What are these cool bikes that Google has at their HQ?
January 24, 2011 7:51 PM   Subscribe

What kind of bikes are these that they have on the Google Campus? (Specifically the style or model)

I recently saw folks riding these around on the Google campus in Mountain View, CA and I'm wondering if it's possible to determine what the specific manufacturer and model is for them (they were unhelpfully all painted/branded for Google). Failing that, what is this simple, single cross bar bike frame called?

I can find other photos of the bikes, but unfortunately nothing about who makes them.
posted by lamprey to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
They are custom made. Looks kind of like a Raleigh Twenty though.
posted by ghharr at 9:00 PM on January 24, 2011


FYI - those bikes are horrifically uncomfortable, especially if you're any taller than about 5'8". They may look nifty, but I would never buy one of those for myself.
posted by DoomGerbil at 10:17 PM on January 24, 2011


Most small-wheeled bikes are designed that way to be folding travel bikes, such as the UK-famous Brompton. These don't appear to have any foldability, although the seat can probably be chucked down (but foldable would make it more steal-able). The second aspect of small wheels, aside from making a smaller, lighter bike overall, is that it's probably more maneuverable in an office environment where a lot of pedestrian traffic can get in the way. They're less desirable bikes for a road environment, too, again affecting pilferability.

Anyway, I couldn't find a frame style just like this in the whole Flickr pool, except maybe another Raleigh. My own suspicion is that it might be a Chinese manufacturer. It looks to be a very simplified design, probably so they break less and are more easily fixed.

The single cross bar is almost certainly due to a composite frame. Modern materials have allowed bikes to leave the venerable diamond frame shape behind.

Ultimately, while they're cute, I don't know that I'd want one, exactly. But there are plenty of practical small-wheeled bikes for sale.
posted by dhartung at 10:35 PM on January 24, 2011


Raleigh made a version of the Twenty that didn't fold, which vaguely resembles these. I would guess that these are probably inexpensively made from plain old steel. The design is novel, but the appointments (coaster brakes, one piece cranks) show a bike that was designed to be dumb transportation with minimal maintenance and cost. The rims look aluminum, the frame might be aluminum, but the rest of the bike looks like steel.

Interesting aesthetics, but they seem impractical. They aren't very good as step through frames, the single main tube is almost certainly over engineered to compensate for a more conventional diamond frame (look at the huge gussets at the head and seat tubes). And the advantage of a single tube, being that it's easy to put a hinge or connector to allow the bike to fold, was not exploited. I get the feeling Google didn't pay all that much for these.
posted by 2N2222 at 12:55 AM on January 25, 2011


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