Folding Bikes - The Folding Cyclist

Time 2020-09-22 03:02:59

Web Name: Folding Bikes - The Folding Cyclist

WebSite: http://www.foldingcyclist.com

ID:55235

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Bikes,Folding,Cyclist,

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Folding Bike News General Motors Introduces Folding eBikes General Motors, the automaker, has announced plans to introduce a pair of electric bicycles next year. One has a non-folding fixed frame, while the other, pictured above, is foldable. The electric propulsion on the bikes were designed by GM engineers who created a proprietary drive system. GM doesn't have a lot of additional information to share about the e-bikes at this time, other than they will be "smart" and "connected", intimating that they may utilize GM’s OnStar, the company’s subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security and emergency services feature found in cars. For now, GM is focused on naming the e-bikes and is inviting the public to help. People who want to name the e-bikes can go to www.eBikeBrandChallenge.com. The participant with the winning selection will receive $10,000. Nine other runners-up will each receive $1,000. After 8 years of design and development, Crosshead is ready to launch their first performance driven, compact folding bike on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. The SF-1A will be equipped with 20 inch wheels and 10-speed gears. The patented fold mechanism allows the Crosshead to fold down to 1/3 of its original size in about 20 seconds. The principle is that both the front and rear wheels fold towards each other, ending up side-by-side with no unsightly catches. Working from their factory in Kent, England, the Crosshead team will manufacture and assemble bicycles by hand using materials and construction methods, which have been trialled and tested for quality and strength by both CEN testing and ride quality. Tern Announces New 451 Verge Family Urban transportation specialist Tern Bicycles today announced the 451 Verge family. Featuring 451 wheels, new T-Tuned geometry, and the latest 1X (“one-by”) drivetrains. The family consists of the Verge X11, Verge P10, and Verge D9 (shown above), which all feature 451 wheels. Tern’s new Verge bikes begin with 451 mm (22") wheels, which offer 10% higher gearing than 406 mm wheels. That means the bikes achieve downhill gearing — up to 102 gear inches on the Verge X11 — using standard equipment. Since they’re larger, 451 tires carry more momentum and deliver more comfort than 406, yet they’re small enough for convenient portability, punchy acceleration, and nimble handling. “Good design is always a game of optimization,” says Joakim Uimonen, Design Director of Tern. “Consumers traditionally believe that total folded size is equivalent to wheel size. One of the key insights with our 451 bikes is that although the folded package gains an inch at the wheels, size is saved at the chainring. Overall, it’s an even trade- off in size, but a huge boost for performance.” Another technology at the heart of the 451 Verge family is the new generation of hyper-wide cassettes from SRAM and Shimano. With the current generation of 1X, it’s possible to achieve higher and lower gearing with a single chainring than ever before. A 1X has always been an ideal configuration for small wheeled bikes, because it reduces maintenance, weight, and complexity, but now it’s better than it’s ever been. With a 420% gear-range, the flagship Verge X11 boasts a wider gear-range than many standard- issue touring bikes in the industry, without any complication or hassle. The final advancement at the heart of the Verge family is the new T-Tuned geometry. Based on experiments that began during the development of Tern’s long-haul Verge Tour, the new Verge design boast a longer wheelbase, tweaks to fork rake and head tube angle, and a slacker seat-tube for a sportier riding position. The result is a small-wheeled bike that is remarkably fast and stable. Tern Launches the Elektron Tern Bicycles and leading electric drivetrain manufacturer Bosch are collaborating to create a compact and powerful folding e-bike. Debuting at Eurobike 2016, the Tern Elektron is a Bosch powered e-bike that you can take anywhere. It folds in under 10 seconds to the smallest size of any bike in Tern's lineup, while delivering all the ride quality of a full-sized Bosch e-bike. The Elektron is built around the German-engineered Bosch Active drivetrain and includes a 400Wh Bosch battery for a range of between 50 and 100+ kilometers. The powerful Bosch motor has been adapted from Bosch's automotive applications. Three drivetrain sensors take over 1000 measurements/second for virtually instantaneous boost and a natural cycling feel. Bosch's batteries boast leading power density, while sophisticated Bosch electronics manage critical matters such as fast charging and auto shut-off in extreme temperatures. The Elektron also features Deore hydraulic disc brakes, for all-weather stopping power, an integrated 150 lumen Valo 2 light, for 24 hour visibility, and a cargo rack. Elektron will launch on Kickstarter in October 2016. Pricing is expected to be between 2,999€ and 3,300€ in Europe, and 3,500 USD in North America. Look here for more info and photos. U.S. folding bike manufacturer Bike Friday and Canadian e-assist experts Grin Technologies have teamed up to create the e-pakiT, the world's first e-bike that you can take on an airplane. Not only that, the e-pakiT switches easily between being an e-assist and non e-assist bicycle, shedding several pounds of gear in a few minutes to transform into one of the lightest folders on the market. And even in e-assist mode, the e-pakiT only weighs 33 pounds, 15-20 pounds lighter