British inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair plans to launch a portable bike that will change urban commuting. The world’s lightest portable bike weighs 12lbs and can be folded up in 20 seconds. The Independent says:
The A-Bike is made of heat-treated aluminium, folds in three places and sports tiny buggy-sized wheels, which is not obviously suited to pot-holed urban streets… Sinclair Research refused to disclose how many of the portable bikes it hopes to sell or how much they will cost, but it is understood the A-bike will sell for less than the world’s most popular folding bike, the Brompton, which starts at £380. The A-bike will be manufactured in Malaysia and its chief design engineer is Alex Kalogroulis.
Smart idea? Well we need alternatives – but let’s just say that Clive has had a few turkeys before…
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Our solution to the same problem.
I think that Sir Clive’s work is trying to address one of the most puzzling problems of modern engineering: why is the bicycle one of the few products that’s remained failry unchanged through at least three technology revolutions? And why in the world shouldn’t, in the age of miniaturization and “personal”-ization, the bicycle be grafted upon the public/private transportation means as a tool for “fine distribution” intermediate between the car or the bus or the tube and mere walking?
I am a product designer, and as many others (including design superstar Richard Sapper) I have tried to contribute a solution. The first concern of our study group was, true, to make sure that our project “didn’t invent anything” in terms of ergonomics. That is we have tried to stay as close as possible near the standard biking parameters, in order to avoid the “circus monkey” image that some were mentioning.
Our work was supported by the European Commission’s program “LIFE” and by engineering polymer concern Ticona-Celanese: http://www.ticona.com/index/news/newsletters/ticona_highlights_0105_lightweightbicycle.htm
It may be interesting to compare our project with Sir Clive’s:
- HALF the volume and more compact when folded: 48×36x12 cm vs. 70×30x20 (as declared by the Sinclair website).
- Twice larger wheels with Pirelli tubeless tyres.
- Super-stiff pre-tensioned space-frame frame, as stiff as a “normal” bike (or more).
- Larger size, 100% regular ergonomics and handling (relationship between seat, handlebars, pedals and wheelbase) for people up to 1,92 cm (US male 99th percentile).
- Totally automated, pushbotton, “landing-gear style”, folding/unfolding
- Belt traction (no chains), normal gearing, 3 speeds, normal 170-mm cranks.
- Much lighter than the A-Bike, all plastics, engineered by Ticona-Celanese: 4.0 kg.
- Electric kit that brings the total to a mere 6.0 kg.
I believe that our solution is a more advanced one, more realistic and industrially sound. But my respect to the fact is that Sir. Clive had the ability to bring his to the market while we still are not there.
Best regards,
Alessandro Belli
November 17th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Belli has come as close to perfection as possible.
Maybe, if his bike had a kind of ‘nano’ suspension, it would have been more perfect.
As Dr Moulton says suspension is crucial in any bike.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:40 am