After winning the Oregon Manifest and Levi’s Bike Design Project, Denny is headed on for big things. Denny of course being the bike that was created by the collaboration between TEAGUE design and Sizemore Bicycle. During the competition, bike designs were unveiled at release parties in each of the competing cities – Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and TEAGUE x Sizemore’s Seattle. By being voted the best bike in the design competition, a “refined” version of Denny will be brought to production by Fuji Bicycle with an actual retail debut scheduled for 2015.
“We’re very impressed and proud of what the other firms achieved with their bikes, and thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Taylor Sizemore on our ‘Denny’ bike,” said Creative Director at TEAGUE, Roger Jackson. “The fact that this was a public vote means a lot to our team, so we’re super excited to reward those voters by working with Fuji to refine the ‘Denny’ and bring a great biking experience to market.”
The winning bike is what the Teague x Sizemore team considers an “all in” commuter platform for urban environments like Seattle. Built with a number of integrated features, Denny addresses the need for security, safety, and convenience through their design. How will all of these features translate to production? That remains to be seen, but for now check out the details after the break….
If you ride in the city, you’re going to need a lock. Denny builds the lock right into the bike with a handlebar that performs the function in two different ways. Open the quick release stem and the handlebar is completely removed allowing it to be used as a large U-Lock, locking the front wheel and the frame to a rack. In a less sketchy part of town? Pop the end of the bar open without removing it from the stem and lock it to a post for quick stops.
To make the bike as convenient as possible, Denny uses a Di2 internal gear hub that is shifted automatically. Combine that with an electric assist motor with an easily removable battery for charging, and you a bike that will help you breeze through the city on your way to work or to do your errands. Not only do the minimalist fenders help shed water from the tires, they also act as a modern tire scraper and should help remove flat inducing objects before they work their way in. Of course no ultimate commuter would be complete without the ability to carry the office coffee order so an adjustable cargo net is part of the built in storage rack on the front of the bike. This is also where the battery for the electric assist is stored, underneath.
Finally, Denny has the light system that commuters dream of. Powered by the battery for the electric assist, the system includes auto-on headlights based on natural light conditions, a brake/tail light, safety lights to light up the area around the bike, and turn signals that are activated by pushing the right or left brake levers forward.
“We’re thrilled with the amount of attention and enthusiasm ‘The Bike Design Project’ has gotten, and are excited to work with TEAGUE x Sizemore to send this bike to production, “ said Fuji’s Vice President of Marketing, Karen Bliss. “The Denny features exactly the kind of innovations we had hoped would come from these collaborations, and we anticipate its success on sales floors across the US introducing and reintroducing people to the joy, convenience, and simplicity of riding a bike.”
It will be interesting to see how much of the complete design will make it to production, but for that you’ll have to wait until next year!
oregonmanifest.com
