eurobike award 2012: folding bikes

EEZZ folded bike

the winners of the eurobike award 2012 have been announced. organized by iF design, 439 entries from 28 countries were submitted into the competition under nine different categories: mountain bikes, cross bikes, racing bikes, urban bikes, special-purpose bikes, e-bikes/pedelecs, cothes, parts/components and accessories.

from august 29th to september 1st an exhibition of all the award-winning products are on display at the eurobike tradeshow in foyer west at the friedrichshafen exhibition grounds, germany. the eurobike award was developed to offer a platform in which people could present their ideas for the bicycle industry.

the eight gold winners are: – ‘air 9 RDO – racing bike’ designed and manufactured by niner bikes, torrance, california USA – ‘protective biking shoes’ designed and manufactured by thaler sports GmbH&Co. KG, gevelsberg, germany – ‘SCOTT AMT – ultra lightweight shirts and shorts’ designed and manufactured by SCOTT SPORTS SA, givisiez, switzerland – ‘urban jacket – casual bike jacket’ designed by hideto suzuki and manufactured by PEdALED HIDE & NC INC., tokyo, japan – ‘KTM eshopper – carrier bike with bosch motor’ designed and manufactured by KTM fahrrad GmbH mattighofen, austria – ‘silkroad Xpore – travel bike with pinion transmission’ designed by thomas harter (SEED design), kay bendixen (engineering), oliver römer (consulting) and manufactured by tout terrain fahrräder & ausrüstung OHG, gundelfingen, germany – ‘supersix evo black – racing bike’ designed and manufactured by cycling sports group europe, basel, switzerland – ‘RT8 TT – hydraulic racing bike brake system’ designed by 5th dimension, munich, germany and manufactured by bad urach, germany

this year a number of folding bike designs were among the 84 shortlisted winners…

EEZZ in its folded state

designed and manufactured by ITMS marketing GmbH, bad nauheim, ‘EEZZ’ uses vertical folding technologies – hinges are hidden within the top of the hydro formed frame instead of its side – to make it a compact portable bike. twin pull rod systems on the seat post allow it to extend and contract automatically, reducing the amount of time needed for individual adjustment. weighing only 9 kg, the ‘EEZZ’ can easily be stored in the trunk of a car, apartment closet, its easy assembly offering a reliable means of bi-model transportation within a few seconds.

TERN swoop duo

the ‘tern swoop duo’ urban bike is a cable-free, two-speed automatic shifting and super low-step design. manufactured by tern of taiwan, the two-wheeler has an OCL joint which makes one forget it is in fact a folding bicycle. other features include N-fold technology, a double truss, physis handlepost, detachable integrated rack and schwalbe big apple tires.

design team: joakim uimonen, eric lin, joshua hon, marco liu, sean smith, zeke smith, neil techawongtham, michael chen

the swoop features schwalbe big apple tires and a detachable integrated rack

TERN eclipse X20

tern’s ‘eclipse X20’ was also shortlisted. also known as the ‘pirate ninja’, the 20-speed bike has kinetix pro wheels which allow riders to slice through the urban streets. it features N-fold technology, OCL joint, double truss, physis handlepost, dual-tone gloss/matte finish, kintetix pro wheelset, syntace VRO adjustable stem.

design team: joakim uimonen, eric lin, joshua hon, marco liu, sean smith, zeke smith, neil techawongtham, michael chen

the sleek bike in its most compact form