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- hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I'll buy one when that are $100 US.
- lithuin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Sweet! If they have the right marketing campaign, they'll be building cities around this thing!
Just like the Segway! - vudicarus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOadFVB9JVU
By just the look of the tiny wheels, it looks like Granny could out run you. But the video seems to show the bike is fairly speedy. - sacherjj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9No kidding. The first uneven pavement sends you over the handlebars.
- rawM3TAL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10So how many times you think that guy practiced unfolding it that quick?
- piratearggghhh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Does that thing come with a clown outfit?
- cdstewart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@jknation
From the sites FAQ:
Q2: Does the A-bike have a chain and gears?
A2: Yes - in fact the A-bike has 2 chains!
The internal twin chain system is totally encased at the rear of the A-bike which has the benefit of keeping grease and dirt away from clothes and hands.
The A-bike has a single gear transmission optimised for short journeys and easy use.
A single gear system so you can't change gears. - aplusbi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@colonelpanic:
I've gone up 10% grade hills on a fixed gear (geared at 47x16 or ~77 gear inches). True, this was on a street not a trail and it did hurt, but it's more than possible. Racers used fixed gears in the early Tour de Frances, even in the mountain stages (there were no alternatives then...). - jknation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The wheel is tiny and i wonder if you can change gears... if i lived in a city i would buy one.
- phlogiston99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Revolutionary headline. How the word revolutionary applies to a bicyle is anyone's guess. Even a folding bicycle.
Unless by revolutionary you mean dorkiest design. Maybe he used a zx-80 of his to design it.
Competes with a Segway to make the user look like an ass (the Segway still wins though) - ricosalomar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@donatj
The "gyroscope" action of the wheels has nothing to do with the ability to balance a bike. The ability to balance (and, in fact, ride) a bicycle is due to the ability to turn the front wheel. When one rides a bike, he or she automatically turns the front wheel under the direction of the fall. In fact, if you send a bike down a hill, without a rider, it will balance itself automatically, for a while anyway. Watch the bikes bars turn in the direction of the fall. Try this with the front fork fixed, and the machine will topple immediately.
I'm not making this stuff up, see the brilliant book, Bicycling Science - by David Gordon Wilson and Jim Papadopoulos. - Dotcommer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yeah but you guys are missing the point. This thing is about portability and being able to get you to many locations efficiently. You can't take a road bike with you on a subway, and where the hell are you going to store it in the city?
~Dot - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7This is just silly. I am an avid cyclist, riding anywhere between 500-1000 miles a month during the warmer months. And I can assure you that the reason people DON'T ride bikes has absolutely nothing to do with them thinking that bikes are too heavy or not compact enough.
- omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hmm... a lot of people calling this "useless" must not ride the subway to work or have to worry about where to store their bike during working hours. It's a specific market segment, to be sure, but not without its buyers. And small wheels don't necessarily mean an unstable ride if it's properly designed. I'm waiting for a test drive before passing final judgment.
- colonelpanic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Reminds me of a brompton. these folding bikes seem to be a british tradition sorta thing.
- thearmourer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I really don't think this'll go far. it's just a ridiculous idea to have wheels so small, if you hit a pebble, you're done for.
I do admit it was designed for the right reasons though. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Could it be that crazy soccer mom driving the Tahoe Tank™ while on her cellphone running you into the ditch?
- zhulien, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3have to get a nice bag to hide it when taking it on the train so that you don't incurr the bike fee (the fee isn't for bikes over a certain size in Melbourne).
- titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I don't care i'm still buying one
- kstephens, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I have 5 bikes. One is a Birdie 18", 7-speed, dual-suspension folding bike ( http://www.bikefold.com/birdy_foldable_bicycles.htm ). When I lived in downtown Chicago going bike to train to bus to bike made getting around most of Chicago and the suburbs without a car possible.
I was billing clients for time on the train, while most commuters were cursing at traffic. Folding bike .vs. car paid for itself in 1 month and gave me 10+ hrs per week more free time.
