Revisit the 2011 Oregon Manifest Constructor's Design Challenge through BIKE CRAFT, DESIGN, INNOVATION. This image-rich document of the competition features design details of each entry bike, the three designer/craftsmen Creative Collaboration bikes, on-the-scene shots from the Field Test and judging, and interviews with the winners, judges and the Creative ...
shooter: andybatt.com editing: missioncontrolinc.com direction: grymttr.com sound: digone.com music: tommyguerrero.com
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? It’s a challenge – I reluctantly admit that I’m naturally competitive. I got excited when the first Oregon Manifest came around; I had a customer who said I could use the bike I was building for him as my ...
(John Littleford, Aaron Kaffen, Troy Cameron) What inspired you to collaborate for the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? John: The emphasis on practicality. Making useful, practical bikes is what it’s all about, and Oregon Manifest is fully behind that mentality. “Utility” has traditionally been a dirty word in the bike ...
The “Faraday” by IDEO and Rock Lobster Cycles The Oregon Manifest Creative Collaborations partnered three of the world’s top design firms with accomplished custom bike builders, to push the boundaries of what a modern utility bike can be. We wanted to see what these talented teams would come up with, and boy did they deliver. While all ...
How was this team put together? There was an open call – who wants to join? We wanted an interdisciplinary team – art, fashion, design. At first we had about 25 people during spring semester, but we ended up with a core of 5 or 6 undergrads and one ...
Talk to any group of builders who took part in this year’s Oregon Manifest – we talked to three of the winners in the days just after – and you’ll get consensus on one thing: It was an event. It wasn’t just a clique-y little get-together for a subset ...
It was an intriguing idea, for sure: Of course we invited the top professional frame builders from around the country – but why not open this contest up to a new level of creativity, perspective and idealism? Why not tune in to the next generation of designers, who are ...
It’s a common perception, one that we heard this year from many world-class bike builders who took part in the 2011 Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge: The bicycle is a mature design form. It was basically perfected a century ago with the double-diamond “safety bike” frame design, and it’s ...
Best of Show: Tony Pereira, Pereira Cycles We're delighted to congratulate Tony Pereira of Pereira Cycles on his Best of Show award. Tony's bike - centered around an electric pedaling assist -- was specifically designed to get people out of cars, introducing amenities that drivers have grown accustomed to ...
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I was in it in 2009, and the criteria for the bike this time is basically what I build all the time anyway. I’ve had a bike in mind, and this just gives me an excuse to build it. ...
I like to build good-looking bikes that can do a lot, too. Part of what motivates me to ride is that the bike looks good while it’s functioning well. No one’s going to buy a bike from me without the aesthetics.
- Curtis Inglis / Retrotec
If you can't make it to Oregon Manifest, please join two of our judging panel, Rob Forbes , founder of Design Within Reach and Public Bikes , and Tinker Hatfield, who created the Air Jordan shoe, this Friday on Live Wire Radio. You can see the show live on Friday, September 23rd, doors at ...
What inspired you to collaborate for the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? Just the lack of the experience – we had joked around after the first one about “We should do it next year.” Then we found out there wasn’t going to be one last year, so we decided we ...
Obviously, depending on your method of building there’s tradition involved, and you want to be part of that tradition – look at it, learn from it – but not be beholden to it.
- Hubert d’Autremont
What inspired you to collaborate for the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I was very inspired by the first Oregon Manifest; I wanted to be involved. I have very little metalworking experience, even though I’ve designed a lot of bicycles; I haven’t been on the “get your hands dirty” end. ...
It’s a movement that’s already happening. The more people grab hold of this kind of bike, the more it happens. These bikes are the future of biking.
- Jordan Hufnagel, Hufnagel Cycles
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? Just because I’ve been to the event before – it’s always a super-fun event, and I always want to come back. It’s a good little challenge: figure out a bike to build for specific reasons. How far along are ...
Let me just say it this way: Sharing ideas is a good thing; I believe wholeheartedly in sharing knowledge.
- Joshua Muir, Frances Bicycles
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? Chris King is a big believer in the bicycle movement – not just because of his business interests in the industry, but bicycles as a valued form of transportation. We encourage all our employees to commute to work. And ...
