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Never Stop Folding Bikes Smaller
Perhaps you are a bike folding aficionado and/or industrial designer of bikes. Perhaps you’re familiar with the recent Yanko bike folding feature. (It’s still in the top 10 posts for the week!) Perhaps you wanted more? Here you go. It’s called the “IziBi” bicycle; it folds so much, so very much you wouldn’t believe it.
Single front and rear suspension. Frame made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer, direct drive system on the back made of aluminum alloy. Front half slides into back half, back half unlatches and folds across front half, pedals fold up. So many folds. So many.
Do you think it’ll hold together? Is this reasonably nice looking? Will people buy it? I’m looking at you, Paul, Migo, Carl, M.S.W., Jessica… You’ve tried the bikes, bought the bikes, and even tried to hustle the bikes.
Will it blend?
Designer: Renato Gschwend
16 Comments »
Carl says
nice idea.
Paul says
This uses a similar arrangement to the Dahon Jack
http://www.foldingbikehut.co.uk/product_info.php/pName/dahon-jack-2009
one of my favourite folding bikes.
The idea of a telescopic top tube would however suffer badly from ingression of dirt ect. (seems to be aimed a bit towards MTB) Carbon Fibre really would not handle the sliding surfaces and stresses well, and overall would not offer much space / weight gains.
It is however good to see people challenging the use of materials.
inet says
Great advice! The link you provide us here has a trojan.
Sean says
Looks like it will fold as soon as you sit on it
FLX says
Are those really flip-pedals? That would be the most insane idea ever… try standing on these -> ouch! Saddleballs!
Jessica says
Well it is a reasonably nice looking bike, not all that visually different than the iF Mode folding bike that has been winning design awards recently.
However, I agree with Paul that the telescopic top
tube is a problematic design. Similar designs have
been done in that past and even if the top tube was
done in aluminum or steel instead of carbon fiber
(which is a bad material choice for the stresses
incurred in this design), it would still suffer
from play and rattle.
Henrique Staino says
I didn’t know they had inveted adamantium!
Larry Lagarde says
The telescopic top tube is not the problem (Giatex has used this feature successfully for years). I’d be concerned about the joint where the rear wheel rotates/folds forward. I’m not convinced it could handle the stress and see this as the failure point. The folded dimensions would be larger than the somewhat similar looking IF MODE (http://tinyurl.com/adnsbd) and the IziBi would be awkward to roll when folded because the wheels would be somewhat angled (due to the folding design of the frame). I do like the telescoping top tube. Since the design is a mountain bike, I’d use a rubber dust boot/grommet to prevent debris from entering between the top tube sections. The grommet would function similarly to that on the mono tube suspension “fork,” but wouldn’t need to be as robust.
abby says
cool！
Nico says
Way cool!, it’s the first time a foldable bike doesn’t seems like a foldable bike.
FLX, the flip-pedals are already used on Belda foldable bikes and they work perfect.
Larry Lagarde says
Nico, I’d like to see those folders by Belda. Can you share a web page link?
Chung Dha says
Looks like a weak constructions I bet it cracks in half when you try to ride it off road as a mountainbike is build for. Also closing the padels wont work if you ride and step on the wrong site it collapse you break your neck.
james says
man it amazes me how big of a rip off that thing is and how ulgy it is. Good luck making a lefty (or righty) fork with Cannondale’s patent on it. OH and by the way, Cannondale already makes this prototype bike and its way sexier than this thing.
link sure,
http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/default.asp?item=272389
Clippingimages says
Nice design … But i feel it a little scary
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