Fascinating stuff!

:-)

Mind you, I need to think about the idea of big-diameter wheels. A big wheel will bridge a gap which a small wheel will simply disappear into - and today's main roads have a LOT of gaps...
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The "folding bike", or as I lilke to call it, the "dematerialized bike" problem, is more serious than most people think. For instance, the bike that we still see around should appear, if one pays attention to the average contemporary product in every field, as strange as a 1940's car. That strange metallic contraptions with 28" wheels, produced in no-brand shops who knows where. Does anybody realize that, given our ultra-sophisticated knowledge of the material sciences, the strange news is NOT having a super-hightech, nine-pound supersleek "i-Bike"?
Instead unfortunately, as a product designer I often have to play down the fact that I am investigating the subject, testing my own set of technical assumptions. Because dealing with this theme exposes you to funny looks. Oddily I get more respect -and some winks- for having been able to line up in the project the EU and a German-American multinational, but always with a tinge of "wow, you must have friends in high places to get money for that project" (http://www.ticona.com/index/news/newslette...htweightbicycle.htm).
The theme is very serious because it involves the evolution of a known product towards its integration with a larger system (the urban-suburban transport net). It involves the empowerment of the individual for a "micro-mobility" that could help solve many "macro" problems. It involves adding a "product approach" layer to other "infrastructural" and "policy" approaches to the urban mobility. And also because it poses the many conflicting problems of miniaturization, ergonomics, economics, robotics, aestethics, all of which must be addressed, none excluded. I believe that my research has provided a robust "platform" (in the sense used in the car industry) of technologies out of which a real product could be realized. But I still wonder why this field should still be the territory of "mad inventors", craftsmen and small industries with no synergic, integrated view of the scope of a research field like this one.
Ciao folks....

If you get to be first to see it, let us know!

Edited by author 07-03-2006 09:35 AM
wow, still no A-bike to buy as far as I know but DAKA says they will provide it to buyers this summer? Has anybody been able to see it live in shops?

Edited by author 07-13-2004 07:04 AM
I took along a micro-scooter on my daily commute for a while, with similar wheel size. I couldn't do it now because of what RSI did to my wrists. Also, the scooter damaged the knee of the leg I stood on, until I switched to a suspension model and installed a large foam pad on the footplate - I mean a couple of inches thick. And I took a dive once or twice. It was basically unusable on rough road paving, but give me a smoother paved surface and I flew.

This A-Bike, however - well, apparently it is not electric, not yet. It interests me more that it looks very like what you see at http://www.strida.com/ , which has been struggling for years - but has larger wheels.

But Strida has one speed gear, A-Bike - top speed 15mph - probably the same. Not suitable for more than a mile's regular journey - but better than a scooter. But really, if only they could even put in a three-speed hub gear! Still, at that speed, you can dodge or brake for potholes. Singapore probably doesn't even /have/ potholes. There is, in fact, anyway, no bike to which potholes aren't a hazard.

I looked at microbikes, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Then I thought about it. And then I laughed and laughed and laughed harder still. But I tried one once. That was enough.

These days I run an Electra cruiser cycle with derailleur gear; its swept-round handlebar means I don't lean on my arms, which is very good because of the RSI. I looked into recumbent cycles first; they're unusual, expensive, not so good on hills or in stop-go traffic, and what finally made my mind up was that every user of a 'bent that I consulted also owned a more conventional bike. 'Bents are for goofing off on.

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You've hit it on the nail. "Those tiny pushchair size wheels are going to get stuck in the first pothole and pitch the rider over the handlebars."

And I told Clive about that 13 years ago. "Oh, no; experienced cyclists just dodge those holes," he assured me.

Clive Sinclair never learns. Yet again he has come up with an interesting idea, but hasn't researched the market and the existing offerings. This pseudo pushchair with ambitions will be just as successful as the Zike or the C5.
There are already folding bikes that can be taken on trains (Brompton, Molton, Bike Friday and others) which are much better to ride and can carry more baggage than the A-bike. Those tiny pushchair size wheels are going to get stuck in the first pothole and pitch the rider over the handlebars. People who don't already cycle commute are very hard to tempt into trying it; the A-Bike should do better than the Segway because it's a lot cheaper, but its practical range will be very restricted.

The A-Bike is in the shape of the letter A - why? See our story for the whole truth!