Before E-Bikes Were Big, One Collaboration Sparked Four Very Fashion Machines

Folks, what you have before you is a project known as MASS (Mud, Asphalt, Sand, Snow). It's the result of a collaboration between French industrial designer Philippe Starck and Moustache Bikes.

If these names sound familiar, it's because you've heard both of them before here on autoevolution. However, this seems to be the only time they've been spotted working together.

Now, the MASS collection is meant to combine the design prowess of Starck with the capabilities offered by Moustache's expertise in bike building.

You already picked up that MASS is an acronym for Mud, Asphalt, Sand, and Snow, and with that, the collaboration gave birth to four e-bikes that have been tuned for each of the terrains mentioned above.

However, the collaboration also focused on the then-upcoming trend of e-bikes. Remember, MASS was unveiled back in 2014 when the whole e-bike trend was still considered in its infancy. Naturally, Starck and Moustache sought to integrate the bicycle into the environment.

To make things easier to understand, I'll present each machine separately, and first on the list is Mud. Mud is the all-terrain bike that's meant to run through just about anything you throw at it. It's an e-bike designed around a dual-suspension frame and equipped with a Bosch drivetrain and rocking Fox and RockShox suspensions. The bike even included a dropper post and internal cable routing, by the looks of it.

Up next, Asphalt is the machine under the spotlight. Contrary to most other bikes seen riding asphalt, this e-bike features a full-suspension frame. It's designed for comfort, features a Shimano Alfine Di2 drivetrain, and is powered by Bosch. Best of all, two bike versions were available, a 25 kph (15.5 mph) version and a 45 kph (28 mph) version. Large Schwalbe tires tuned for road riding offer adequate grip and a plush ride.

The third bike on the list is Sand. For this version, Starck and Moustache do something a bit different. Aside from dropping the usual Bosch, RockShox, and Fox hardware, the collaboration also sparked the use of a protective cover. Yes, it's the bike with a white cover meant to protect the bike from the elements around it. Personally, it's the kind of bike I could see Stormtroopers mounted on in a Star Wars spin-off.

Now, the final bike, Snow, is also why I felt the need to bring this collection to light. After all, how often do you see a bike dressed in a fur coat or blanket, there to keep it warm? Yes, warm. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me.


However, while fur may not look like the most useful of all features, this synthetic fur is in place to protect the battery from extreme temperatures. Whether that actually helps the battery or not remains untested. Oh, the whole thing is also set up using a lefty fork and doesn't seem to include any suspension.

As for a few essential aspects of the collection, it should help to know that each of these machines has been designed and assembled by hand. Secondly, a wide range of gear for riders was also developed for the collection and features a wide range of helmets, gloves, and even backpacks. According to Dezeen, even tires had been worked on but not expressed on the bikes.

Overall, this collection was meant to represent a bicycle's ability to integrate into the natural world around it and stand as a symbol of mankind's ingenuity, a "...synergy between man and machine..." I wonder what the next out-of-this-world collection we'll see in the coming months to years.