Bicycle as Furniture

Just saw this posted on the Slow Bicycle Movement's facebook page - quite possibly the most elegant use of a bicycle as furniture.

Form AND function.  Indeed.

Treadlie Hits Town!

Great to finally meet Faith from Treadlie Mag after months of talking, emailing and twittering....
The official launch of their Handmade Bicycle Show happened on Friday night - if you're quick you might just catch them today before they head back on down the Hume Highway.

A couple of my personal favourites, the Velo Orange guys bike with customised porteur rack and box on the front and the Black Beauty - a simple old vintage bike, resprayed and made practical with the old style handmade crate on the back.

And here's Debbie from the Powerhouse Museum "spontaneously" riding in front of the gallery on her crafted up Giant Via....

Mrs Fairweather's Bicycle Emporium is the Adelaide based home of gorgeous up-cycled vintage bikes each with their own story. What a discovery - just brilliant.  I think we'll be hearing more from Mrs Fairweather....

A great night with many bikes, people and empty bottles crammed in to the old Deus store on Oxford Street.  More pics from the event on flickr and the Sydney Design film we did here.

  

  

Sydney Design - Made to Measure

The brilliant Treadlie Handmade Bicycle Show has finally made it up the Hume from Melbourne after it's preview at State of Design.  It's part of this year's Sydney Design Festival which kicks off tonight for 2 weeks of fabulousness.  This year's theme - Is Old New Again?

A brilliant bunch of gorgeous bikes all entirely or partly made by hand.  Well worth a visit.  Catch us at the opening tonight from 7pm or over the weekend.  Details here.

Here's a little voxpop we did last night while Treadlie were making finishing touches to the space.

It's certainly inspired me to get the old vintage bike out of the garage and spruce it up a bit.

Am so inspired in fact that Sydney Cycle Chic will be holding a workshop in the next few months so you can join me in some crafty bike building/designing fun - watch this space for details!

(It'll be fine, trust me, I have no idea what I'm doing either but we sure will by the end of it.....)

Scrapertown - Power of the Bicycle

Thanks to Tiago from Rio de Janeiro Cycle Chic for putting me on to this awesome film from California is a Place.

Always cool to see how the bicycle changes lives all over the world.  The Scraper King is my new bike hero!

Scrapertown from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Gorgeous Bicycle Illustrations from Denmark

SO love these illustrations from Danish graphic designer Mads Berg - not all his work is bicycle related but hey, this is Cycle Chic after all.....

A Little Bike Porn for a Monday Morning

[via Design *Sponge]

Design *Sponge really turns me on.  There I've said it.  Give me some nicely varnished floorboards, white bed linen and a vintage bike and I'm yours.

Bike Rack as Art ?

If you ride a bicycle, you probably have need to park your bicycle.  Ever thought about designing your own rack ???
A joint project of the Powerhouse Museum and the RTA, as part of the NSW BikePlan, this Australia-wide competition gives you that chance.  Open to anyone with a creative bent, designs are invited for a public bike rack that is not only an inspirational piece of street art but a functional device.
The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and their bike rack will be manufactured and installed at selected locations around Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool.  Second and third prizes are $5,000 and $2,000 respectively.
Judges include artist, designer and architect, Richard Goodwin; the Powerhouse's Design Manager, Diana Lorentz; Greg Chalberg, the Marketing Manager of Shimano Australia; Matt Faber, RTA Sustainable Transport Section; and Myfanwy Lawrence, representing Liverpool, Penrith and Parramatta Councils.
Applications must be received by 18 October 2010.  More details here.
Feeling creative ?  The winner could be you!

[photograph by David Mist from the Powerhouse Museum Collection]