creating open minded mobility

Introduction film beixo share (Dutch)

2011-01-10T16:57:00.001+01:00

hard core testing

2010-12-08T16:05:00.009+01:00

The current weather in Holland is not my favorite one but I love riding my bike trough the snow. And it gives some good opportunities to test our (new) bikes in winter conditions. Last Friday there was fresh to test and thanks to the city of Utrecht some secondary streets (but often main bike-routes) are still covered with really slippery ice.

The results are pretty simple: the bigger the wheel, the better the bikes rides in winter conditions. The beixo slim has virtually no problems with snow and also rides easily over ice. The riding position lets you control the bike very well. The beixo slim truly is an all-season bike.

The new beixo share citybike also has 28" wheels, but because of the more relaxed riding position you loose some control. Also the wider tyres make riding in the snow pretty heavy.

In snow the beixo compact and the gsusbike, with their 20" wheels, are not really fantastic to ride. The ride is stable, but the smaller wheel size takes away a lot of grip. On icy-roads, the gsusbike is 100% OK, but the compact is very nervous. I guess because of the more forward riding position. As soon as you hit the front brake problems start.

And then our smallest bike: the new beixo GO. It's 16" wheels are more or less OK in fresh snow (but there get's a lot of snow in the wheels) but the bike is totally out of control on ice. The ice is not plain and the bumps in it are impossible to beat with the small wheel size. Beixo recommends walking.

We didn't test the beixo.electra electrical folding bike, just because the motor is in the front wheel. This makes no sense on ice or snow. You loose your grip even before you realize it. Beixo strongly advices not to use any front wheel driven E-bike on ice or snow.

Luckily the streets are not always like this. But when these conditions appear we advice you to test and know the limits of your bike before riding it.

Bike Motion 2010 Invitation

2010-10-08T20:32:00.000+02:00

Two happy designers

2010-09-22T18:50:00.006+02:00

After receiving the two prototypes last week it was a matter of days before the designers would travel to Utrecht to check the results of their work. Today Jurgen Kuivenhoven of Superframe took a first ride on the beixo share, a real unisex city bike, to be used by the whole household. I can not repeat the words that left his mouth having the first glance at his work, but positive it was! Some rather small changes have to be done before the share will be introduced to the Europen market. Mostly aesthetical changes, like the color of the decals.

The share is in our window at the office in Utrecht and only by that the first bikes are sold. So Jurgen, good work.

Last week Jos Ramselaar had the chance to meet his 16" folding bike, the GO. This technically more difficult bike is besides a design project also the result of a lot of engineering. The main characteristic of the bike is the downwards folding movement. This works fine, but fine-tuning is necessary to keep the bike together when folded.

And last weekend the GO was received very well on the FestiBike bikeshow in Madrid, Spain.

Eurobike

2010-09-09T10:01:00.004+02:00

Last week beixo visited the Eurobike-exhibition. Since the development of the GO is in a decisive phase we had to bring the bike to the show to consult our manufacturer. This meant strolling over the fair with the prototype in our hand. Inadvertently this triggered a lot of attention. So we can say the design is absolutely OK, even without paint or decals.

Not all people interested in the bike were as innocent as they looked. Two men asked more questions then we liked and after asking their business cards they appeared to be owning a large folding bike factory.

Now last changes have been made and next week number 1 will arrive. Only the stem is not 100% like we want. But the bike is just in time to present it to the Spanish public next week during the FestiBike exposition in Madrid.

A handle bar discovery in Amsterdam

2010-08-18T19:07:00.007+02:00

Today I visited Tromm, the mayor bicycle shop in Amsterdam. They sell our bikes for some years now and because of their history they have huge knowledge and affection for bikes. I brought the prototype of the beixo GO to have them have a glance. And get a valuable opinion on it. "So they really can do something over there in Utrecht" was their comment, and for Amsterdam people that really is a compliment.
The most interesting discovery was in their basement. Tromm-junior showed me an ancient (50's or 60's) Raleigh folding bike (the only folding bike that gets bigger when folded, he explained) that has a similar folding movement as the GO (the GO gets a lot smaller). Great was the sound of the mayor folding closing. Like a BMW-door closing. (but hey, that's steel). And very interesting item were the handle bars. This is still a point of attention to us. The solution on the Raleigh was a bit like some previous designs from us. But then we shove it aside because 'not possible'. So it is possible. Anyway, just another thing to rethink and send back to the drawing table.

