When it comes to appliances, form should follow function.
Many successful designers accept this mantra as paramount. However, at some point in history, a designer/inventor/cobbler/craftsman realized that just because an appliance has to function, it doesn’t need to sacrifice beauty in its form. Bicycles, for example, were designed as transportation appliances. And for over more than a century, they’ve exceeded their basic functionality. They’re everything from recreational toys to professional sports equipment, yet all the while retain their original function as an appliance. Neat trick, eh?
More often than not, the bicycle’s evolution has seen overwhelming efforts put into styling that tries to make a bike more appealing in ways that remind us of other objects or appliances other than the bike itself. It’s no surprise to find bicycles over time that have chrome headlamps and metal flake paint that mimic automobiles, decals and colors reminiscent of toys or the latest fashion textiles. Walk into any bicycle shop and you’ll find $3,000+ road bikes that look as if they’re wrapped in a skin-tight superhero costume with company logo repeated no less than five times on the frame. There are mountain bikes, freestyle and BMX bikes that look as if they were styled from the same team who designed boys t-shirts with over-flourished neo-punk graphics found at a Target store. Good or bad taste aside, it’s essentially just wallpaper on a bike.
Yes, I get why it’s relevant and dare I say, “useful”. As a design professional, I understand the value in promoting and utilizing styling synergy across different products. Sponge Bob yellow and Ferrari red are applied wherever it could make the difference between buying this toaster, laptop computer or bicycle over another. However, at some point it eventually looks lazy, is anything but special and worst of all, “ugli-fies” what otherwise could be beautiful without it. Flames, skulls, calligraphic flourishes, neo-mid-century modern overlapping rounded-corner boxes, spider webs, flowers, Ed Hardy-esque tattoo graphics etc. all have their relevant places in the consumer products world, but I for one am tired of all that crap on bicycles.
Enough is enough.
It should be no surprise then to those who’ve read this far into my rant, that the current bicycle designs that tend to capture my attention these days are those that in many ways, are markedly under-designed, or perhaps better put, “un-farkled”. One of the best examples of this idea, is the Abici bicycle line. My favorite model is the Granturismo, which comes in both men’s (“Uomo“) and women’s (“Donna“) specific models. So what’s so special about it exactly? Simply, that which makes the Granturismo (as well the rest of the Abici line-up) very unspectacular on the surface is what makes it all the more appealing as a whole. The beauty lies in the restraint Abici exercised by not plastering it with logos and styling graphics.
From the tasteful solid color flavors pulled from genuine Pantone color swatches and the simple drivetrain choices, to the noticeable absence of Abici branding outside of the singular and minimal head tube badge, the Abici Granturismo elegantly and confidently whispers to the world,“I am a bicycle; not a marketing tool, not an expression of technological advances in transportation engineering, nor a typical appliance that craves attention or recognition via exotic materials and gaudy ornamentation.” It is a simple, confident and honest appliance whose styling appeal resonates below the radar.
As with many other Italian products, their beauty is their simplicity, and Granturismo is champion of that philosophy. The technical specifications of the bike are no exception:
- Italian iron frame with joints and braze welding.
- Tires with reflecting lines
- Fully enclosed chain guard
- Metal mudguards
- Brooks Leather saddle
- Back-peddle rear brake
- Manual front brake
- Single or 3 Speed Options
Outside of a rack to carry a bag or groceries and/or bottles of wine, I can’t think of anything more this bike needs. In fact, I’d go as far to say the addition of much more than a rack, basket, minimal headlamp or bell would be the automobile equivalent of affixing a bicycle roof rack on top of a Ferrari. In other words, utterly stupid.
Less is indeed more. The Abici Granturismo is a perfect reminder of that.
See the entire Abici collection at their official website.
Pedal. Throttle. Repeat. 
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