypse? You can judge for yourself by sifting through our gallery above.

+ GeekAlerts

Just having spent some time in the scooter-happy (and year-round warm) Austin, Texas, we’ve been wondering about how many drivers would make the switch from four to two wheels for their daily drivers. Have you considered a scooter or motorbike for your daily ride, or will your everyday vehicle always be something a little more contained? Give us your choice, in comments.

Aprilia is looking to capitalize on a ballooning demand for commuter smart scooters with the release of its SportCity Cube 250. The 2009 SportCity has refined what was already a popular package for Aprilia, adding a bit more usability and performance to the big-wheeled scooter. The bike sports an even larger luggage rack with improved grab handles for passenger convenience, and has added an outlet for cell phone recharging to its already clever lockable glove compartment. Aprilia has also expanded the dimensions of the under seat compartment for even more stowing space.

A hearty 224cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine is called upon to haul around all this new found equipment along with a rider or two, and should prove suitably quick for around town runs and medium length commuting with its 22.5 horsepower and over 16 pound-feet of torque. The clean-burning engine is likely to be suitably frugal on fuel bills, though no official consumption information has been released.

The SportCity Cube 250 retails for $4699, not an insubstantial sum where motor scooters are concerned, but cheap enough that it should still be in the wheelhouse for those looking to seriously cut costs in their urban-oriented budgets.

The Dutch city of Eindhoven is in the midst of a 100-day event which celebrates a vehicle which is of passionate importance in the Netherlands; the bicycle. Aptly titled “Bicycle” the event is centered on a stunning exhibit at the Designhuis gallery, which features any number of human powered vehicles. The cycles range from interesting applications of traditional bikes, to utterly sublime creations of pure fantasy. Check out some of the amazing creations in the gallery above, or click through the link below to see even more of the Designhuis stockpile.

+ Core 77: Core77 Photo Gallery: FIETS Bicycle Show

Vectrix, builders of a posh electrically-powered scooter, seemed at the beginning of the year to be on the verge of going belly up. The company built over 2,000 examples of its EV two-wheeler in 2007 but managed to sell only 123 of the bikes for the massive price of nearly $12,000 per.

Rapidly shifting values of American consumers have seen Vectrix fair quite a bit better in the first half of this year though. Helped in no small part we’d guess by a price drop to $8795 for the 2007 model scooter, the company has already managed to sell more than 1,000 examples in 2008. The sales explosion has seen the total of Vectrix retailers grow from just five in the U.S. during the spring of last year, to fifty locations currently. The company also claims some 75 dealerships in other countries.
The company is likely to see an even greater explosion in popularity in coming years, as there are plans in the works for an even more affordable model that will use a new NiMH battery, and should have an effective range of around 70 miles. Target price for the new scooter, which could launch sometime next year, is roughly $5000.

+ AutoblogGreen: Vectrix sales get their scoot on, more affordable model coming next year

Now touring the art house screens across the country, Made In Queens is a stylish documentary about a group of Trinidadians living in New York. The startlingly imaginative group creates massive movable sound systems on the frames of BMX bikes, cruising around the neighborhood to the gawking wonder of the populace.

These kids use their improbable conveyances to set the streets roiling with music and energy, stirring impromptu small parties where ever they ride.

The bikes themselves are clearly quite impressive; managing to disperse massive speaker loads and battery power while remaining streetable (mostly). Have a look at some examples in our gallery above, or take a minute to watch the official Made In Queens trailer below.

+ Made In Queens

Aprilia’s 2008 Sportcity 250 is a great example of why people are starting to consider scooters as great urban commuters in ever increasing numbers these days. Quick, agile, and great looking, the Sportcity seems to be a whole world more grown up than the kid-size image most people have of small displacement two-wheelers. The Scooter Scoop has put together a great quick review of the bike in the video below, or have a closer look at the Aprilia in our gallery above.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/7-best-electric-scooters-prototypes-prod...