Working under the name of Local Bike Chop, industrial designer Daniel Gunnarsson has been drawing what he thinks the bikes of the future may look like, and if they’re anything close to this, we’re excited for what may be around the corner.
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A Canyon Exceed-Lauf-Grail?
We first became aware of Daniel’s work when we were sent this amazing monster cross concept bike.
The bike is a mashup of Canyon’s Exceed paired with a Lauf Grit fork and a wildly flared version of the Grail’s double-decker Hoverbar cockpit.
While it may look ridiculous at first glance, the concept is actually not that far removed from a number of more progressive gravel bikes on the market — suspension is now very much a thing on gravel bikes, and as we pointed out some years ago, the boundaries between mountain bike and gravel geometry are becoming increasingly blurred.
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This is where Daniel’s work really stands out from other concept bikes; while some of his designs are pretty wacky, they also look oddly believable.
His Photoshop skills also play a part here — clever rendering means that the images exist in an uncanny valley where it’s genuinely hard to discern whether they’re real or not.
The future is 36-inch… maybe.
Alongside his monster cross concepts, Daniel has also been working on a number of 36er concepts.
Of these, our favourite has got be this 36er 3T Exploro. It’s just so weird that we can’t help but love it.
Daniel has reworked the frame such that it retains pretty much the same wheelbase despite the giant wheels, giving the bike a wildly slack seat angle. He’s also taken cues from the likes of the Canyon Grail and Look, with a neatly integrated bar/stem combo up front.
Daniel goes on to admit that the wheels are probably totally inappropriate for this sort of bike, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fascinating concept.
We’ve only just scratched the surface of what Daniel has been working on here and we urge you to have a proper dig through his website and Instagram to see more. From a SystemSix bikepacking wagon to a redesign of Salsa’s cult classic Dos Niner, there’s something for everyone.
Many thanks to Daniel for letting us use the images and be sure to give him a follow! We’ll certainly be watching his work very closely.
What do you think of Daniel's designs? What are your favourites? What would you like to see come to fruition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