the beixo go has arrived

2010-07-02T13:59:00.003+02:00

This morning the prototype arrived. Check the movie for some first impressions...

open source bikes

2010-06-25T09:10:00.008+02:00

According to our philosophy we keep our bikes simple. A beixo bike has everything you need to ride it well. All choosen parts are the best option, of good quality and do what they have to do.
The nice thing of creating bikes is that there are always special wishes. We receive a lot of questions about possible changes. Can I mount a front fork with suspension? Can I pick wider tyres? A different saddle?
The answer is in 99% of the matters yes. We choose for standard sizes and standard parts, so an exchange is easy to make. The only boundaries you find in the rear hub. Here we (and also our customers) are limited to the Shimano internal gear range. In a certain sense our bikes are open source bikes. This because we push the beixo riders to share their opinions and their changes. These are discussed with a group of experts (bike shop dealers, technicians etc). And if it makes sense we apply these changes on the bikes.
But our philosophy remains standing: we provide the cake: you can add the cherry.

beixo slim changed by Mr Van Waijenburg (The Netherlands), check the suspension fork, the smaller front wheel (24") and the 2.1 Schwalbe tyres

beixo slim changed by Mr Tiller (Germany) with hub-dynamo, changed handlebars and comfortable saddle.

designing details

2010-06-11T12:07:00.004+02:00

Close ups of the final design proposal. What we tried to do is to create a clean and simple bicycle.
In bicycle design it is hard to design all the parts yourself because this is very expensive.
Framework is something you can easily vary on since the tubes need to be welded anyway.

Other parts like the fork, steer, seat tube, saddle etc. are parts that are purchased from other manufacturers.
In most cases standard purchase parts for the assembly of the bicycle are not exactly the way you want them to be.
Some forms are overdone and distract the clean intended shape of the design.
To bring back the cleanness in the design redundant color use is the key.
By the white overall appearance the bicycle becomes beautiful simplistic again.
Green highlights indicate folding points in a very smooth way. The Go gets a face by the striking logo on the front.

2010-05-27T22:39:00.004+02:00

Check this movie to understand the branding of our bikes.

folding box prototype

2010-05-11T13:49:00.003+02:00

Last week we visited our manufactorers in Taiwan. The beixo Go was high on the list. We picked the saddle, pedals, rims, tyres, just everything needed to make a bike riding.
But the mayor issues was the main folding mechanism, since this is far from standard. There is no 16" folding bike in the market with the same folding movement.
A visit to a CNC-specialist gave us this prototype. A fine piece of craftmenship.
Today we finished the frame design, everything will be put together in SolidWorks and then the go is ready to go into the prototype-fase.
Things are going fast now.

handlebar sketches

2010-04-16T16:27:00.003+02:00

Initial idea sketches for the Beixo Go.
Different options for the handlebars are in consideration.
The more bmx style handlebar makes the bike more though, while a T-shaped handlebar makes the bike more neutral.
The shape of the frame holds possibilities to integrated hinges and a grip.

New compact.elektra

2010-04-13T07:47:00.000+02:00

In a couple weeks the first models of the new compact.elektra will arrive.
We’ve made some improvements in all areas. The battery is now mounted onto the carrier. It not only looks better but it also allows the bike to be folded into a smaller package. We reduced the weight with almost 2 kilo and increased the range with 2,5 kilometers. The new compact.elektra will only be available with 7 gears.

