British designers Andrew Lang and Harry Dobbs are battling it out next week with their Y-stand to win the CityRacks Design Competition in New York. 10 finalists were selected to prototype their outdoor bicycle racks which will be installed throughout the city to see how they stand up on the mean streets.
If you want to try them out first hand, check this map for location details, all 10 designs will be presented September 30th at Astor Place and the winner will be announced on October 24th.
Andrew and Harry explain the thinking behind their Y-stand in the video above and there's a bunch of pics of the prototypes being made after the jump.







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Comments
As an avid cyclist I think these Y racks look very good and appear quite functional. How great would it be if more cities would approach issues like that with design competitions
I love the way this echoes the old NYC subway tokens, with their "Y" shaped through-hole. I'm surprised no one talks about this. Also surprised I'm only seeing single-bike configurations in the competition shortlist...
I agree that the racks look functional, but I would like to have a better explanation, perhaps a demonstration, of how the rack's lack of a "horizontal member" actually encourages bast practices in locking.
Oooh shiny I like the shiny one
Love it. I like the way it reminds me of a whale's tail. A reminder of the environmental benefits of riding a bike. Also I like the way the tubing shape echoes deep V wheels. You oughta make a version that has the exact same cross section as Velocity deep V's!
There are so many "designy" bike racks that seem to be totally inefficient in that they are large and only really cater for a single bicycle. I figure these things fail in that they are all less functional than more traditional bike racks....?
only two bikes? doesn't correspond to the reality on the streets.
I agree CSR,This Y is a good design but if one rack can support more bicycle in another fantasy way that will be better.