CARNET + 02.11.2002

ABSTRACT SPEED
in Oggetti, pg. 139

Once upon a time they brought to mind mud, dirt and sweat: they were the poor man's means of transport, and the only way to move more quickly was to pedal harder. In other words the driving force was purely of animal nature. Even the sportsmen who used them in competition were on the whole seen as 'sons of the people' or highway heroes: men used to pedalling hard and earning little, eating dust and sweating hard. Different times, different pedal powers.
Compared to the two wheels of even just twenty years ago, today's bikes look like something from Mars: lightweight and aerodynamic, their hyper-technological materials sparkle (aluminium, carbon alloy, titanium) and they seem to be designed to eliminate the very idea of fatigue.
Resembling two-wheeled Ferrari's, they are exhilarating, easy to handle and quick. Able to make even the accountant with a little too much around the waist dream of emulating Cipollini. They are bold or unconventional in terms of both design and technological innovation. An example.
The Fluida.it bike, designed by Marco Gaudenzi for Fluida, weighs just six kilos and folds up completely to fit easily into the car boot. The ergonomic design provides a perfect extension of the body: almost harking back to the archetypal velocipede, the two wheels are appreciably different in size. The front one is very small and is used just to control the direction of motion, while the rear one has a much greater diameter to guarantee equilibrium and power. The steel handlebars fold down and the saddle rises up vertically over the larger wheel, almost as if suggesting a posture of composed elegance.