Airframe

No, not the fantastically suspenseful Michael Chrichton novel, but this thing:



Certainly an audacious design. One asks - how can thin axle possibly resist the torque created by the upwards forces of the wheel and the downward forces of the seat post? Well, it doesn't. Look carefully at other pictures in the article and the frame is suddenly not so elegant. There's a rear fender (not shown at first) which is welded into the frame, acting as a stressed member and and a de-facto seat tube.
As the title of the article suggests... almost genius.

Photos pillaged from fastcodesign.com: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662064/almost-genius-a-beautiful-bike-frame-that-requires-less-metal

Floppy chopper got no stopper

Ok, so it can wrap around a pole (not terribly useful) and can fold (pretty useful) and goes from flaccid to rigid with a ratchet system hanging from the tube (has he taken out a patent on that?) but what interests me is that he has absolutely no brakes. No rim brakes front or back and a single speed conversion kit out back that eliminates the possibility of a coaster brake or fixed gear. Easily resolved with a front caliper or a fixed rear hub, but I suppose he was so intent on making his bike floppy that he's forgotten the one component that will keep him from wrapping it around a pole on accident.

Photo swiped from http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/kevin_scotts_bike_design_gets_around_the_theft_problem_16903.asp

Sweet Electric Bikes and New Things From Trek/Fisher

Gary Fisher has been using his Twitter/Yfrog account to display some radical new bicycles. Most of the concepts center around urban riding with an emphasis on transportation.

Belt drive electric storm trooper bike with fenders and disc brakes:

Retro motorcycle style derny-esque steampunk machine:

All photos swiped from http://www.yfrog.com/froggy.php?username=gary_fisher

Wedgie Concept

This Oryx concept TT bike is splashed all around the web. So far, it's just a collection of CAD renderings. It's got some neat concpetual if not possible features. Hub brakes front and back and maybe an internally geared rear hub. The giant void in the middle of the bottom bracket would only serve to cause wind resistance but what really caught my eye was the out of place ass hatchet spine coming up out of the middle of the saddle. Well, I guess those sort of cool looking details will get ironed out if the designer ever decides to convert it from a design school project into a product.

And you thought the Bianchi was velo origami

The recently completed Bianchi folding bike, while beautiful, functional, and classic, is nowhere near the Rubik's Cube of complexity that the Suitcase Bike is: