My ten favourite pieces of product design #5: bicycle

I think this is perhaps my favourite ever piece of product design. The bicycle as we know it emerged at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century, looking something like this:

And it hasn’t changed very much since then…

I love the bike’s simplicity, efficiency and elegance. It gets me where I need to be in a reasonable time with no more faff or hassle than needed. I currently ride a Farrhad Manufaktur, like this one:

Obviously, my isn’t nearly as clean as this 😉

It’s a little on the heavy side, but is very low maintenance and the mudguards mean I don’t get splattered en route to work, even if it’s raining.

The only downside of owning a bike in London is that they can get stolen every once in a while, which is very annoying indeed.

My ten favourite pieces of product design #6: yellow oilskin

I’ve attracted some mockery for this one, but I believe a true design classic is the hardwearing yellow oilskin. I’ve seen so many lightweight nylon/goretex waterproofs expire after a couple of years, I deided to go back to basics;

Basic, heavy and durable

It is about as featureless as a jacket can be, but does the basic stuff well- keeping the rain out. Its only downside is its extreme weight, and the ‘Norwegian Fisherman’ comments some of my snootier friends and family make. This particular jacket actually saved my elbow from a scrape during my recent bike slip- a lesser waterproof, I am sure, would have ripped quite badly!

By the time I am 30…

…I will have walked the Cuillin Ridge, and/or the Haute Route

Climbing in’t Lakes…

Just spent the weekend climbing in the Lakes. We did two long routes on the Napes. A great day, no ‘faff’ and lots of sunshine.

I’m very new to climbing, so rely on kind folks like Rick to lead and make sure I don’t do anything silly (like falling off). Before I started climbing, I had thought that it would be really strenuous. In fact, it’s probably much more mental than physical- particularly on long routes, where a lot of thinking and checking is needed what with setting up belays and so on.

It’s also interesting to think about the level of risk involved. Of course an unprotected fall would be very, very serious. However, any climber worth their salt will make sure that if a fall is likely, the protection in place is rock solid. Climbing culture is full of ritual and talk about staying safe: “climb when ready!”, ‘bomber protection’ etc. So in a way, although by climbing you’re entering a risky environment, at any given point you have a lot of choice about how exposed you are to risk.

Climbers are also a great bumch to hang out with. All that time scrabbling round on crags seems to give them a very sharp sense of humour. Climbing routes have very evocative names, like one called ‘Balls like spacehoppers’.

Big thanks to Rick, Gemma and Paul for taking on a climbing newbie and giving me such a great day!

See photos on flickr!

Food and the outdoors

Why is food always better in the outdoors, especially after hard work? Some of my top culinary moments have been the simplest things, enhanced by ‘honest appetite”:

• A cup of coffee while cycling on our honeymoon (on a sunny table near Epping Forest, felt more Mediterranean than Essex though).
• A pork pie after one of my first rock climbs in the Lakes
• Fish & chips at 11pm after not eating all day while refitting a boat in Pwhelli