An overdose of folding bikes

Are you dying to have a bike, but there's no room for Guarujá souvenirs in the house? Look at this bunch of options

Bicycle

We will never tire of talking about bicycles. Point. And, well, if you're a regular at the house, you know it makes perfect sense for us to talk about it in a very ordinary way. But then someone raises his hand and announces himself. He's that guy who thinks it's a very good idea, who would love to be able to also enjoy and employ all the positivity that some daily rides offer, but he's also the guy who lives in an apartment that's either too small or they don't keep a bike in the garage and stay impossible to take that monster down the stairs and elevator. It's even worse to use only half of the way, because in the subway or in the bus terminal there are no bicycle racks. And now Jose? Well then, you are in the perfect place, my friend, because it is hard to find so many folding bicycles like the ones we will show below. So get really comfortable on the bench and enjoy the scenery as we tour these concepts, prototypes and for-sale parts that even fit in the closet under your stairs.

Some concepts that we would love to see put into practice

We hunt a lot on the internet, go crazy on these things, think how awesome the thing is, and when we research a little more, we see that it's just a design concept. It's a shame, but it starts that way until it gets to production scale and we really hope that will happen with most of the cool stuff. Is it difficult for ideas to succeed? Maybe, but let's just look at this concept here:

twoquarter

twoquarter

THE twoquarter it's a conceptual folding electric bike; its battery assists the cyclist on ascents and recharges when he pedals or when going downhill. Riding the subway or taking the elevator, it can be folded up to half the size, but folds even more so that it can fit in the trunk of your car. Unlike other folding bikes, whose parts usually need to be separated from each other, everything comes together in one piece with the twoquarter - the user does not need to carry the wheels on one arm and the rest of her body on the other. The battery is also removable and can be recharged at home. despite the twoquarter be just a concept, there are already folding electric bicycles on the market and you can check the link to some of them at the end of this article. So you can see how not everything is just on paper. You can see more images of the bike here.

Donut Bike

Donut Bike

The image above is of a bolder concept. It's Donut Bike (a suggestive name) and it intends to prove that it's possible to put everything on a bike inside a structure that is no bigger than a common suitcase. This is one of the most compact concepts out there and promises efficiency. Despite everything, the bike doesn't seem to be heavy or uncomfortable to carry, but it sure would be fun to see someone riding it around on the street. Funny but efficient. More photos of this concept can be seen here.

ville

ville

THE ville here is one of those that would be quite successful if it were commercialized. Can you imagine going to the market and folding your bike so that you can use it as a shopping cart? Great, man. So much so that Ville won the bronze medal in the IDEA Design Awards 2010. No wonder and I don't even need to say anything more about how useful it would be. Another concept that appeared in Yanko Design.

Those who have a chance to appear in the near future

From the initial idea to the market, it's a long way to go. Long and expensive. We follow many crowdfunding campaigns in kickstarters and Indiegogues of life. It's that cool concept, which became a prototype and needs popular help to be able to finally be commercialized and become accessible to the whole crowd. There are some that work, others that don't. There are some that worked out quite well as prototypes but that, I don't know, seem to have been shelved or were kind of left out. The two below are examples of those that created a stir a few years ago, stuck to the promise, and then we don't hear from them again. Who knows if a little push doesn't help?

Kwiggle Bike

Kwiggle Bike

THE Kwiggle Bike promises to be the world's most compact folding bike. It's written there on the photo. It appeared in 2013 at Eurobike Expo, an all-bike fair that takes place in Germany. It is capable of folding in about ten seconds to a size of 55 x 40 x 25 centimeters, that is, you can take it in your hand. The aluminum structure weighs about seven kilos and, according to the developer, can reach 25 km/h. THE Kwiggle promised to go to market in late 2013, even more powerful, but so far nothing. The project's website is this one and you can send a message charging the guy to speed it up. To learn more, click here.

contortionist

contortionist

Now you look at this picture from above and you think "Ok, a wheel, cool...but so what"? In fact it's not just one wheel, it's the whole bike! This is contortionist, developed by student Dominic Hargreaves when he was just 24 years old, in the distant year of 2009. In the video below, you have a better idea of ​​how the bicycle works when folding, making it clear how cool one of these would be to sell. Despite this, nothing has been found about a mass production of these beauties.

Finally, what can I buy

So far, we've only shown cool ideas that roll around. Something much more on the side of curiosities. Now, I know you came here hoping to see the real ones, the ones that you can invest the money in and have a positive return. So here are the links to these folding beauties and I'm on the move for skeptics who think that in Brazil there's no way to have one of them: you guys are dead wrong.

Bergmonch

Bergmonch

This is Bergmonch, made especially for adventure lovers. You can see that it doesn't have pedals and you already turn up your nose, but hey, it was made for the mountain bike, although because it's so cool, you really want to be able to use it in the city. But, fine, so what's cool about it, besides being used for mountain bikes and having this cool German name? THE Bergmonch it's so cool because it turns into a backpack, making it a lot easier to transport around town and climb mountains for sport. In fact, it doesn't even weigh ten kilos, just want to see how it works? Take a look at the video.

Accessing the website of Bergmonch here you have information about price and delivery.

FIT

FIT

Look right inside the open trunk of this car. Yes, there are some diffuse shapes there, a pair of wheels and metal bars that resemble the frame of a bicycle... Oh, of course, it's one! This one in the photo is the FIT, produced by Montague and ideal for everyday use, as you can see in the video below. One of the cheap things in this story is that FIT is not the only folding bike that this company offers: there are many models for the most diverse uses - from bikes to use when going to work, as is the case with FIT and even others for extreme sports. In terms of weight, the FIT does not exceed eleven kilos. Check out the video and access Montague's page here, where you will find all available models.

According to their website, they also deliver in Brazil.

Strida

Strida

Speaking of Brazil, how about this one that has an official store in the tropics and that is already quite widespread by the photos we found on Instagram? This is Strida, designed by British Mark Sanders and winner of many awards over more than two decades in the market. There are three models and they are all easily foldable, they even fit in a special bag for carrying in trunks and planes. THE Strida it is present in five cities in São Paulo, including Avaré, Ilhabela, Ribeirão Preto, Santos and São Paulo, as well as in Rio de Janeiro and Joinville. Online purchases can be made here, on the brand's official website in Brazil.

Was this story enough for you? You can expect many more to appear. In the meantime, below are a few more links to old stories we've done on the combination of folding and electric bike technologies, and you could get lost in the middle of so much new stuff.



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