designtransport

Wheelie Good*

Emer is a BMX clothing brand that I remember from the 90s. I would occasionally see an Emer-clad Phil Dolan in his world-beating days or maybe spot the infamous Igo brothers sporting Emer during their reign of carnage. Turns out Level contributor—and man behind Emer—Johann Chan is firing up some new Emer products again.

There are a couple of nice t-shirts and, more interestingly, a prototype for a new bike, the very agile and tight-looking Emer Swift: “The Swift is designed with modern BMX geometry so it retains the same riding position as a modern BMX, but runs high-set gearing and big skinny wheels for greater speed,” says Johann. “It’s still nimble enough to ride as a …read on

—Nick Murphy, 28 July 2010

designtransport

HEAR ME WHIR

First there was the old Honda Insight, a car for every adventurous, early eco-nerd. Then came the Toyota Prius, a bland family hybrid that pro skaters used their newly-upped paycheques and trade-in money from their Honda Civics to buy. Next in the field of notable electrically-enhanced environmentally (less un-) friendly motors was that hotshot electric Tesla, priced beyond most people’s reach. And now, we’ve come full circle, back to a new Insight. Which looks like a Prius. A bit dull.

But the reasonably-heeled eco-conscious Kev and Sharon (perhaps that should be updated to Carter and Poppy) will soon be able to get in on the game with next year’s offering from Honda, the CR-Z. (That stands for “Compact Renaissance Zero”. Like, …read on

—Chris Noble, 28 July 2009

designtransport

NO FUEL THROTTLE

You can’t turn around these days without seeing something extolling the virtues of “going green”. Everyone is doing it. With that in mind, a few entrepreneurs, cash-rich from selling some since-unheard-of software to megacorp x, are getting in on the game… small time. Coming from the open-sky, virtual world of unfathomable code and fantasy tech, some of these starry-eyed chaps are not straying from their ideals with their more solid ventures. They’re producing dream machines.
Like the much-publicized Tesla Roadster sports car, Mission Motors’ One motorbike is an electric vehicle to beat much of its gas-powered competition. However, unlike the dull Tesla, it is stunning to look at, thanks to the product designers at fuseproject.
Being electric, it has lightning-fast …read on

—Chris Noble, 08 June 2009