Innovate or Die: Bicycling outside the envelope
Ninety-three entries
What better company to host a contest for new bicycle designs than Specialized, developer of the Stumpjumper in 1981, the first mass-produced mountain bike.
Entries for the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest closed Saturday, and 93 can be viewed online as YouTube videos. Results will be released on Jan. 15.
The contest was supposed to “inspire innovation and environmental change by highlighting the benefits of cycling in an unprecedented way.” The result has been a creative tour de force, with inventors submitting everything from recumbent tricycles (above) to bike-powered blenders, tennis-ball launchers and water filtration systems.