Google rolls out a new design for its campus bike

The Web giant picked its new GBike, created by a team of Google engineers, from among nearly three dozen submissions in a company-wide design competition. It debuts later this month. 


           

The new GBike, designed by Google engineers, will debut at the company's Mountain View, Calif., campus by the end of April.

(Credit: Google) 

When it came time to redesign the colorful bikes scattered about Google's massive Mountain View, Calif., campus, the company knew exactly who to turn to for next generation of its GBikes: Googlers themselves.

Last fall, the company launched a competition among employees to replace the 2-year-old fleet of bikes available to workers at the Googleplex to pedal from one building to another. The idea was to come up with a user-friendly, low-maintenance bike.

"We've got an entrepreneurial and innovative culture," said Brendon Harrington, Google's transportation operations manager. "We said, 'You tell us what you think is a cool design.'"

The company listed four design criteria. The bike had to be easy to produce. It needed to be affordable. The bike had to be both comfortable and secure. And, in a nod to its culture, the bike had to be Googley, using novel components, structure, and appearance.

The company got about three dozen designs, every thing from a BMX-style bike to a modern take on the old Penny-farthing high-wheel bike from the 19th century. It chose a far more conservative model -- something of a beach cruiser with coaster brakes and hand brakes. The steel bike comes with a basket and bell. And it features fenders to keep spray off cyclists' backs in the rain, and a case covering the chain to protect their clothes from grease.

"Our design motto was 'Build a user-friendly, safe and reliable, low-maintenance new GBike,'" said David Fork, a renewable energy technologist at the company, who was on the four-person team that won the competition.

Fork said he's fond of the current GBike, a cute and colorful bike that Googlers have been riding for two years. But the bikes aren't universally loved. The 20-inch wheels, which enhance the aesthetic, make them uncomfortable for taller riders.

"We love the GBikes -- especially the Googley colors -- but have also heard from many Googlers about things they wish were different,"