Thanks to our sponsor, Travel Oregon , we are offering the chance to ride along with the Constructors during the Oregon Manifest Field Test. Add your favorite ride to the Ride Oregon website and tell us all about it here , and you will earn a chance to ride along with Oregon Manifest. Learn more ...
It’s easy to get bogged down in custom builds, and people only ask for things they’ve seen me do before, not to experiment. This is a chance to build something different that someone will see and say, ‘That’s cool – build me something like that.’
- Joseph Ahearne, Ahearne Cycles
Ryan Reedel and Marie Pasquariello What inspired you to collaborate for the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? RR: I had been working with the Discovery Charter School on a bike refurbishing class. At some point the kids came to the same conclusion I did: You can refurbish bikes and their ...
Making useful, practical bikes is what it’s all about, and Oregon Manifest is fully behind that mentality. “Utility” has traditionally been a dirty word in the bike world, where the lightest and fastest and newest is considered the best – but those bikes aren’t practical.
- John Littleford, Team Littleford
Design is not about showing people what they have to have, but what they could have – how small changes in their life could affect them and the whole world.
- Hubert d’Autremont
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I needed a bike I can go to UPS on, carrying frame boxes. I wouldn’t have done Oregon Manifest if I didn’t have the need for this bike. Instead of a real customer, this time I’m the customer. The ...
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I had already designed a bike as part of my thesis show. My thesis was on nomadic furniture, and my professor said “You need a form of transportation for this furniture.” We both have a history and interest in ...
The Levi's / Urban Outfitters mobile Bike Shop is on the road, and the Oregon Manifest bike by Cielo is front and center! Check out those fantastic accessories by our friends at Portland Design Works. Thanks to everyone for helping to get the wheels turning: Cielo , PDW , and Class Act Paint and Powder (the ...
Our student team at the California College of the Arts needs your help. They have spent hours concepting and designing the ultimate modern untility bike and now need your help to make it a reality. CCA Oregon Manifest from Al Nelson on Vimeo . In their own words: "The team has spent many hours designing, ...
That's BUILD Your Own -- a unique offering from Icarus Lights , inviting you to create your own personalized bike light. Choose from 10 different beam patterns, pick a battery size/capacity, add on any extras, then sit tight as Icarus creates the perfect light for your riding conditions. Built on the ...
On rethinking utility design or working from the current model: We worked from the existing standard. We saw a lot of other people’s work, and – I don’t want to say we improved on their bikes… we just made them easier.
- Oscar Camarena, Simple bicycle Company
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? Shannon and Jocelyn have been pestering me – I think they just want to laugh at what I put up there. I went to the party last year and thought, “How many parties like this are you going to ...
It’s really important that people be comfortable on a bike, with the capability to get from one place to another. No one’s going to ride a bike if it’s hard to ride. What we do makes it easier for people to ride, and that’s important to us.
- Marie Pasquariello, Folk Engineered (working with Discovery Charter School)
Like a typical New Yorker, once I leave the house I'm pretty conscious of keeping my purse in sight at all times, wherever I go - hence my love of front racks. Having commuted by bike for good portion of the past thirteen years I've tried a lot of ...
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? Honestly? Marketing. But it’s a great challenge. I really appreci ate the fresh perspective on challenging small hand-builders. It’s marketing, but it’s a fresh approach. There are lots of arenas for competition for designing racing bikes, with lots of ...
“If I can get a utility bike into a bike shop and in front of a consumer, I can get them to think about divorcing their car, or at least having an affair with a bike.”
- Mike Cobb of Antload (partnered with + Joe Bike (Joe Doebele)
We are happy to announce the schedule for the Constructor's Design Challenge. Please join us the weekend of September 23 and 24 for the Challenge itself, then enjoy the follow up events at the Museum of Contemporary Craft through October 29th. View the full schedule here
To celebrate the launch of Commuter by Levi's®, a mobile Bike Shop offering free tuning and tailoring resources will be touring to 16 cities across the nation, equipping commuters for comfort and safety and encouraging everyone to "Get in the Saddle." Accompanying the Bike Shop is the Oregon Manifest ...
Less than two months remain until our Design + Build teams reveal the bikes they have been hard at work on. Check in with our teams to see what they have been up to over at Core77.
