Google engineers design bikes?

[VA_MEL]

Given the artistic variation and style of Google doodles, you'd think they could manage a better paint design, though Google is certainly better known for its engineering than its UI and graphic design.

Google rolls out a new design for its campus bike | Internet & Media - CNET News

[-HvA-]

the bike had to be Googley, using novel components, structure, and appearance.

And they came up with that?

[maunahaole]

You'd think these smart engineers would have gone to belt drive for communal beaters that are parked outdoors and used by folks in work clothes. I'm not seeing the novelty in that design.

[zetroc]

Maybe their employees will decide they like bikes and buy their own. Share and enjoy.

[e-RICHIE]

Specialized designed it first atmo.

[Zimmermanbicycle]

Ummmm............yik

[lukasz]

500 bux gift certificate to the LBS. They can almost buy a crappy hybrid with that.

[jitahs]

That's the point. These things show up on clist occasionally so it's a way to wrap the corporate colors into something less desirable.

The only relevant question is what they're doing with last year's model.

[xjoex]

Wait, so what they invented was a color scheme?

Don't tons of companies sell beach cruisers?
Sun Bicycles - Products

But I was being catty. Anything to get people to ride bikes around at work is cool. I wish I had a beach cruiser at work.

-Joe

[maunahaole]

Not everyone will sell you one that datamines your personal information as you pedal, though.

[VA_MEL]

I'm trying to imagine working somewhere big enough you need a bike to get around that's not a college campus. Next I'll imagine a different bike, or at least different paint.

[Nierman]

Theft deterrent. Give the engineers a little credit.

[holliscx]

All white bikes with tire pairings blue/red, yellow/blue, and green/red for the whole fleet is what I would have pitched. Visually, this matches the search page, and speaks to Google in motion around campus. Sketches of the Google logo or doodles in black as the frame graphics would be a nice touch so the tires in Google's primary palette would be the only colors; in perpetual motion.

[Nierman]

Adult size Big Wheels & Green Machines.

[Jaq]

Not a big fan of step-thru frames, but that doesn't unsettle me as much as the idea of a sea of identically painted bikes. There's something Lego-Land, Ikea, Stepford-Wife about the conformity/uniformity. Google calls its HQ a campus, right? Campuses are suppose to be the rookeries of rebellion. Google doesn't need a mass of squeaky, rusty old Stingrays, but surely they can do better.

If nothing else, they should have moved the baskets over the rear wheel and put foot-pegs on the front lock nuts. Then the boys could give rides to all the cute girls. And vice versa. Until the first lawsuit, anyway.

[hobe]

My group used to have a Green Machine. That ended when someone tried to ride it down a staircase in our building :)

The color scheme of the new bikes is the same as the old ones and makes it easy to find them on craigslist. These are parked all over campus and people don't necessarily treat them as well as they should. I'm not sure what the life expectancy of these are but it can't be too long. I don't trust the maintenance on them so I keep a bike in the office to get around.

[962]

Thank goodness it wasn't the penny farthing.

[miwuksurfer]

Do they give any worker incentives for commuting by bike or have lockers/ showers?
Not familiar with the campus, but it seems this is just a way to save time walking from one building to the next. Is that correct?

[hobe]

Do they give any worker incentives for commuting by bike or have lockers/ showers?
Not familiar with the campus, but it seems this is just a way to save time walking from one building to the next. Is that correct?

Yeah, these bikes are just to get around campus. Walking from one end to the other would probably take 15-20 minutes.

There are showers and lockers in many buildings. I don't know of any specific incentives for commuting by bike though. There are a bunch of us that commute from San Francisco down the peninsula (40ish miles) 3-4 days a week. See SF2G: commute by bike from san francisco to the south bay! It makes the commute fun which is incentive enough :)

[Tomi]

You'd think these smart engineers would have gone to belt drive for communal beaters that are parked outdoors and used by folks in work clothes. I'm not seeing the novelty in that design.

Why would you go the expensive belt drive route when a simple bashguard do the trick ?