May 16
The NONOBJECT nUCLEUS: A Bike for the (Stone) Ages
We all love design when it’s purposely going against the norm. NONOBJECT likes it so much, that it devoted an entire book to it. It then took it a step further and created the nUCLEUS, a bike concept so fresh that it’s square.
Literally.
The nUCLEUS is definitely a bike like no other. Its pure aesthetic is based on flat blades of material that offer up a different idea of how to create an aerodynamic form without the typical jungle-cat design of modern bikes. The theory is that the bike’s blade-like panels cut through the air as it speeds down some futuristic Akira expressway, all the while raising and lowering its haunches to create a better seating or riding position. The “ultra-strong composite” panels are interchangable so that you can put in the leopard stripes and get back the ultimate look of an animal that the box is trying to change.
Oh, that would be soooo meta!
More photos and link after the break!
All images courtesy NONOBJECT
For more info, check out: nonobject.com/nUCLEUS
(Thanks for the link, John!)
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment
uhh…so this is supposed to be aerodynamic?
….interesting but it keeps saying “bike stuck inside a box” to me
just saw the video….the haunches feature is pretty cool
It’s been a loooooooooooong time since I posted, so here is my quarters worth. As an exercise in being unique and “creative,” the designer does a good job. It is definitely unique and different.
However just because you want to approach a problem differently does not make it a good design. Don’t get me wrong. As designers, it is always necessary to think outside the box and create something new and innovative. My fundamental problem with this approach is that there is no viable progression that can exist for such an idea…at least for a motorcycle. It’s a nice art bike (and I am being polite here) but where do you go from here? Change is great, but there must be a balance between nonconformity and practicality.
I agree with Vaughan in that it does not seem too aerodynamic. You would experience some drag at the front of the bike. It appears there is an air inlet with the ventilation at the front but then where does the air go? Air should flow freely around the form with minimum resistance. This would qualify for an initial theme for a concept that needs to be refined further to have any real purpose.
I know…I know…the purpose was not to look at manufacturability and follow the current template of designing a bike. It’s to open your mind to new opportunities and drive advancements in technology. At the end of the day…people will want something that is practical and affordable in addition to being different and unique.
One of the several jobs of a designer is to try and create something that is purposeful, different(which it is), solves a problem(in this case breaking from the norm), and hopefully makes life a little interesting, easier, and people lazier. Did this design accomplish that? Probably the “different” part. Maybe it did exactly what they intended, just to think outside of the box and create something unique.
There is some value to that. However there will always be a question of practicality to any new idea and invention worth pursuing and investing in.