smart ebike design tour hits the london design festival 2013

smart ebike design tour hits the london design festival 2013
image © designboom

the smart ebike design tour has just finished up its run at the 2013 london design festival where it journeyed to events’ major programs, offering five distinct ‘journeys’ to suit the diverse interests of attending creative enthusiasts.

the daily excursion visited a slough of LDF hotspots and venues including: the mosaic rooms, royal college of art, serpentine gallery and the V&A; others stopped off at vessel gallery, tom dixon, pearsonlloyd‘s studios, SCP, ben sherman, creo collective, design marketo, lee broom studios, the american hardwood export council, roca london gallery, linley, wrong for hay and new craftsmen.
in case you didn’t make it to LDF, full write-ups and visual documentation of the various design tours will be available for view on bettery magazine.

smart ebikes all lined up ready to hit the streets of london
image © designboom

each participant was given a smart e-bike to ride, an electric two-wheeler which sets itself apart from conventional pedelic design, whereby the battery is seamlessly built into its frame. its material and coloring form a visual contrast with its aluminium frame, influenced by smart’s fourtwo car. having the capacity to cover up to 100km on a single charge, the smart ebike is easily powered up via connection to any household socket. alternatively, you can open the battery lock, and take the battery, which weights approximately 3kg, out of the frame and charge it separately. a completely drained battery is fully charged after 5 hours.

smart ebike

the smart ebike’s electric drive assists your muscle power as you pedal, thanks to a maintenance-free rear-wheel hub that offers four levels in drive mode. this allows the rider to always choose how much assitance they want from the motor while cycling; or you can select one of the four generator levels and decide at what extent you wish to recharge the battery while pedaling or riding downhill. to enhance safety and generate energy, the brakes of the bicycle offer two important benefits: the added safety provided by the premium disc brakes and the higher battery charge resulting from the use of released kinetic energy. the hydraulic disc brake system ensures high braking power and braking safety, even in wet weather, which came in handy during the london downpour!

designboom editor celia mahon-heap, with smart ebike design tour guide martin schrotter getting ready to go!
image © designboom

designboom participated in one of the tours which lead us to two major LDF programs. first we headed over to the southbank where we stopped over at designbersblock, a fixture to the london design festival that features the work of young, international and emerging designers working in the fields of furniture to fashion. the range of innovation and experimentation of materials was a key theme this year with a range of engaging pieces on show.

designersblock was host to a number of emerging designer presenting their wares to the greater public
image © designboom

furniture pieces were presented, many made in small production
image © designboom

general installation view of designersblock
image © designboom

the aram gallery presented ‘antecedents’, an exhibition of the working process of benjamin hubert
image © designboom

we then made our way over to the area of covent garden, where we stopped off at aram gallery, london’s curated space for contemporary art and design. there, we were immersed in the world of benjamin hubert and ‘antecedents’, a solo show of the young british creative’s working process, whereby sketches, small to full-scale mock-ups and prototypes of this various projects were presented. updates and full coverage of the smart ebike design tour’s various excursions at london design festival on bettery magazine, so stay tuned!

models and sketches of hubert’s work were on display
image © designboom

a new collection of work by british designer laura bethan wood was also on show at aram gallery
image © designboom

installation view of colorful glass lighting pieces by laura bethan wood
image © designboom

braving the london rain, all in the name of design!
image courtesy of smart