All we need is a cheap, well built, single gear town bike. There's too much focus on bells and whistles. I reckon a dependeable bike like this could cost under £100. It doesn't need to be one of these custom-built vintage flashy machines.

Like an iPod?

That'll be cutting edge and expensive then?

Or a BSO?

Or pushing his own work? Just maybe.........

Surely all the main bike manufactures already have bike that they can offer 'non-cyclists' - anything around the bottom of their 'urban' ranges would fit the bill.

The first problem is a lot of non cyclists think that 200 quid is a lot for a bike, secondly, most people don't even know how to mend a puncture, although this isn't bad news for bike shops/mechanics of course. I-pods and i-phones aren't actually that good they just look nice which is why people buy them.

Agree with this article.

Majority of people you see cycling around town have been sold a totally inapropiate bike that is hard to ride and diffucult to maintain.

Would suggest a 3 speed hub gear though - not a SS

I can't agree with this article. If anyone walks in to their local bike shop or, dare I say it, Halfords with £250 in their pocket they can get a prefectly good machine to "get around on" as long as they avoid full suspension and too many other gizmos and gadgets. The likes of Giant will be rubbing their hands together at this sort of publicity.

I don't agree with the viewpoint of Mark Sanders.

The industry stays focused on the market that delivers the greatest returns. Trek, Giant, Specialized, et al, aren't stupid. They're going to design what their consumer wants and what generates best business for them.

Design that focuses on the high end of the market pushes development forward (lighter frame materials, better components, safer brakes, etc.) and this has a trickle down effect to the cheaper end of the market. For example, it could be considered that a £300 bike now is better in terms of spec and performance than a £1000 bike 10 or maybe even 5 years ago. Without this development, the lower end of the market wouldn't improve either.

Maybe Mr Sanders has used this controverisal statement as a 'vehicle' for his own publicity? Imaging a world without bicycles? Why take this ridiculous viewpoint? The reality is that we're in a global society that has evolved with the bicycle. As a day-to-day, cost effective means of transport, maybe we should be looking at Beijing for reference, not the yuppy metroloplis?

3 speed hub gear? no thanks. I don't know a single customer of mine who can remove a rear 3 speed wheel to fix a puncture or replace a toggle chain, whereas the majority of my customers who use derailleurs can do it no problem, and most of the time, adjust the gears themselves.

take a look at this:

http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/vitamin-100634901/

£70, basic, single speed mountain bike with semi slicks.

Decathlon are quite dependable, and usually offer decent VFM. I'm going to buy one when I get paid at the end of the month.

BSO or perfect hack?

I agree with the sentiment as most bikes sold in the uk have too many gears, are too heavy and are made with low grade materials. I don't think the 'inovations' at the top end of the market flow down quickly or at all to the mass market bikes. The industry is sucessful but it's market is very narrow. It needs to look to other industries to find out how to broaden it's appeal and ask itself what would the majority of people need a bike for and go from there.

The scary fact is that 80% of the population dont use bikes (this applies in UK and USA). In fact over 80% of UK women dont own a bike and Never Cycle.

If you are reading this you are already part of the Read ocean, existing cyclist / enthusiast .. a 20% minority ! think of all your friends who never cycle. what to do ?? 'convert' them into an enthusiasts, like us (I am one too) .... or ???

There are no Microwave enthusiasts - microwaves and other consumer products appeal to all and are well designed at all price points.

OK part of this is infrastructure and legislation ..more Bike lane's and accident blame always on the Bigger vehicle (as in Holland) is desperately needed

For the full version of this article please click ..

http://issuu.com/mark77a/docs/imagine_-_bicycles_as_consumer_products_article

Mark Sanders, MAS-Design Products, www.mas-design.com

PS the picture of a omafiets with carbon 'roof' was just one of many ideas - I wouldn't share the really good work in progress - yet. And no not plugging anything - I only get a v small % of income from the bike industry - like many here its more about passion than money.

In reply to Zn533

That's exactly it! My girlfriend's getting one of these.

I'm all for cheap, functional, good looking bikes, but one of the things that used to put non-cyclists off was that bikes were considered "poor mans transport"

The recent boom in more expensive, stylish, desirable bikes using modern materials and "gadgets" such as disc brakes are attracting people out of their BMWs and onto bikes.

Some car users will buy the most expensive, most desirable car they can afford, with extras that they don't need, such as sat nav, alloy wheels, paint options etc because it's a status symbol, whereas other drivers don't care what the car looks like, as long as it's cheap and gets them from a to b, or they simply can't afford a high end model.

