An interesting mix of finalists from the 839 entries for the 16th IBDC. 19 designs were selected for a share of the awards: Merit, Excelllent, and Silver and Gold. Offering quite a contrast to last year’s IBDC winning entry, Larry Chen’s Velocity took out the number one spot and the Gold Award.
This is an electric assisted city bike which has a hidden and detachable “power core” which integrates the battery, motor and control unit. The power unit is available for commuting, but can be removed for weekend riding. A worthy winner not least since it solves one of what is arguably a neglected dimension of electric assist design–ungainly battery and/or drive unit integration into the overall design.
It’s interesting that recent years have seen various attempts to work some sort of electric assist into IBDC designs. None of these have impressed the judges enough though. Yet we find that although this year’s designs by contrast have put aside electric assist, it is voilà a key component of the winning design.
The display model.
The working prototype.
Larry with his official certificate.
The power unit fits into the seat/down tube.
More on the other winners soon.