Category Archives: random

NYC subway porn

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The current NYC Transit subway map is well-known for compressing an enormous amount of information into an easily readable very effective format. But the design has its constraints, and people have designed other New York subway maps that have different priorities, including fidelity to surface accuracy (see this geographically correct subway map) and another that gives you *all* track information, even if it’s superfluous. So, for example, here’s the track schematic for 14th – 28th Streets.

See also abandoned stations; Eighteenth Street, for example.

Bike, non-nerded

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I think it’s fair to say that this is a non-nerded folding bike, one which exorcises the nerdeeness out of the folding bike. Yes, that’s just about it.

What Skibsted tried to do design wise was to align the sports tradition of Puma (the BMXy part of the bike) with the practical multifunctional urban approach of the Urban Mobility line (folding/locking mech) with Biomega’s urban high tech simplicity.

In terms of colors & angles I’ve stuck to the Urban Mobility look (half octagon’ish) & conveyed that rather than Biomega’s colors & smooth (loopy) radii.

The design challenges have been to make a non-nerded folding bike, a practical city bike & a sturdy monster BMX in one. Skibsted wanted the BMXy part because Puma has made one (Puma lineage) & because that this type of BMX/Downhill sturdy look is hottest thing in biking right now & it exorcises the nerdeeness out of the folding bike that we want for quick & dirty metro/elevator fit. Skibsted have scaled it all up for town usability (hence 24” slick tires).

All in all it’s a new typology – hopefully a segment buster (like the rest of the Biomega bikes).