ICFF: The Bikes of ICFF

After every International Contemporary Furniture Fair, we wonder if the name too narrowly describes what the show is about. Case in point, we noticed more bicycle designs featured this year than ever before.

NY-based Areaware dedicated a whole section of their booth to featuring pedal powered transportation. On display were the Vanmoof designed by Sjoerd Smit which has two integrated solar powered lights. The IF Mode by Mark Sanders is a commuter bike with single arm forks allowing the wheels to fold together. The Strida also by Mark Sanders folds to even a more compact size.

On the opposite end of folding functionality is the Kalavinka Track Bike shown in the Japan Pavilion. Akio Tanabe designed the carbon bike for racing in the Keirin track events in Japan. His inspiration for the bike was the Japanese word mottai (essential value) and there are few extra parts beyond the necessities. It has a single fixed gear and no brakes.