The Center Galleries at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) has an interesting exhibit of locally-built custom Detroit bicycles called “T?te de la Course.”

The Knight Arts blog has this to say:

Aside from all of the cultural implications of cycling, “T?te de la Course” is really a celebration of the art behind the mechanics… The whole show seems to express an idea of where cycling came from, with a lens pointed toward the future.

The exhibit runs through November 19th. The Center Galleries are located at the CCS Manoogian Visual Resource Center at 301 Frederick Douglas, which is directly east of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Here’s an interesting conceptual bike design from Jose Rivera at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit.

The goal of this project was to construct an easily customizable bike from recycled parts and materials. The bolted construction allows for the frame to be built at a fraction of the time and cost of a conventional bike. It also allows the user to easily customize the frame to his/her needs, or break the bike down for storage with simple hand tools.

One commenter on the web site questioned the frame strength to which Rivera replied:

As for the strength It holds up to a commute around Detroit. But some support spacers between the two halves would probably be useful to make it stronger over time.

Larry Parker also worked with Rivera and employed the same construction principles for his flat-frame bike concept.

The Core77 site also has additional coverage.

Have you seen these bikes being ridden around Detroit?