It's the same with bikes, I get customers who have never cycled since they were kids buying expensive bikes either for commuting or leisure use. They are buying the expensive models because they perform better, generally look better, and boost the customers ego.

Bikes should always be bikes and look like bikes. The bicycle is an attractive object to look at, if designed well.

Bringing out wacky designs with add-on roll cages, integrated computers and lights and sat nav just start making bikes look daft, and your average customer doesn't want to be seen on a bike which looks daft.

Decent sub £300 bikes which look nice are readily available and sell very well to 1st time cyclists, as do the £1000+ bikes to 1st time cyclists who have the disposable income.

Classic example, a lady just popped into my shop, was after the Giant Dash 4 ladies bike, 1st time cyclist, wants it because it "looks nice". £450 bike.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel.

I agree with your comments, theblender.

Giant know what they're doing when they design a bike for a woman's

IPods would never sell if there was no music anyone wanted to listen to. Bike will not sell better until there are places and routes people want to ride.

Further, the IPod wasn't invented because they wanted to build a better phonograph, it was a completly new idea. Same with bikes. All these "Futurist" sketches for building a better bike are missing the point - bikes have been around forever, we have designs that work perfectly well, thanks anyway.

ipod wasnt a completely new idea - it was just a refinement of existing .mp3 player tech with some clever (if cynical) marketing thrown in so the article is right in drawing those parallels i reckon - i can imagine some of the newer belt drive urban rides getting some design tweaks (all it takes is one good small improvement idea - with the ipod it was the dial control system) and with the right marketing you could see urban bikes becoming a lifestyle choice and spreading from there - just maybe not in this country (west coast of the Us or holland would seem better bets) until we get better infrastructure

sorry but typical designer talk that. what a nobber

take a trip to Decathlon/halfords/etc etc they're full of great value for money bikes (that 70 quid singlespeed somebody linked looks mint!). Problem is people think they should cost a tenner and for that you get an Aldi deathrtrap. But even that's not enough because they think for that tenner it should have 30 brazillion gears and need zero maintenance. Best compromise (coz lets face it SS is for beardies like me) 3 speed hub geared town bike, commonly known as an Ansterdam Bike. Cost more than a tenner though

the bikes are there, the public perception of value is not. the safe environment to ride this "unlimited" number of bikes is sadly lacking in the UK aswell

Any adult can purchase a sub-US$150 21-speed bike at his or her local Wal-Mart or KMart, or a sub-US$250 bike at multisports emporia like Sports Authority or Dick's Sporting Goods. For short rides (under 10 miles), these are often acceptable. (In fact, most bicycle-delivery folk ride just this sort of vehicle.)

The issues that bug us about these sorts of bicycles -- steel rims that can't be trued, wide tires, heavy weight, etc. -- are beneath the average Bob Normal's radar. Fixing a flat may take them more time than the average Joe, but either they'll figure it out or they'll bring it in for repair -- or, if they're just doing it for the experience, they'll just junk or sell the bike.

I have a £2k mountain bike and a road bike worth near the same.

Anyone reading this can be assured that when i'm out on my £250, carera rigid mtb type thingy, 7spd bike. It is an absolute joy and very comfy, easy maintaned.

Don't make it anymore......that's progress, apparently!!

two things:

1. this guy is an idiot

2. this guy should learn how to draw

and the 3rd thing:

a crappy drawing of a guy on a bike with two circles around it is not a bike design.

It is a crappy drawing.

what a doosh

Quoting Mark Sanders: OK part of this is infrastructure and legislation ..more Bike lane's and accident blame always on the Bigger vehicle (as in Holland) is desperately needed."

Accident blame always on the bigger vehicle?? What an idiot. Ever heard of being responsible for your own actions?

Accident blame should rest with the person RESPONSIBLE for the accident, whether they are on a bike or in a car.

Statements like yours don't do cycling any favours. Why should an innocent person take the blame for someone elses stupidity?

The fundamental barrier to people riding bikes is the fact that they have to pedal them. For most people in this lazy day and age, it's just too much effort.

@Sanders, your target audince don't presently cycle because:

1. they're vulnerable to other traffic,

2. physical exertion is required,

3. they're open to foul weather.

Design your way around those three and you've basically designed a car.

Comparing every product to an iPod is facile.

and by the way, your illustration looks suspiciously similar to that BMW scooter from few years ago which had a "roof".

