2011 NAHBS Recon: Naked Bicycles and Design by John Prolly, on Flickr

2011 NAHBS Recon: Naked Bicycles and Design by John Prolly, on Flickr

2011 NAHBS Recon: Naked Bicycles and Design by John Prolly, on Flickr

2011 NAHBS Recon: Naked Bicycles and Design by John Prolly, on Flickr

2011 NAHBS Recon: Naked Bicycles and Design by John Prolly, on Flickr

more here http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnprolly/sets/72157626023302521/

Love em’ !!

that last one looks like a polo bike.

Nope, sorry.

that last one looks like a polo bike.

Really? Where does the horse go?

suppose one would make a nice ornament, if I had a massive house and was a pretentious arse

Really? Where does the horse go?

oh, I thought that bit at the top of the seat stays was for storing your mints with holes in.

Great show bikes, this was the one that got me drooling. Internal ti hoses ($1500 extra!)

Seems like a lot of these custom bikes are a triumph of form over function, in much the same way as a lot of the ‘chopper’ motorbikes are.

Interesting to look at, but for me, quality well executed functionality wins over clever-but-impractical anyday.

I disagree – I think a bike should be as simple as possible and these are just that, no nasty QR skewers, brakes, sharp edges…. (although I’m more a preacher than a follower). I LOVE that first one although its a pity about the marathons, could they not have found a nicer looking tyre? And those cranks and rims – imagine that with a nice set of polished rims, highly polished spindly middleburn cranks and a set of Kojaks with the stickers taken off….perfect

They’re not bikes for all day riding, doing massive miles on or jumping off roofs. For riding down the shops on a sunny day I can’t think of a bike I’d rather take.

The first pic sums it up for me. BEARDS!

I think a bike should be as simple as possible and these are just that, no nasty QR skewers, brakes, sharp edges…

Yeh, breaks are overrated. Stopping is for squares, hipsters brake for no man. And being able to take a wheel off is SO last year, if I get a puncture, I just buy a new bike.

For riding down the shops on a sunny day I can’t think of a bike I’d rather take.

Yes, a $5000 custom bike with no brakes and no carrying capacity is perfect for going down the shops. Very practical, and no thief would touch it!

Seriously, these kind of bikes are for overpaid IT managers to pose with outside their fave coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon. They have no other use.

They’re nice to look at, they are just for hipsters to mince down to the local cafe on though.

I’m happy to understand so many of these as concepts, in the same way car manufacturers come up with concept cars.

Sure, there’s no practicality to them, but illustrating ideas and design and beauty in execution sometimes just needs to transcend mere functionality.

The first bike up there^^^ achieves that.

(The second, OTOH, does not in my eyes)

Again, I’m going to disagree with you 7hz

Is there never a point where you just want to pick a bike up and ride it down the shops/pub/poncy coffee shop without having to ride on spds, have draggy tyres, disc brakes rubbing blah blah blah? The thing with these bikes is that they are minimalist, theres no surplus noise, weight or drag – you just get on and pedal. No clutter on the bars, no click-click of a chain going through a mech and whilst beauty is subjective, I think its a really nice looking bike.

Sure you can have a pompino or the like but these are show bikes – they are demonstrating what a frame builder can do. Wouldn’t be much of a show if it were all machine built frames with pressed drop outs that all look the same. £5k is a massive amount of money for a pub bike, but thats not what this is about is it. And besides which, whats wrong with riding a nice looking bike to a coffee shop on a sunny day? Is it any different to all the Colnago’s parked outside a cafe after a club run, or 4k mtbs outside a trail centre?

As for practicality, fixed rear wheel does away with the need for brakes, so minimal adjustment needed. I’m sure that fork has a bolt on the none pictured side for wheel removal. So rather than having to take the front wheel out to stop someone nicking it you just leave it as is. If you’re never changing the bars or stem, why not just have an all in one unit?

For the record, I work in IT, I drive an Audi and visit coffee shops daily…

I thought this thread was going to be about bigass 1000cc naked motorbikes… I feel kinda dissapointed now!

So I will put one up to make myself feel better 🙂

Of those photos put up… kinda like the first one, but I couldn’t see myself owning one.

As for practicality, fixed rear wheel does away with the need for brakes

Pretty sure it’s a coaster brake.

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Nope, couldn’t form an opinion. (except that the guy in the green t-shirt is probably who they are aimed at) (maybe)

they do have a bit of an “fetishist sex pest” air about them don’t they?

’tis art innit?