You be the judge: [here]

Things we’ve spotted on this fine Thursday, before we head off for a week’s break. As we say, this blog is all about posting things we find that we find inspirational, interesting, or just plain amusing (as well as a place to express opinions and thoughts), so we hope some of you out there find these things interesting… or vaguely amusing!

Over at Hell For Leather, we spotted this Norton concept by David Mucci. Based on a 500cc single, the design harks back to old skool cafe racers. We’re liking it.

Then we spotted this ‘break down and pack in a bag’ bike by ‘Freeman‘ (and [here]). Another single speed but the break down aspect coupled together with the total coverage matte olive green paint is an interesting touch. All a little retro, yet cool at the same time.

[via]

Finally, we came on this, for the second time. A bike for the Geezer in you… or is that the Gov’nor?

[via]

We all spend far too long sitting in from of computers and computer related hardware, but how often do we think about the sustainability of this stuff? Very little (or only token) effort is made to make hardware sustainable, either from a materials or an energy efficiency point of view, so when something like this crops up, it’s worth a look.

Using heat sinks (and chassis) made from recycled aluminium instead of fans and a bamboo instead of plastic, it not only looks cool, but is very friendly to the world it’s dropped in.

Check the [re]drive Turbo  [here at Simpletech]

[via]

A visit to Lab-Gear’s sewing shop on Friday yielded a very interesting conversation. We were asking about making some bags, courier style for the new line, as we knew that the shop had done a large variety of work in the past. On showing the sample we asked not only if they could do it but if they were interested. While the ability was there, the want to do it was not as more often it’s not worth the effort as people don’t want to pay what it costs citing ‘we can get it done off shore for a fraction of that’. When asked if they knew any places that could do work like that, the answer that came back was that they have all closed down over the past few years.

Why? The answer was solidly - ‘China’. (more…)

The old adage of ‘keep it simple stupid’ is so true, especially in this day and age of over blown everything. In the world of advertising, the mission to deliver one’s message is becoming increasingly harder, as the consumer is constantly bombarded with ’stuff’, some good, some crap, some true, some total lies.

So when some adverts come along that are so simple in concept but so effective in the message they deliver, they are a true marvel to watch. That both of these adverts involve really noisy fast cars (bikes and others) is a bonus, but at the end of each, there is no doubt in one’s mind about the message they are delivering or the foundations of the companies they represent.

For your enjoyment….

and…

Just spotted.  Designed and produced by German Industrial Design house ‘neongrau.id’, the Veloheld is a super paired down urban single speed. Sweet to look at, sweet to own we are sure - even if you are not into single speed.

While there are more cool SS bikes going around than one can poke a stick at, we somehow think that in some ways they are becoming collectible, like say….. collectible things. The rarer the cooler maybe?

100 to be made this year.

[neongrau.id]

[via]

Enough said!

(Brilliant)

Loving this we found on [Wooster Collective] via [Charlie Todd]

“Jake Bronstein recently bought a toy vending machine off the Internet. He filled the toy capsules with ideas of fun things to do and started placing the machine in various spots around New York. For 50 cents you get the original toy, an idea, and a map to guide you to the location for your idea. Each capsule also contains a quarter, refunding half of your purchase price (the machine wouldn’t let him charge less than 50 cents.)”

We know a bunch of people have been waiting for the GTO Bespoke ‘Traffic’ shorts to be offered and to be honest we thought we’d have them ready to go about a month ago. We have been really swamped with a bunch of things though, including continued research and development for the new Lab-Gear line, so have held back from letting them out the door for a while longer.

For those that know us, they’ll know that these days we don’t rush things out the door for the sake of it, which is why we are taking our sweet time with all the new kit. When it finally comes, and this includes GTO as well, it will be well worth it. Promise.

Keeping with the vehicle theme for the moment, we like to keep pace with the design world especially transport, and came across these two proposals recently that cold not be more different.

The first is the Suzuki Crosscage moto. Based around a hydrogen cell for zero emissions, it’s certainly an interesting bit of design - using a mix of moto design technologies and concepts that appear every now and again in different gusies. What’s really interesting about it though is that Suzuki seem to have a running prototype.

On the other end of the scale is the Pivo 2, an electric car concept dropped on us by Nissan. While it has a host of ‘interesting’ design ideas we have to say it’s so ‘cutesy bubble gum’ in design that it make us (in anyway) want to puke. Where the Suzuki Crosscage makes one think, yea, we could ride that happily around town (impressive for an ‘alternative’ when considering that the moto market is so saturated with great, economical designs), the Pivo 2 makes us think that if that’s what’s install, then we are going to start processing cooking oil to keep the Vito running.

and…

[see more on the Pivo 2 here]