“A lot of builders ride what they build, and that’s how you figure stuff out. Making one at a time, you can try something new, even one little part. If it doesn’t work, you try something else.”
- Greg Heath / Donkelope
A look inside the Oregon Manifest Constructor's Design Challenge - a pioneering design/build competition to create the ultimate modern utility bike. Designers, craftsmen and students teams are all working from the same design criteria to develop a better bike for the everyday rider. SEPT 23/24 2011 : PORTLAND OR ...
TreeHugger is dedicated to bringing sustainability mainstream. The world's leading online environmental site, TreeHugger has over 50,000 articles covering everything from biking, climate, and design to energy, food, technology, and more. The future is green; find it here.
Hopworks is perhaps the official beer of cycling and definitely the official libation of Oregon Manifest. Pouring 10 organic brews from their two locations in Portland, and from the now world-famous Beer Bike, HUB has magically combined the power of craft brewing with the enthusiasm of the cycling community ...
A little modern and a little bohemian, the Ace Hotel Portland offers the consummate Portland experience: organic, unique and on the scene. Located in historical downtown Portland, the Ace is close the many cultural districts of the city and steps away from the streetcar line. Most importantly, the Ace ...
Bicycling is the world’s leading cycling magazine – and the only one that covers the entire spectrum of cycling from road cycling to mountain biking to recreational cycling and cycling for health and fitness. On and off your bike, Bicycling will fuel your cycling passion.
Since 1995 Core77.com has served a devoted global audience of industrial designers ranging from students through seasoned professionals. Core77 provides a gathering point for designers and enthusiasts alike by producing design competitions, lecture series, parties, and exhibits. Check out the Oregon Manifest Design?Build Journals on Core77 .
ODS is a pioneer in affordable health plans. With innovative, evidence-based health plans, diverse networks and member programs, and superb customer service, ODS continues to be the health leader throughout the Pacific Northwest.
United Bicycle Institute and has been teaching the craft of custom frame building and bike mechanics for over 30 years. Unique in the world, UBI’s program has served as a major incubator for the renaissance of custom frame building. Over 12,000 students from all 50 states have made the ...
Purveyors of Custom Bike Love and the trickiest custom builds in the Pacific Northwest, Cyclepath is ground zero for exceptional bikes and the personalized service that only true bike fanatics can provide. Mountain, road, cross, commuter...Cyclepath specializes in creating a completely custom experience in bikes.
The PDC works to bring together resources to achieve Portland’s vision of a diverse, sustainable community with healthy neighborhoods, a vibrant central city, a strong regional economy, and quality jobs and housing for all. The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is a community partner in shaping a livable ...
Travel Oregon’s RideOregonRide.com showcases Oregon as the premier bicycling destination in North America. It fosters a complete tourism experience by offering a one-stop, interactive trip planning resource for bicycle enthusiasts. It provides ride inspiration by featuring Oregon’s trails; road routes; bike-related events; services for cyclists, including bike shops, tour companies, ...
The Levi’s® brand has long outfitted the pioneers, workers and craftsmen that built America. This tradition, and ongoing commitment to purposeful design and modern innovation, connects 150 years of denim heritage to the talents and skills of the Oregon Manifest bike builders. Read more here.
How far along are you in the design process? Not far enough – my wife’s getting very nervous. But I’m so used to getting things done at the last minute... I’ll get nervous around the beginning of August. I’ve almost totally nailed the design on paper: tube configuration, wheel ...
“There are lots of arenas for competition for designing racing bikes, with lots of technology and innovation to make bikes lighter, faster, sleeker and more aerodynamic – but opportunities are few and far between to find the same focus, technology push and innovation for small frame builders. And more ...
- Ira Ryan, Ira Ryan Cycles
One of six student teams competing in Oregon Manifest this year, the California College of the Art’s (CCA) team is a group of design students from the school’s far-ranging disciplines. Leading the group are advisors Nick Riddle and Brandon Walker, both CCA graduates, instructors, and professional designers (Riddle has ...
“It’s a start-to-finish thing; a customer comes in, we talk, figure out exactly what they’re looking for, and then I get to design it, cut the tubes, fabricate the bike, paint and detail it, assemble it… and hand it off and watch their face glow.”
