I came across Republic Bikes today and they seem pretty neat. They have two bike designs to choose from, either a track frame of a dutch sit up and beg frame. The idea is that these are shared designs that you then make your own by choosing your own components.
aristotle!
I really like the idea of a pretty cheap off-the-peg bike that can really easily be made your own! The one thing I don’t like about my bike is that they are everywhere, and I’ve ended up spending quite a bit of money making it my own (not that I mind too much!).
I don’t know how good quality the bikes actually are, but from the pictures they seem pretty nice. Overall, I think it’s the idea of a sort of open-source bike that I really like!
plato!
Also, the open-sourced nerd in my enjoyed the fact they made the google-bikes!
Revolution Bike Style Now!! 
I would not recommend something like Republic Bikes. They are made of cheap components and are constructed in a factory. It is much better to support your local bike shop- they employ your local bike nerd, your money goes to support an important element of the local biking community, and you know that it has been assembled by someone that will see you riding around and cares about your safety. Much better to support local than to go to the internet big box store for your bikes. They are cheap for a reason!
I agree, I think I like the idea of this in theory more than I do the actual reality of it. I definitely think buying a bike from a local shop is good for everyone involved, but, my local shop, although lovely, didn’t have anything below £500. Luckily I had been saving for an awful long time so I could afford one. But not everyone has this luxury, or even the desire to spend that much on a bike. So I guess, it was the part of me that loves the utilitarian aspects of bikes that liked the idea of a cheap, standard design bike.