than other e-assist folders. At the core of this new system are the stackable LiGo Batteries from Grin Technologies; instead of one large Lithium Ion battery, the system is comprised of several smaller batteries that stack in a chain. As each individual battery is under 100Wh, it meets the safety requirements of the IATA (International Air Transport Association), meaning that you can safely fly with the e-pakiT anywhere in the world. An additional benefit is that you can scale up, or down, the amount of batteries in the chain, based on usage. Need more power? Add another battery or two. Want to shed weight? Only take the batteries you absolutely need. Speed levels are controlled by a combination of a twist-grip throttle and the Ezee LED console. The Ezee LED console, with an simple graphical display and 5 assist levels, allows you to set the maximum amount of boost that the motor will give you. While the throttle provides you with a responsive control system to drive as much of that power as you need into your ride in any given moment. The front hub motor is a Bafang G01, which smoothly delivers 250-500W of power at a top speed of 18 mph for up to 20-30 miles on a single 2+ hour charge. An e-pakiT starts at $2,385. To learn more about the e-pakiT and to watch video overview of this new model visit Bike Friday's e-pakiT page. Tern Celebrates 5th Birthday Tern Bicycles, which now has distribution more than 70 countries and with over 300,000 bikes sold to date, recently celebrated their 5th year in business. “It’s been an amazing journey so far” says Josh Hon, Founder and Team Captain of Tern. “We’re proud to help grow urban cycling, whether by supporting local cycling associations, partnering with municipal transit authorities, or simply designing bikes that people love to ride.” While Tern is often defined as a folding bike company, this birthday marks new directions for the brand. “Going forward," says Hon, "we’re looking to orient the company squarely within the four categories of urban cycling: folding bikes, electric bikes, cargo bikes, and urban lifestyle bikes.” Tern is planning a Bosch powered electric bike (teaser photo shown above) for 2017 release and will make its international debut at Eurobike 2016 in Friedrichshafen, Germany later this year. Bike Friday's New Website Bike Friday recently updated their website and it now features a new sleek modern design that is also mobile friendly. Brothers and Bike Friday co-founders Alan and Hanz Scholz came from a background deep in the bicycle lifestyle and filled with innovation. Hanz Scholz did his landmark trip to Europe with an inexpensive (then state-of-the-art) folding bike. He came back “with a sore butt” and vowed to invent a high quality travel bicycle of his own.The Bike Friday New World Tourist is the bike that started it all in Eugene Oregon in 1992. Bike Fridays are hand built at their factory in Oregon and are custom sized to fit your body perfectly. FUBi Fixie - A Fast folding Full-size Folding Bike Several years ago, FUBi, a Finnish company founded by Ulf Laxström introduced a full-size folding bike with a relatively compact fold but it did require a bit of disassembly to fold it. The original bike has been redesigned with a new patented quick fold frame and will be introduced via a Kickstarter campaign as the "FUBi Fixie". As the name suggests, it is designed as a fixed gear bike though since it uses a flip-flop hub, it can function as a freewheeling single-speed by turning the rear wheel around. The frame will use 4130 chrome molybdenum tubing and keep as much of the traditional diamond frame design as possible. The folded size will be 95x80x35cm (37.4x31.5x13.8in) and if used as a single gear (with freewheel) it will roll on both wheels while folded. Other specs include 700c wheels, Shimano 105 brakes, SRAM S100 crank set with a 170mm 48t chain ring and will weigh-in at 11kg (24.2lbs). Pricing will be competitive at 450-500€ for the bike and 250€ for the frame only. Further details can be found here. Montague Updates Product Line Montague, the largest manufacturer of full-size folding bikes, has updated and refreshed its product line for 2016. New bikes added to the line are the Allston, a high-end commuter bike with a Shimano Alfine 11-speed gear hub and belt drive, the Urban, an affordable 21-speed pavement bike, the Paratrooper Express, an entry level addition to the Paratrooper family, the Paratrooper Highline, a mid-range, and the Paratrooper Elite, a high-end folding mountain bike. Both the Highline and Elite feature 27.5" wheels. All the new bikes as well as previous models now incorporate Montague's DirectConnect folding system (shown in the photo above) that removes the quick release from the top tube creating a sleek look as well as providing stronger clamping between the two halves of the frame. Several models also feature RackStand, a patented cargo rack with a built in fender that rotates under the rear wheel to serve as a kickstand, workstand, and folded bike display. The 2016 Montague folding bicycle product line is quite wide and deep now and spans all price ranges and capabilities for those looking for a full-size folding pavement or mountain bike. The Hummingbird - A 6.5kg Folding Bike The Hummingbird Bike Company, based in the UK, announced the launch of its Kickstarter campaign for its new folding bike, touted as the lightest folding carbon fiber bike in the world. Weighing 6.5 kg, the Hummingbird utilizes a patented folding system that keeps the chain in tension when folded. Entirely designed and made in Britain, the Hummingbird will be offered in two versions: with 16" wheels or 20" wheels, the latter weighing slightly more at 7kg. The Hummingbird will be available either as single speed or 5-speed