A folding bike bridges unavoidable gaps in public transportation. Wear a helmet, people! - clipless, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The real downside to those tiny wheels isn't that they won't roll over anything (they're almost the same size as rollerblade wheels), it's that they have a super low rotational inertia. When a bike's wheels spin up, they're like giant gyroscopes that resist out-of-plane tilting motion. That's why you can keep upright when riding down the street, but fall over as soon as you come to a stop. The wheels on this thing are so small that the gyroscopic effect would be almost nil. Riding this thing could be very scary indeed.
The title's a bit misleading too.
Innovative, maybe. Revolutionary, hardly. - Fracture98, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not the greatest marketting name.
-What's that? It's A-Bike. Oh, I thought it was something special.
-Mom, I want A-Bike. You've already got one, so go away. - johnpombrio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 Errr... Is this just a Razor scooter with a seat and handlebars?
- MasterGrief, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I used to have a collapsible push-scooter, and every time I hit a rock of any size more than half a centimeter, the scooter'd jerk really hard and I'd lose balance. Of course, the wheels were solid rubber like rollerskate wheels, so that probably has something to do with it.
- dreold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Great!
...but this is not revolutionary. Others have done this:
http://www.strida.com/
OK, the Strida is heavier at 22 lbs, but the principle is the same.
BTW, it's quite easy to ride these things, although it looks daunting at first. I commuted with a Strida for a couple of years from Brooklyn to Manhattan (10 miles per day).
A. - stevex0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2so yes it's small but who cares. I can't think of a major office building in downtown chicago that dosn't have some sort of spot to part a bike. They have the concept all wrong they need to be making bikes taller and longer not more compact.
http://www.chicagofreakbike.org/ - Speak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You're right, if you can't even pedal, you are pretty useless
- ironbear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@Severious
Totally agreed. I would expect Clive Sinclair's attorneys will be billing him lots of extra hours when people turn up after they take serious headers on his bike.
I spend a lot of time on bikes, totally love them, and I have serious concerns about that thing's safety and comfort. Even the high end, small wheel (20") folding bikes I've ridden from custom maker Bike Friday are less stable, comfortable and fun to ride.
The thought of riding something with such a tiny front wheel as the A-Bike's makes me shudder. - jonj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2still ridiculously inefficient, despite being a folding bike.
you're better off buying a 18lb roadbike that will carry you to your destination with the quickness - williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+212 lbs is pretty amazing. Try finding a 12 lbs road bike that costs less than the space shuttle.
Folding bikes are kind of a niche product. The good ones are very expensive - around $1000 and up, and nowhere near as elegant as this. This is priced directly against the cheaper Chinese folding bikes.
I recently had a job where the ability to take a bike on the subway would have made the commute much quicker. While I'd like to be 133t enough to skateboard those kinds of distances, this bike looks to be a really practical solution. - lintmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It looks so dorky, but I want one.
- BassJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I use a second hand road bike to get into and out of London sites that I am currently working on. I am looking into buying a newer bike to replace this one as it's quite old and had looked at some of the folding bikes but was put off because of the smaller wheels, I have seen one with wheel approaching 20"+ but then you lose some compactness in folding up and I'd still have to use public transport then!
The idea behind this bike looks good but I can't see it being used round town seriously as it's difficult enough navigating and being seen in traffic on a "normal" bike, I think I would use this in the same way I used to use my folding scooter for short journeys but not at that price! I'd expect to pay upto £100 for that. - tazamore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2YouTube has several videos of A-bike in use. I'd give you link but I'm lazy.
- clipless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't doubt that steering helps keep you upright, but what I am saying is that the gyroscopic effect of the wheels plays the biggest part. Take a bike on roller for instance, the only difference between just sitting there vs. pedaling is that the wheels are spinning. In the former case, you'll fall right over, in the latter, you'll have more stability. In both cases you can still steer, and yes if you take that away you'll probably fall.