As bike enthusiasts we know that a better bike can improve your enjoyment & your performance. We should do a better job of spreading this message. You wouldn't be reading this site if you didn't think that.

I think the critical thing for the general public is between a bike that performs badly & you quickly dislike (which stays in the shed) and a bike that you enjoy riding, which actually entices you to ride more.

How many people do you see on an old clunker, nearly flat tyres, rusty chain and the saddle down low so you can't get the power down? What is there on that bike that suggests to the rider how they can improve it? Your PC or your phone or other tech will have help files, or notifications or something to guide you. Or it's so well designed that it's obvious.

Yes you can say 'this is easy maintenance, these people are lazy', but that's cos you're into bikes. We all have more and more tech in our lives, but with the same 24 hours in the day to deal with it. So the succesful companies are those who make complicated things easy to use. Like it or not this guy has a point.

gary71 (and the OP)

the rule in Holland as I understand it is that the onus is on the larger vehicle to prove their innocence in the event of an accident. Further, no matter the outcome and responsibility, the car's insurance pays (this is more to do with complete insurance cover than responsibility per se I think)

the acid test is experience and in Holland this works. Cycling in Holland is as strong as anywhere in the world. That it is flat as a witches whatdoyoucallit may have an effect on that of course, but then again it rains just about *all* the time so swings and roundabouts. Similar styles of rulings exist throughout Benelux as well as in Spain, all of these places have a strong cycling culture. France I am less sure of the rules. The point is to bias towards the more vulnerable individual rather than outright blame. You can argue about the rights and wrongs of that but it does not damage cycling, commuting and road riding in these places is made a joy by the consideration given by drivers and the infrastructure at large to the rights and vulnerabilities of the cycilst.

This discussion continues over on the Bicycle Design Blog ...

http://bicycledesign.net/2010/03/no-longer-coasting/

Where the demise of the shimano coasting groupset (as used on Trek Line) is discussed. There is a good article about the background to both these projects - and the aim to better reach the needs of the great mass of non-cyclists...

http://issuu.com/mark77a/docs/dcm5_fourwheelsbadtwowheelsgood

(I liked how IDEO the design company, took some bicycle shop guys into a women's makeup department, an analogy to what many women feel when entering the more 'enthusiast' bike shops).

Agreed iPod is not a good analogy, although they are sold in supermarkets .. I prefer products we take for granted like microwave's. And yes that sketch is cr*p, it was intended to have a 1/2 second lifespan in the context of a presentation .... these are BikeRadar's additions. Please check out the original article / views ..... and then throw the brickbats :-)

http://issuu.com/mark77a/docs/imagine_-_bicycles_as_consumer_products_article

Reasons why people who purchase shiny new bikes and then dont use them after a while:

- laziness (more applicable in hilly areas)

- safety fears (real and imagined)

- weather (primarily precipitation)

- maintenance

Each of these can be addressed to a certain extent by bicycle design (some e.g. maintenance, much more than others), but as we all know, it takes a lot more than just bike design to get people to stay on bikes.

People in the 'lowlands' (Benelux) are just as lazy, they just live in a flat, high pop density area, with excellent infastructure, so its easier/faster/safer/appropriate to cycle. And its rarelly hot, so easier to wear waterproof overcoats.

If you live in a hilly, wet, hot, 'dangerous' area, it takes dedictaion.

This article is ridiculous, all he wants is to design a bike that looks pretty, like an ipod. There are already perfectly functional reasonably priced bikes out there, they're just not pretty enough, apparently.

You get what you pay for, and when you pay £100 for a bike, you get a POS, end of. Also, it has moving parts, yes? Then it will never be 'maintenance free'. When a part breaks down, the average customer isn't going to have a clue what to do about it, in fact neither would i. Current bikes are they way they are because they WORK, and they work WELL.

43guy, do you not think that if lower end bikes could utilise better materials and components cost effectively, then they already would? You don't get cheapo bikes made of titanium or carbon because it's bloody expensive! Bike companies such as SRAM etc spend millions a year on developing new products, the reason that these products aren't on low end bikes is because the company would make a loss. It's really quite obvious.

Besides, the average consumer is an idiot who doesn't know anything about bikes and won't be able to tell the difference between one bike and another, in effect, the large companies will prey on them, offering them cheap bikes that look pretty but are just utterly crap, same as they have done for years.

For what a bike designed by Apple might REALLY be like, see:

http://practicalcyclist.blogspot.com/2009/06/apple-and-bikes.html

Beartoe - I'd love to SEE the design you propose.