- Brian Chapman, Chapman Cycles
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? One of our big things is going to NAHBS each year. When we design for that show we build three or four bikes, and historically they’ve been customer bikes. For Oregon Manifest I can build whatever I want, for ...
There’s a debate among bike designers these days. Or is it a discussion? Maybe it’s neither. Maybe it’s more of a silent demonstration. But it’s clearly something upon which many builders don’t agree, even with themselves: wheel size (which, naturally, requires a consideration of tire size). Everybody’s got a ...
The economy is forcing everyone to focus in cycling as transportation, but too often “city bikes” are just road bikes with fenders and racks slapped on. Everyone’s staying in the same box as far as design and approach. But Oregon Manifest is pushing us to find a better answer.
- Shane Fedon – De Novo
Spokesperson: Christian Freissler, Senior Industrial Designer, Ziba Design How was this team put together? When the idea of including schools came up, I got the message through mutual friends at Ziba. I’m teaching at U of O, and I’m quite interested in bikes. Ziba is teaming up with a ...
The competition is motivating me more than anything else. Some of the other guys are working with industrial design houses; I’m a huge fan of industrial design, so I’m fired up to have our bike be the best that we can possibly make it.
- Marty Walsh, geekhouse bikes
I’ll be stoked if other builders beat [me] with better ideas. I’ll actually be more stoked if I finish in last place than if I win, because that will mean there were amazing ideas.
- Taylor Sizemore, Sizemore Bicycles
My beloved puppy Cooper bit my hand by accident this morning. His infant fang sunk into my index finger, and the sensation felt like sandwiching my digit between a derailed chain and a gear cog. Rusty brittle chains. Greasy, sludgy cog fangs. External danger zones for dresses, big calves, ...
I have this old Timbuk2 messenger bag that I love, especially for cycling. It’s well made, waterproof, and has done its duty with aplomb for more than five years. It’s black with a band of white canvas down the middle that my eldest daughter drew on here and there ...
Sure, it’d be fun to win the competition. But the piece that’s engaging to me is less about winning and much more about showing up and being part of new and interesting solutions. It’s interesting and satisfying to be part of the industry moving forward, and moving this segment ...
- Dave Levy, TiCycles
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I like that it’s not a beauty contest like some other shows – there’s the element of having to use the bike. I enjoyed the 2009 event. It involves a lot of people I’d like to be associated with. ...
Unlike most wooden fenders on the market, which only have a simple flat bend, Ryan's fender design features a compound bend, meaning they are bent along the radius of the wheel and bent around the sides of tire for optimal dryness on a rainy day. The veneer is laser ...
Our Design + Build teams have been hard at work and all three have big updates this month. Head over to our media partner Core 77 to see the updates from our teams and see what they are cooking up.
One of the folks attending/competing at this fall's challenge is Joshua Muir from Frances Cycles who is known far and wide as a builder who makes stuff that leaves people scratching their heads asking 'how the hell did he do that?" Lucky for me, he opened his doors to ...
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I participated in the event in 2009. With the types of bikes I’m interested in building, I’m aware of the French technical trials of the ‘40s and ‘50s. I was a new builder in 2009, and was very excited ...
The public bike: it's identity has matured since the days of the village bicycle. An urban icon, tasked to both serve its people and represent the community to which they belong, the public bike is now the politician of the two-wheeled species. They are designed to embody the ideals ...
The big shift we’re after is in the mind of the public, not the design of the vehicle.
- Jonathan Reed / Quixote Bicycles
What does true flexibility in a modern utility bike mean to you? Why do people use cars? To carry their laptop or to go to lunch – the car is convenient. Bikes don’t offer that unless you have a huge backpack; that’s not good for carrying things or enjoying ...
Having struggled with our share of 5-pound u-locks and unwieldy cables, we salute all explorations toward a more elegant security solution. With the support of the Kickstarter community, the TiGr lock from lock inventor John Loughlin will soon go into production. The TiGr is a flexible titanium bow melded ...
Andy Newlands’ (Strawberry Bicycles) investment cast road wishbone. Originally designed in 1985, the latest is a beautiful cast hollow form in a commuter style for fatter tires - one that will perhaps this will make an appearance at the Constructor's Design Challenge.
