Every now and then we come across a Bullitt project that is too interesting not to share. When mechanical engineer Laura Shumaker reached out to show us her latest project, we knew straight away we wanted to learn more.
Laura earned her mechanical engineering degree at MIT before moving into product design. Eventually she spent three years designing and making climbing shoes, and as a result she never looked at materials quite the same way again. After a stint as Google’s Subject Matter Expert for textiles and softgoods assemblies, Laura started Oplossing Design. OPD is a colour, material, and finish consultancy with a special focus on softgoods and nonlinear materials, of course.
When her daughter eventually outgrew the canopy on the family's eBullitt, Laura saw an opportunity. Rather than simply building a taller replacement, she turned the project into a materials challenge: could a functional cargo bike canopy be built without relying on conventional plastics?
The result is a one-off Bullitt canopy concept built from a carefully selected mix of bio-based and non-plastic materials. Part practical family project, part materials exploration, it became a way to test first-hand what emerging materials can and can't do.
When Laura came to Copenhagen for the design fair, 3 Days of Design, to exhibit her concept, we met up with her to talk about the project, the materials she chose, and what she learned along the way.
What was the inspiration for the project?
"My daughter and I share a Larry vs Harry eBullitt, in bluebird blue. We use it every day, in all kinds of weather, and my daughter definitely sees it as her bike too. However, about a year ago, her helmet started to scrape the top of the cargo area canopy. This led to a lot of resistance to riding in the bike! So I promised her that we’d build a taller canopy."
Why plastic-free?
"I tend to ruminate on projects, and as I was chewing on how to approach this new, taller canopy, plastic-free just struck me as a fun challenge.
I often work with petroleum-derived materials, but people just as often ask me about the hottest new 'sustainable' material. Many of these materials are perceived as not mature enough for a product design. What better way to discover the ins and outs, challenges and beauty of a novel material than to build with it? So I decided to set the goal of using only non-plastic materials for the new design."
How did you find these materials? How did you decide which to use?
"Oplossing Design keeps a database of materials we’ve used or are interested in, so it was a matter of matching the materials we’ve had an eye on working with to our design requirements. All the materials we chose and why are at designoplossing.com/ride-longer, for those very curious.
The most difficult one to find was a replacement for the vinyl windows on the Larry vs Harry canopy. In the end, we found a beautiful, strong material, Sway TPSea FlexTM, but it is not as transparent as vinyl. So instead of building windows, we used the Sway material as a moonroof and built a set of louvres on the front of the bike. The louvres were inspired by pinecone scales that open when ripe, and my daughter can control their angle from inside the canopy."
What was the best part of this project?
"Definitely my daughter’s reaction to the finished design. She literally whooped with joy when she realised that all components - louvres, buttons for the roof, front hatch - are controlled from inside the cabin by the passenger. Her delight in riding in the bike, pride, and palpable sense of ownership have been the best reaction I’ve ever seen to something I’ve designed."
What was it like to design for Bullitt?
"A dream. The bike frame is so thoughtfully designed for Bullitt owners to be able to build their own accessories, which meant there were already simple attachment points for the new canopy. It was also a real pleasure to take the canopy off my Bluebird in Berlin, train it up to Copenhagen, and then assemble it to a lovely black Bullitt in the Larry vs Harry head office. Everything just fit; not by accident, but because the Larry vs Harry design team clearly takes backwards compatibility seriously! Now if that’s not a triumph of industrial design worth toasting, I don’t know what is."
How has it been to see Copenhagen's 3 Days of Design by Bullitt, with the Canopy?
"Well, obviously riding a Bullitt in Copenhagen makes you feel at home. Copenhagen weather has truly tested the canopy, but I’m glad to say that my daughter has stayed completely dry inside. And there have been great conversations in the bike lanes, while waiting for stoplights. Memorably, I gave one of the 3 Days of Design organizers a copy of the Ride Longer zine in a bike lane!"
Projects like this are one of the reasons we love seeing what people build around the Bullitt platform. Not because every idea is destined for production, but because asking unusual questions often leads to interesting answers.
Laura set out to build a taller canopy for one passenger. Along the way, she ended up exploring new materials, a new passenger experience, and a different way of thinking about a familiar product.
Will we all be riding around under plastic-free canopies in the future? We have no idea. But we're glad somebody was curious enough to find out what one might look like.
Thanks to Laura for sharing her project, her process, and a canopy that proves there is more than one way to solve a problem.
All photos © Barbara Dietl fotographie (dietlb.de) and Oplossing Design, LLC
