Thinking Outside the Bike Box

It’s fun keeping my non-technical-oriented eye on some of the new ideas emerging in the world of bicycle design. The epicenter of cyclo-innovation, at least in our part of the world, is the itinerant North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), the fifth annual version of which took place in Indianapolis a few weeks ago. Exhibiting this year were more than five dozen independent bike builders ranging from A (Adams Custom Fabrication of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) to Z (Zullo Tizino of Verona, Italy). And what a show it was, I am told.

Dynamic Bicycles, Inc., which was not involved with the show, claims its Synergy model, already on the market, is the world’s first internally geared, drop-bar road bike. “The result is a bicycle that will appeal to road enthusiasts, commuters, light touring, and event riders alike,” the company claims. The Nulla concept bicycle from designer Bradford Waugh might not yet be ready for prime time, but can you imagine riding it? You wouldn’t have to worry about your shoelaces or loose clothing getting caught in the spokes, that’s for sure. (On the other hand, what are you going to clothespin your baseball cards to?)

Feeling green? Check out the Bamboo Bike from California-based Calfee Design (a company that was represented at the NAHBS). This bicycle sounds like the real thing--although it occurs to me you might want to avoid touring on it in central China, or you could wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a panda bear munching on your two-wheeled transportation. Finally, have a look at the Couchbike. Mount a satellite dish on the armrest and it could be the answer you’ve been seeking to that age-old question: How can I go on tour without missing my daytime episodes of Judge Judy?

And here I thought I was pretty cutting-edge when I finally got my first fully suspended mountain bike last summer.


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Biking Without Borders is written by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling’s field editor. It appears weekly, highlighting a little bit of this or a little bit of that--just about anything, as long as it’s related to traveling by bicycle.