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UPDATE: Oregon Manifest wants to know what you think! Which entry was your favorite creative collaboration—Fuseproject × SyCip's twist on a cargo bike, IDEO × Rock Lobster's elegant electric-assist bicycle, or Ziba × Signal's everyday utility bike? Vote here!

Photo courtesy of Chris King Cycles; photographer Dylan Van Weelden has a full set of photos here.

Now that we've had seen a fair share of the Oregon Manifest creative collaborations in action and in situ, I should mention that the Oregon Manifest team has posted studio photos of each bicycle.

Courtesy of Oregon Manifest; full set of photos here.

Courtesy of Oregon Manifest; full set of photos here.

Courtesy of Oregon Manifest; full set of photos here.

Instead of merely reposting all of the photos here, we've attempted to chronicle the progress of each teams' design/build process as it has unfolded over the past seven months. Read on for the highlights of each collaboration:

FUSEPROJECT × SYCIP

Fuseproject tellingly took the anti-hipster route from day one, eventually announcing their commitment to rethinking the cargo bike in their April design/build diary. Over the course of the next month, Fuseproject hinted that they'd ultimately depart from traditional designs with "LOCAL."

The front-loader design—purportedly inspired by builder Jeremy SyCip's obsession with BMX sidehacks—emerged in August:

It's always a bittersweet time in design when you have to stop dreaming of all the possible concepts and solutions and just get down to the one that works best. But when the time came for us, it was fairly straightforward. We had to rip the band-aid off and go for it. From our last two choices, we are down to the final design.

As with the other teams, their last diary entry saw the finished product: a so-called "bike version of the practical pick-up truck."

Check out the "LOCAL" in action here; full diary here.

IDEO × Rock Lobster

Like their counterparts (or is that competitors?) in Fuseproject and Ziba, IDEO took pains to ideate and prototype for their entry, a joint effort with Rock Lobster's Paul Sadoff, as documented in a video of an April brainstorming session. Particularly astute readers will note that IDEO arrived at the decision to go electric back in July, when they shared their insights in a thorough diary entry.

More than just the rush of an electric tailwind, we think that an e-bike really does address a number of the design principles we identified early in the Manifest. Hills become less intimidating, distances diminish, morning-time commutes become less sweaty, and integrated lighting becomes simpler thanks to the battery. Perhaps most importantly, an electric motor can help lessen the weight of loads and make a cargo-carrying bike feel nimbler. We believe the marriage of modern motor technology with vintage cargo design to lighten your load, however big it may be, will make for a very exciting bicycle.

The following month, IDEO began teasing just a few (very raw) photos of what would become the final design:

The double top-tube holds the Lithium-ion battery:

And any builder, designer, craftsman or creative can relate to the last-minute details documented in their final diary entry.

More about the "Faraday" here; full diary here.

ZIBA × SIGNAL

Ziba declared their "team mantra" in their very first post: "there is no such thing as bad weather... just bad gear." Their collaboration with hometown builders Signal captured this philosophy, as well as their rational approach, which complemented Signal's attention to detail.

At the end of our [first meeting] we decided to get take-out from one of our favorite Thai restaurants in the Pearl district. We emerged from the restaurant with a large bag of curry-filled take-out containers. Matt from Signal grabbed the bag, set it on his elegant custom rack, and adeptly secured them with standard elastic net. It was a simple act that almost went unnoticed but it demonstrated to all of us that the best designs are so natural and intuitive that they appear effortless. We decided that this kind of fluid and flexible interaction epitomizes what is missing from a lot of utility bike design; and we are determined to fill that gap.

An early prototype of the sidecar emerged in June, when their urban utility bike began to take shape:

All in all, their diary was most true to a step-by-step design process, from storyboarding for inspiration to a profile of their target audience, the Urban Explorer.

By August, Ziba had revealed their grocery bag-inspired removable tote and the folding sidecar detail, though the final design remained to be seen:

They also had Matt and Nate of Signal share their closing remarks in their September entry, a nice touch in light of the overall narrative aspect to their eight-month project timeline.

See our take on the "Fremont" here; full diary here.

We'll have more Oregon Manifest coverage—including a full-blown photo gallery of the field test and festivities, insights from the builders and our own comprehensive account of the weekend—throughout the next week, so stay tuned for more...