The key to a utility bike is making it easier to use than the car. It should be functional in all weather and carry a load of groceries easily. You want to put people on a bike that’s comfortable, with panniers that just pop open. If it’s a little ...
- John Cutter
What inspired you to enter the Constructor’s Design Challenge competition? I’ve been building more and more city/commuter bikes in the last two years than ever before, and it’s changed my appreciation for this genre. I’m enthused about finding better solutions for real-life situations; that’s engaging from an intellectual standpoint. ...
Engineered to be laterally stiff, light weight, and easily mounted by standard racks and fenders, Tsunehiro Cycle's disc dropouts are laser cut from steel plate, then CNC machined to final shape and depth.
When I was asked by the good folks at Oregon Manifest to contribute as a roving two-wheeled reporter on the utility-cycling beat here in Portland, the first thing that came to mind as blog fodder was what friends, family, and colleagues will attest is the virus that can send ...
Too many products come out that aren’t proven, and the newest/latest doesn’t interest me. I don’t think Oregon Manifest is about that. It’s not like we’re building concept cars; the riding challenge ensures they have to ride well, and not just be eye candy.
- Dan Boxer, Boxer Cycles
Oregon Manifest builder Art & Industry has a preview of their Oregon Manifest entry and boy is it a stunner. Profiled on Bike Portland their wood-framed cargo bike has set a high bar for the competition at this year's Constructors' Design Challenge. We're thrilled to see the level of craft and innovation happening around ...
Our Designer + Builder teams have been tearing it up and working hard to build the best modern utility bike they can. Rock Lobster and IDEO go riding, Fuse Project and SyCip Deisgn do some celebrating and Ziba and Signal Cycles get into some serious rapid prototyping. Check in ...
In the past 6 or 7 years city bikes have created a theme for cycling – an upright and relaxed position, racks, etc. Without cues from small builders this wouldn’t have happened – big builders would still be focused on sport cycling.
- Renold Yip / Yipsan Bicycles
Meet the ALPHA bike, a fully functional concept bike created by 5 seniors studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Originally started as a design challenge to push the boundaries of integrated systems design, the ALPHA bike’s mechanics are almost completely internal -- and there is no external ...
Aiding the launch of the new Levi's Commuter Cycling line at the Fall 2011 Editor Event in NYC was none other than Constructor's Design Challenge entrant, Geekhouse Bikes. The Geekhouse bike made a fantastic backdrop for the new apparel line. Nice work Marty!
2011 OREGON MANIFEST LAUNCH PARTY from oregon manifest on Vimeo Last Thursday we formally announced the Constructors' Design Challenge as well as our presenting sponsor, Levis® . We've already had great response to our challenge and the constructors' spots are filling up. In case you couldn't make it, watch the video to see what you missed.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Amy Hunter (503) 927-5872 [email protected] – Second biennial bike design competition challenges 35 independent builders and five student teams to create the ultimate utility bicycle for the everyday cyclist – – Three globally renowned design firms partner with top American craftsman in the Oregon Manifest ...
Steel, carbon, aluminum....bamboo? Yes, your next bike could be compostable! Brooklyn's Bamboo Bike Studio is taking bike-making out to the fields and into the hands of crafty consumers with their do-it-yourself Bamboo Bike Kit. The kit contains all the tools , supplies and step-by-step instructions needed to craft your ...
Debuting six months ago, the ingenious Pop-up Bike Basket by MIO continues to catch our eye. Made of brightly lasercut powder-coated steel, this American-made flat-packed basket pops up to a variable height, allowing the user to determine the final form. We especially like that this enables usage beyond a ...
The 2009 Constructor’s Design Challenge inspired some sleek solutions around transportation bikes, with none more clever than the integrated security system (patent pending) on first place winner Tony Pereira’s entry. The integrated U-lock system, when in place on the bike, can encircle any vertical pole up to 3 inches ...
While we are preparing for our 2011 event, here's a look back to last year's Oregon Manifest 29 entrants. 77 miles of on-and-off-road product testing. 1 extraordinary weekend. The 2009 onstructor’s Design Challenge was full of big statements and small victories. 100% bike-tastic! : : : Over 5,000 people ...
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