Bike Score – How bikeable is Vancouver?

According to a study carried out by Bike Score in 10 Canadian cities and 16 American cities, it turns out that Vancouver is very bikeable, indeed. Not as much as Victoria, which keeps its title as the Cycle Capital of Canada, but definitely ahead from Montreal, Toronto or Calgary.

On the flip side, the news are not so bright: Vancouver and all the other Canadian cities in the study score below the 75 mark — far behind the scores on many European cities. And the percentages of ridership all across Canada would still make a Copenhagener laugh and choke a little. In short, no breaking news here: there is still lots of room for improvement.

The coolest part of the study carried out by Seattle-based Walk Score in collaboration with both Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, though, is their “heat maps”: a visual, color based representation of the “bike-friendliness” of every area and neighborhood in the city.

Bike Scores are calculated for each location in a city based on 3 criteria: cycling infrastructure, topography and road connectivity and access to amenities. Those results are then mapped with color, with scores ranging from a low of 0 (deep red) and to a high of 100 (dark green). The American Bike Scores include an additional map showing the percentages of bike commuters by area, as a means to include a measurement for the social component in cycling: chances are that, if more people in your extended network bike, you will be more inclined to try it yourself.

But if Bike Score is wrong and not even peer pressure works to get more people on bikes, then I’d advocate for more sunny morning and afternoons: nothing like the first stretch of beautiful weather after a wet winter to see the daily numbers of Commuter Cup Contenders increase exponentially!

You can check all the bike score cities here. And also look for apartments based on cycling distance. And if you don’t see a Bike Score  for your city, tweet away to get it included: they will be building Bike Score for the top 10 most requested cities.

Oregon Manifest Design Challenge – Winners announced

The Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge held their annual contest in search of the ultimate utility bike for everyday transportation made by boutique builders. We looked at the winner in a little more detail, and were critical of some points.

Patricia: It seems they’ve found… a scooter?? Well, maybe not quite that, but almost. This year’s winning design reminisces of old-school motorcycles and features a stereo system, a front-rack lockbox made of carbon fiber and… an electric pedal assist engine!

Lawrence: Hmmm. Well, at least the electric assist motor would certainly be an advantage to win the race that each of the builders were required to participate in as part of the contest! But is that… that’s not cheating is it? I wonder how much race performance scores you?

Patricia: As far as I understand it, the designs are required to complete a road trial to ensure the bikes actually work. But no points or advantages are awarded to those who complete it faster. I may be wrong… But, in any case, Tony Pereira stated that his main objective while building his hot pink bike was “to get people out of cars, introducing amenities that drivers have grown accustomed to on the road”. So I guess the engine may be coming to Pereira’s design from this line of thought, not so much to make this design the fastest in a race against the rest of the bikes competing for the OM award. Maybe it’s just because I don’t fall into that category of people who needs to get out of their cars, but I must confess I am not a big fan of the electric engine and… well, this design is not my favorite.

Lawrence: I’m curious to know more about the constraints used in the contest. Let me get this out right away: Pereira is an awesome builder, and he makes great bikes, but I feel like this defies the most interesting constraint that a bicycle designer must face…. limited Watts and human power. Introducing the electric assist makes it as much a bicycle with motor as it makes it a scooter with pedals. It’s a hybrid electric scooter really, and the motors, cool as they are, aren’t innovative in the year 2012. I’m also confused by the contradiction of parts: Steel frame with carbon box, Retro, relaxed styling with race-tech Shimano cranks. It’s not my favorite, either…

We both preferred the runner-up design (seen below) made by Tsunehiro cycles which featured retro-reflective powder coating, kids back seat with built in handle bars, internal hub and hoards of storage. What do you think? Check out more on the website: http://oregonmanifest.com/ All in all, the contest features some amazing builders, with sick skills and even if some of the bikes aren’t completely our preference, or we have some gentle critiques, the results were inspiring and very interesting. Maybe someday we’ll enter a bike…

Oregon Manifest Design Challenge

A friend forwarded this on to me and I’m looking forward to seeing the results of this. It should be interesting to see what people come up with in terms of an “everyday” bike. It looks like the final results will be released in early October. Check out their website for more information.

http://oregonmanifest.com/