Holland - land of windmills, tulips, recreational drug use and bikes. Lots and lots of bikes. Given their obsession with pedal power (40 percent of the country's total traffic is by bike), it shouldn't come as a surprise that they've just built one of the most beautiful cycles we've ever seen.
With bike production a costly business, increasing numbers of manufacturers are relocating their works to China and Taiwan in search of cheaper labour and materials. In a quest to rekindle the production of "home grown" bicycles, Dutch designer Bob Schiller came up with the Epo - an elegant zig-zag of a bike that owes its inspiration to the unlikely source of car manufacturing.
The strong, lightweight frame is created by pressing and spot welding two sheets of aluminium - a process that drastically lowers total labour costs and reduces the time it takes to create each unit without harming the structural strenght. It also, importantly, looks fantastic.
With the Epo still in the final stages of development, there's no word yet on when this sleek machine will hit the roads of Amsterdam and beyond. Keep an eye on the Epo site for details on its immanent launch.
(Images: Epo)
[Via: High Snobiety]