Every single person in the Netherlands rides a bike. Even our prime minister uses his bike to get to work. Cycling is part of our culture. However, an affordable, contemporary Dutch bicycle cannot be found.
A bicycle is a labour-intensive product. For this reason, almost all bicycle manufactures have moved their production to China or Taiwan. Epo revives the local industry and brings production back to the Netherlands. Inspired by the way cars are produced, the Epo bicycle is made out of two sheets of metal, pressed into form and spot-welded together. This results in a strong and light frame. Most importantly, this process is efficient and drastically lowers labour costs, making production in the Netherlands possible.
Epo is the Design Academy graduation project of Bob Schiller and is still in development. The goal is to start production next year.
