Wheels Up // Industrial Designer Ron Arad Reinvents The Wheel

This one's been kicking (or maybe "pedaling" is more fitting) around the Internet for a few months, but since it combines some of the things that we love most—bikes, design and innovation—we've gotta share.

Last year London's W Hotel asked six creative professionals to create one-of-a-kind bikes to benefit a good cause. All of the rides were interesting, from Benedict Radcliffe's "W New York Bike" to Natasha Law's vodka-equipped "Wyld Bar Bike," but industrial designer Ron Arad's contribution was surely the most mind-blowing. Arad created a bike that forgoes tires and tubes for sprung steel wheels. This is really one of those cases where seeing is believing, so check out the video below for proof that you can cruise smoothly down a city street on nothing but metal.

Visitors to the W Hotel on London's Leicester Square were able to give Arad's unique creation a spin for a couple months, and in December it was auctioned off to raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. We don't know who the lucky high bidder was, but you'll definitely be able to tell if you see him or her out for a ride!

Behold, an entirely new meaning for the phrase "pedal to the metal":

Two Nuns Bike by Ron Arad from Dezeen on Vimeo.

-- John Ruscher