Fuseproject and SyCip designs for ultimate utility bike (photos)
Yves Behar's Fuseproject design studio teams with tiny frame builder, SyCip Designs, to craft a new urban bike, one that can handle San Francisco's hills during daily chores.
Jay Greene
Jay Greene, a CNET senior writer, works from Seattle and focuses on investigations and analysis. He's a former Seattle bureau chief for BusinessWeek and author of the book "Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons" (Penguin/Portfolio).
Jeremy SyCip, the namesake of bike frame builder, SyCip Designs, meets with Fuseproject's Noah Murphy-Reinhertz, center, and Nick Cronan, right, in Mill Valley Public Library to discuss their approach to the Oregon Manifest utility bike design challenge.
2 of 7 Fuseproject
Early sketches
Some of the early sketches of Fuseproject's collaboration with SyCip Designs to create the ultimate utility bike in the Oregon Manifest design competition.
3 of 7 Fuseproject
Tiny prototype
Fuseproject's Nick Cronan "drives" a prototype bike made for the Oregon Manifest bike design project. The tiny prototype, created quickly and cheaply, gives designers a sense about potential flaws before they actually sink more money and time into the approach.
4 of 7 Fuseproject
Fuseproject-SyCip Designs team
Fuseproject's creative director Josh Morenstein, left, is working with bike frame builder Jeremy SyCip of SyCip Designs to create the ultimate utility bike as part of the Oregon Manifest bike design challenge.
5 of 7 Jay Greene/CNET
SyCip Designs shop
SyCip Designs' shop in Santa Rosa, Calif., is housed in the airy old factory that once made hop harvesting machines.
6 of 7 Fuseproject
A SyCip bike
One of SyCip Designs creations. Notice the detail on both the front and rear racks, custom made to match the frame. The retro-style tubing gives the bike a unique flair. And even the wheel rims are painted to match the frame.
7 of 7 Jay Greene/CNET
Measuring tubing
Jeremy SyCip of SyCip Designs measuring the width of some tubing he'll use to build a bike frame.