Colorbike 2.0

2010-03-02T14:10:00.003+01:00

Besides the beixo go we are working on a new city-bike concept. Some background information: about three years we started the Colorbike project: this means that for every Colorbike we sell in Holland (only through the web) we buy a bike for a child somewhere in the (3rd) world. For the first stage we bought existing bikes at Kross in Poland. Men and ladies bikes in four different colours. The project was a success right from the start. But it was still a project. Unfortunately we could not combine the benefits of both beixo and Colorbike to bring both bikes to a higher level. From the beixo side we get a lot of demands for city-bikes and for the Colorbike-side we get questions why the bikes are with a traditional chain. So we decided to stop the Colorbike project and turn it into a 'real' bike. The idea still remains the same: a bike for a bike but the bike changes radically. It will not longer be a basic, cheap bike but a well designed, more high-end city bike. Unisex. And off course with the beixo shaft drive system. The design is, just like the Go a cooperation with Superframe. At the right a first glance of the 'beixo Colorbike'.

SolidWorks CAD vs real live

2010-02-26T13:46:00.000+01:00

SolidWorks CAD software is a useful tool when designing the geometry of the bike.
Here the movement of the front wheel is described in order to find the point where both wheels are positioned symmetrical.
This point defines the angle between the wheels and is the most important factor for the wheeling behaviour of the bike.
Off course some real live testing still is necessary.

Mock Up part II

2010-02-01T11:36:00.000+01:00

The Mock Up is further elaborated into a working model.
The hinge in the top tube makes the bike fold downward, hereby the wheels are positioned parallel like a sporty wheelchair.
This wheel configuration seems to deliver a very stable steering behaviour when moving the bike in folded state.
Now that the folding mechanism on the frame is elaborated, the focus lays on the saddle and handlebars.
Challenge is to combine the frame movement with a folding movement of the saddle and/or steer.

mockup beixo

2010-01-08T09:02:00.000+01:00

A mockup is a scale or full size model to evaluate the design. We spend some hours at the TU Delft pretending to be a bike carpenter. But with result.

In this case a 1:1 wood model is made to get an understanding of the folding movements.
By moving the rigid parts (like wheels, headset, fork, rear suspension) into a compact folded package, the folding mechanism needed for the transformation becomes more visible. There is no design or what yet implemented in the model but it gives a good impression.

Even without design it looks great, a 100% wooden folding bike. Very C2C.

Trains etc

2009-12-22T09:17:00.000+01:00

The environment that gives the folding cyclist the most trouble includes the railway station and train.
In the compartment the bicycle needs to be stored away in order to avoid hindrance to fellow passengers, therefore it is necessary to take compartment dimensions into account.
Jos uses measuring tape in his daily commuting between Delft and Utrecht to measure compartment dimensions. Also interesting are the escalators to be found on every railway station. The balance of the bike on the steps is rather important.
Since he travels in almost the same train every day he wants You to help him measuring...!
Please reply measures you consider important.

a brain storm day

2009-12-08T16:40:00.001+01:00

Today was quite interesting since Jurgen from Superframe and Jos, Angelique and Ad from beixo came togheter to discuss the whole progress. We have quite some data, both digital and in hard copy, but we are facing the stage of making choices.
And everytime you put creative people togheter ideas seems to pop up like wild mushrooms. It led to this very basic wheel configuration test setting, with a gsusbike-box as victim.
And there was this unofficial contest in putting a tyre on a rim. Jos did win, but only due to this article.
As you can see we are working with 16" wheels.
.

it folds (in cardboard)

2009-12-07T14:52:00.001+01:00

After some thinking, testing and working @ beixo and Superframe we came up with a so called "spuugmodel" in cardboard. It helps to test the functionality, but this is only for folding reference. There are many folding options, all with their specific advantages and disadvantages. Just check the large number of patents on this.
We will continue on this one, now this cardboard model will be digitalized.
Check the model and the euphoria:

preopening

2009-11-19T11:25:00.001+01:00

Hi there
on this spot you'll be able to follow the development of a new bike concept for the Dutch chainless bicycle brand beixo. It will be a cooperation between Urban Bike Concepts, Superframe and the TUDelft.
Jos Ramselaar, a graduate from the TUDelft puts his teeth in this usefull new bike. The industrial designers and bike lovers from Superframe are in this process with their expertise on two wheel vehicles. And Urban Bike Concepts, whoow, what are they doing? The making a long wish list was the first step. Then they will make sure the bike is able to use and produce.
In the next months you're able to follow this process on this blog. Stay tuned and please share us your thoughts.
Enjoy.