If steering was the only thing keeping you upright you'd be able to easily balance on a bike while standing still.
Try this demo next time you're around a bike. Pop off the front wheel and hold it by the axle. Then have a friend give it a gentle spin while you hold it. Now try to move the wheel up/down, left/right, and forward/back. You should be able to move it pretty easily since you're not trying to change the plane that the wheel's spinning in. Now try to tilt the wheel out of plane. You'll get a heck of a lot more resistance. It's that the resistance moment that keeps you upright on your bike. - williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The thing I get from the video is that the only unusual thing about riding this thing is that you are very low. This is good because you are less likely to go ass over teakettle, but you have to make sure not to pedal through a tight corner. Mountain bikes generally have the crankset as high as they can make it for clearance, the A Bike is radically opposite. Pretty brilliant overall.
- clipless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually, rotation inertia has everything to do with staying upright. If that wasn't the case, you would be able to easily balance yourself on your bike when you're stopped.Unless you're ridding a fixie and know how to track stand, you'll bite it every time.
Rotational inertia is the principal that makes roller-drum trainers work and allow you to spin inside when the weather's nasty. Take a look at this video to see what I'm talking about.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-oCEY6ZhqQ4
No that's not me, but notice that he needs the support of the door frame to keep himself steady before the wheels spin up. Once he's 'moving' he has no trouble keeping upright. - Aerox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It has a really high center of gravity, and couldn't handle any sort of debris or rough riding areas with wheels that small. Unfortunately, I think this is going to flop like Sinclair's last two "revolutionary" bikes.
FYI, this is the same man who invented the portable radio and pocket calculator. I don't mean any disrespect to him, but I don't see any advantage (while there are a few major disadvantages) to this folding bicycle over others on the market. - megaloid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If they were like rollerskate wheels then they were probably made of polyurethane.
- DuffDemon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sir Clive Sinclair is a legend in the UK. He is obsessed with making things smaller. Even to the point where they become unusable because of it. Inventions included the first pocket TV and calculator. Just take a look at his entry on wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Research_Ltd - orangetiki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2There's better fold up bikes that cost less. And with bigger wheels. Do you realize how much you would have to pedal? Reminds me when clown bikes you won at the Jersey shore boardwalk were popular with the kids
- spirituscanis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Totally agreed - with the exception that "innovative" would imply a technology that comes into popular use and changes some aspect of society. "Inventive" would be more apt. Inventive, sort of. Useful, not really. Revolutionary, definitely not.
- ricosalomar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sorry, but that's wrong. The same 'steering under the fall' principle governs balancing on rollers. In fact, I can ride rollers, it's actually not as hard as you might think. Your nick indicates that you ride, so try it. Then then try it with the front fork fixed. You will eat it in seconds.
- masgrada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1jeeeeeezzeeee, at those prices they'll never make a profit.
- omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's available for £200, which is about $375 U.S. Where did you get the $600 figure? I have seen other folding bikes for around $450.
- whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lower the price, and i'll bite.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If they would put some real wheels on it, I might just buy it.
- ricosalomar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sorry, see my comment above, but "rotational inertia" has little, if any, to do with ones ability to balance a bicycle. It is the ability to steer (to turn the front wheel under the fall) that makes cycling possible. Try riding a bike with the front fork fixed, and you'll eat it badly.
See the excellent book, Bicycling Science - by David Gordon Wilson and Jim Papadopoulos. - Speak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's the speed sacrifice that I'm not willing to make -- this is not intended for the long distance or automobile replacing cyclist, rather the recreational cyclist.
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Zen is correct. You are about a foot lower to the ground than on a conventional bike. IT might feel odd to ride it, at first, but it should not feel unstable.
- fricken4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This thing looks useless for going fast, or over rough terrain, or over long distances. If I'm going a short distance and I want something lightweight and portable, I can Just Use a Skateboard or a scooter, otherwise I'll stick with my 26" wheels. I doubt this product will be very successful.
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