Artist designs bikes based on people's attempts to draw them from memory

All of the bikes designed by Italian artist Gianluca Gimini look perfectly functional, but would you really want to ride them?

As part of his Velocipedia project, started in 2009, Gimini asked hundreds of people to draw a bicycle from memory and then digitally rendered a design based on their often wacky pictures.

"I found out that when confronted with this odd request most people have a very hard time remembering exactly how a bike is made," he said on his Behance site (opens in new tab).

"Some did get close, some actually nailed it perfectly, but most ended up drawing something that was pretty far off from a regular bicycle. Little I knew this is actually a test that psychologists use to demonstrate how our brain sometimes tricks us into thinking we know something even though we don’t."

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Take a look at a few of our favourite designs below, and check out the full collection on Gimini's Behance site.

This design by 19-year-od Leonardo looks fine in drawing form, but in real life it could be a bit unbalanced with your weight so far over the back wheel.

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This one looks great fun. When you pedal you power both the front ant the back wheel. Plus, the single fork is very modern.

This one from 31-year-old Giorgia (who couldn't remember her correct age) looks like it might even work, although the frame would probably be a bit flexible. But, it comes with mud guards, which is a bonus.

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This one is brilliant. A dual front fork. two disc wheels and a flag on the back! Excellent work from Grandpa Lee.

Gimini even gives us some facts about the 376 pictures he's collected over the years, which give us a look into the psyche of the people who drew them.

Apparently, nearly 90 per cent of drawings in which the chain was attached to the front wheel were drawn by females, while men were more likely to over-complicate the frame.