10.30.2021

Design: The VanMoof V Hyperbike

 









It’s getting a little colder outside, but that’s no reason to stop bigging up things we love to enjoy when it’s nicer out. Growing up in NYC back in the day, we loved getting around the city at will and doing it using many methods. One of our most-used ways to travel, was by bike. We pretty much all had BMX bikes and would rip through streets like we owned them. There was nothing like getting from neighborhood to neighborhood in no time, pedaling hard with your people and whipping through traffic with your headphones on, blasting whatever classic album had just dropped at the time. Our bikes were like our little chariots. We’d lay them on the ground in the parks while we played ball, and ran full and half courts for hours. One eye on the bikes, the other on the actual games we played. This was true culture for us, and that culture still stands for us today, though the bikes are a little different than they were back in the day. 


I’m still all about bikes and have a Redline Asset 24 today. I’m not doing crazy tricks and all that anymore, so it was best to go with a cruiser for how I currently ride. But I still love everything that Sunday, Collective, Cult, Stranger Co., and WeThePeople are doing. There are so many great companies making awesome bikes today, and it’s tough for me not to buy every one I love. Lack of bike storage space is really what keeps the fleet modest, these days. But there’s another company that I’m a fan of, that’s done some great things of late, by way of design, and their name is VanMoof. 


They were founded in in 2009 by bothers Taco and Ties Carlier from the Netherlands. With a vision of the perfect city bike, the brothers set about crafting e-bikes that could redefine urban mobility with new, revolutionary design values. In just over a decade, VanMoof has come to define the e-bike category with its designs that propose style and substance in perfect balance. Thanks to its combination of aesthetics and high-end engineering, VanMoof is the fastest-growing e-bike brand in the world. With the announcement of the company’s latest groundbreaker, the VanMoof V, it’s clear that the Carliers have a view that’s bigger than making electric bikes. In fact, ask either of the Carliers and they’ll tell you that we’re already en route to a bike-first future.


With a worldwide community of almost 200,000 riders on board, VanMoof’s integrated frames have essentially upended the bike industry. Not only is it revolutionary that VanMoof takes full control of everything from design to production, sales, and after-service, but the quality of the company’s e-bikes has redirected the route of urban mobility forever and it’s not stopping any time soon. In fact, if the VanMoof V is anything to go by, the process is about to get a whole lot faster. Literally.


The VanMoof V is the brand’s first high-speed e-bike, offering a genuine car replacement for everyday mobility within a city. Controlled by integrated speed settings to match country regulations, the VanMoof V can hit speeds of up to 50kmh (31mph). Of course, the engine helps, but the VanMoof V profits from a range of modern features. Front and rear suspension combine with thicker tires for comfort even at high speed and a new, very futuristic frame design is sure to turn heads. In fact, the revolutionary design aesthetics effectively reimagine an untapped category — now that's thinking ahead of the curve.


The result? An unrivaled smooth, longer-distance ride. The bike’s dual motors provide powerful acceleration which is one of the central reasons for the VanMoof V being a genuine car replacement. Actually, many of the design’s features would sound at home in a car manual. Take the intelligent motor control to enhance traction for safety and performance, for example, or the Turbo Boost (that’s right, Turbo Boost), automatic gear shifting, and even theft defense. Of course, founder Ties Carlier is confident about his new creation, but that’s an understatement. “I believe this new type of high-speed e-bike can fully replace scooters and cars in the city by 2025,” he says.


Better still, with the introduction of more effective urban transportation comes the possibility of opening channels for the conversations that need to happen. “We’re calling for policies designed around people, rethinking how public spaces can be used if not occupied by cars. I am getting very excited thinking about what a city could look like in the near future,” notes Ties. It’s a statement that distills the real power behind the VanMoof V; behind the sleek design and futuristic features is a vehicle for real, meaningful change. To truly reverse our car-first mentality, we need the right machines to change the policies that can open up our cities to a more sustainable future.


The VanMoof V is currently in its engineering stage and is available for invite-only reservations with first deliveries expected by the end of 2022. For a wider audience, reservation codes will be shared periodically via a waitlist on vanmoof.com. The VanMoof V is expected to retail at $3498.


Pretty exciting stuff, if you ask us. We say check them out, and if you’re into bikes like we are, we think the V is definitely one that you may want to consider. 

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8.21.2021

Art Life: MoMA New York's Retrospective on Alexander Calder








Now that some of us have begun to stretch our legs a bit and get back outside, we thought we’d start the comeback on here by highlighting one of our favorite museums and their ode to one of America’s greatest artists. 


The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in our beloved New York is currently showcasing a retrospective, entitled “Alexander Calder: Modern from the Start.” For those not up on Alexander Calder, he’s known for taking existing mediums and turning them on their heads, by way of completely reinventing them into beautiful sculptures and bringing a kinetic energy and dynamism to his work that has continued to boggle the minds of his many followers.


Easily one of the most revered artists, it’s beyond awesome to see the MoMA pay tribute to such an incredible talent. In earlier years, Calder was one of a select group of artists who was creating art that was commissioned by the MoMA itself, during its formative years. One of such notable works, includes Lobster Trap and Fish Tail, which was created in 1939, but also continues to adorn the exact same stairwell today, that it was devised in. The writer Jean-Paul Sartre, known for his sense of existentialism, noted that Calder’s work was “always beginning over again, always new.” Most would agree that the amorphous shapes of his sculptures invite deep reflection, but just as you think you’ve grasped the idea of said piece, they continually change to varying degrees of light and shadow. 


And though he’s known largely for his sculptures, Calder was a true multi-disciplinary artist, who worked across many mediums, such as jewelry, set design and even children’s books. Thanks in part to the Calder Foundation granting loans of his work, you can also view rare works such as Man-Eater with Pennants, which was created in 1945. 


If you happen to be in New York, and would like to see these grand pieces in person, the MoMA currently has them all on display until January 15th. “Alexander Calder: Modern from the Start” is worth the trip, and we highly recommend a visit. 


Chill.



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