ron arad: two nuns sprung steel wheel bike

bike with sprung steel wheels designed by ron arad all images courtesy of WOW bikes

as part of a collaborative fundraising event between elton john AIDS foundation and W hotels, six top creatives were invited to transform the distinctive blue ‘boris bike’ used by londoners into a a functional work of art, to by used by visitors to london’s W hotel at leicester square. the project goes by the name WOW bikes and israeli-born UK-based designer ron arad was amongst the select group  – which includes artist benedict radcliff, fashion designers patrick cox and alice temperley, singer paloma faith and illustrator natasha law – who each created a completely original, bespoke bike. arad’s design ‘two nuns’ involves sprung steel arranged in tesselated forms for its wheelsand is fully functional.

rendering of the wheel’s tessalation

‘two nuns’ bike by ron aradvideo courtesy of ron arad studio

demonstrating the sprung steel wheels’ ability to support the rider

detail of the hardware involved in shaping the wheels

ron arad with his unconventional bike design

*we have updated this article originally published on august 22, 2011 with a new video and additional images.