Invent a Problem. Solve it.

Yesterday we touched on a bit of bike related design with the incredibly useful Bluetooth helmet thing that will let you play out your special ops army fantasies, if nothing else. We’re not going to stop there. There’s so much more to raise an eyebrow at in the world of odd design ideas.

Our attention was drawn to the 2010 Seoul Bicycle Design Competition. Now in our limited experience bike design competitions draw entries in a few key categories.

Firstly there will be a few entries claiming to do away forever with a messy chain-drive system, whether with some sort of fancy wires and pulleys thing, or a motor. Check.

Then there’ll be folding bikes. Lots of folding bikes. Check.

Add in some “innovative” lighting solutions, and make sure that some of them avoid the obvious and make things just a little too complicated. Er, Check.

There’ll be some suggestions based on the idea of a city bike-sharing scheme. Check.

And finally some ideas to lock up your bike. Some of which will avoid the obvious problems. Once again, check.

Also there will undoubtedly be the designs that make you wonder what on earth the designers were thinking. Like a cable to lock your bike disguised as a plant and so slim that a good pair of garden secateurs would make short work of it, or a navigation system that assumes you won’t be able to see the 5 inch display and need a massive projection on the road in front to follow (or to let everyone else see where you’re going? And what happens in daylight, or when the bean gets broken up on surrounding traffic?). Have you considered what you’d do if you found no shade at the picnic venue you’d ridden to? Here’s your answer to this one. Or perhaps you want to clean the air and definitely be seen (and be safe if you inadvertently ride off a cliff)? Maybe what you really need is a tyre tread that shows your love for everything you ride over? Actually I suppose I quite like that one, although it really is just a new tread pattern and hardly a major design leap.

Have a browse for your favourites.

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