Silas Beebe (left) and Rob Tsunehiro; photo courtesy of Oregon Manifest

At risk of beating the topic to death, at least one of the 33 entries in the 2011 Oregon Manifest has a portfolio on Coroflot, and it just happens to be second place winner Silas Beebe, who collaborated with framebuilder Rob Tsunehiro on a refined city bike with Portland flavor.

The freelance Senior Industrial Designer explains his background and inspiration:As a fifth generation Oregonian, I want to make this bike a tribute to the importance of local craft and practicality.

I want to use Oregon materials as much as possible: local leather; Douglas Fir, the Oregon state tree, from family timber land; components from local companies like Blaq Bags and Chris King; and, of course, the design and build talent of our team.

Café Classic Ideation: This design combines some of the best features of both classic American cruisers and European city bikes, but improves upon them with thoughtful and practical integration of cargo and passenger capacity.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, the bike simply has classic lines and details alongside upscale upholstery; the custom reflective paint has a practical purpose as well.

In addition to functional features such as the eight-speed internal hub and disc brakes, Beebe and Tsunehiro added several signature touches, such as the removable memoryfoam passenger seat and hand grips below the seatpost collar.

Each of the custom zip-off panniers has 10” flashing tail lights, while the dynamo-powered LED headlights are cleverly integrated into headtube spacer rings.

Last but not least, the Tsunehiro/Beebe bicycle features a mini U-lock in front rack and an easy-access cargo pocket below top tube with dynamo-powered cell phone charger.

We were certainly glad to see that the unofficial design/build team—an independent take on the three Creative Collaborations—was recognized for their efforts. Congratulations guys!

Photo by Jonathan Maus (BikePortland), who has additional photos at Flickr.