It’s no secret that the ‘urban bicycle’ is a hot topic in bicycle design circles. With the rising popularity of the recent Oregon Manifest–an annual nationwide competition that pairs design firms with small bicycle fabricators to create the ‘ultimate’ urban bicycle–along with a host of bike-related infrastructure developments, urban cycling is on the forefront of a new revolution.
Among other urban bicycle designs that we’ve seen crack the confines of a workshop is design engineer David Lupafya’s ‘Rogue C6 Intelligent Lightweight Hybrid Urban Carbon Bicycle’.
The concept for the bike, which includes an integrated light and GPS system, stemmed out of Lupafya’s inability to find a lightweight bicycle on the market that could provide a combination commuting, touring and leisurely riding experiences. His solution came in designing and manufacturing a reliable and technically advanced machine that brought the best elements of different riding experiences into a single and ‘smart’ bicycle.
Lupafya is no stranger to modifying things to his liking, either.
“I started in industrial design when I was 12 years old with model airplanes that I would modify, such as taking a glider and adding a small DC motor and 9v battery to keep it in the air,” Lupafya told SolidSmack.
Starting with a pencil and paper, Lupafya jumped right into SolidWorks to bring the Rogue C6 to life and now he wants to put it on the production line starting with a Kickstarter campaign.
“Technically, the most difficult parts of the project are behind us; specifically the design, tooling, prototyping, second stage testing and integration of the key components have all been completed. Further, I have an established relationship with a major carbon frame and fork manufacturer, and down stream components assembler.”
The Rogue C6 is available now on Kickstarter for $1950.00 USD through November 19th, 2014.