with 4 color choices: yellow, red, black and raw carbon fiber. Discounted Kickstarter pricing begins at £990 ($1500USD) with expected retail pricing starting at £1550 ($2360USD). Tern Cargo Node - A New Folding Cargo Bike Tern introduced the Cargo Node, a full-sized cargo bike that folds, at Eurobike in Germany. Tern teamed up with Xtracycle to design this longtail cargo bike. Not many specific details were released other than its weight - 24.5kg (54lbs) and cargo capacity - 160kg (352lbs). Tern will launch the Cargo Node during a 30-day campaign on Kickstarter.com in mid-September when more information will be revealed. Kickstarter campaign backers who pledge larger amounts will receive the first Cargo Node bikes that comes off the production line for hundreds less than the eventual retail price. Update - Tern's Kickstarter campaign has begun. Update 2 - The Cargo Node was successfully funded raising $153,638.00 Dahon Introduced the Curl - Again In what has become an almost perennial product announcement, Dahon issued a press release at Eurobike introducing the Curl, again, since it had been displayed at several trade shows around the world in years past. Dahon stated that the Curl would go into mass production for the Spring of 2016 for "test marketing" which sounds like they may be equivocating a bit yet again. Dahon claims that the Curl has taken 16 years of nonstop R D to complete and contains 6 patented technologies. One of which is the “V” coupling of the rear to the front triangles (see photo above). Dahon says this "turns the Curl into a hard-tail bicycle without the bounciness and inefficiency during pedaling notorious for some bikes." Obviously this is a not so subtle swipe at the bike's target competitor, the Brompton, which uses an elastomer suspension block. The Curl will feature 18" wheels as opposed to Brompton's 16" wheels. Time will tell if Dahon finally rolls out the Curl world-wide. Birdy's 20th Anniversary For its 20-year anniversary, Riese Müller unveiled the 3rd generation of the Birdy folding bike. The completely overhauled design focused on making the bike stiffer, lighter and more compact. A criticism of the old Birdy was the chain falling off when folded, now solved by a chain tensioner on the new Birdy. Four new models were introduced, the Birdy City, Birdy Dualdrive, Birdy Speed, and Birdy Rohloff, all include disc brakes, are offered in four colors and range in price from EUR 2,199.00 to EUR 3,499.00. Rounding out the product line is the existing World Birdy, consisting of two models, the World Birdy Sport and World Birdy Comfort. Fat Bad Electric Folding Bike Here's something you don't see everyday, a fat tire folding bike, and an electric one to boot! The Fat Bad from Italy's Bad Bike is touted as the world's first of its kind, which is likely indisputable. Sporting 20"x4" tires, this pedal assisted bike features a 250w drive powered by a 36v Li-Po battery that's good for a 55 to a 70 km range, depending on speed and terrain. A 48V/500-watt version is also available. Gearing consists of a Shimano Altus 7-speed with a Revo shifter. Front and rear Zoom hydraulic brakes are standard. Weighing in at 25kg (55lbs), the portability factor isn't too high but if you need an all-weather, all-terrain commuter bike, this would be it. The 36v/250w version is priced at €1,598 and the 48v/500w model is €1,998. A-bike Redux - Electric Version The original A-bike was invented by Sir Clive Sinclair in the United Kingdom and introduced to the market in 2006. It was a very compact folder that weighed only 5.5 kg (12 lbs). Due to its small 6" wheels, it had a fairly rough ride on uneven terrain. A version with a bit larger 8" wheels, the A-bike City, was introduced later in an attempt to overcome the ride quality issue. Fast forward to today and a Kickstarter campaign has been launched to bring an electric version of the A-bike to market in the fall of 2015. It will feature a detachable lithium battery and a brushless DC motor that is said to give a 15 mile (25 km) range and a top speed of 12.5mph (20km/h). Touted as the "the world's lightest and most compact electric folding bike" it weighs 26lbs (12kg) and has a folded dimension of 8.3" x 15.8" x 27.6" (21cm x 40cm x 70cm). Retail pricing of the A-bike Electric is projected to be £699 / $1089. Target Sports Authority to Carry Folding Bikes Target and Sports Authority have entered into a retailing agreement with Durban Bikes, a Brazilian company, to sell their folding bikes. Target will carry Durban Bikes full line with prices ranging from $249.99 to $499.99 and will feature them with sale pricing during National Bike Month in May. Sports Authority will carry a more limited range of models in select stores across the U.S. Durban Bikes was founded in 2011 in Brazil with offices in Taipei and California. Their current product line consists of seven models - Jump, Metro, Bay Pro, Bay 6, Bay 1, Commuter, and One. Helix - New Crowdfunded Folding Bike Helix, a Canadian bicycle start-up based in Toronto has designed a new titanium folding bike with a novel fold. Starting with a design premise that it should fold down to the most compact size possible (essentially the size of its wheels) it does achieve a fairly compact fold size of just 23"x25"x9". This is with 24" wheels which are larger than most compact folding bikes. For comparison, a Brompton, widely considered to be one of the most compact folders, folds down to 23"x21.5"x10.6" but is uses 16" wheels, considerably smaller than those on the Helix. As one would expect, the use of titanium does result in a fairly lightweight bike - 21 lbs or 9.5 kg. The bike has a 9-speed gear train, disc brakes, and employs a patent pending locking mechanism with a secondary safety. Due to the fact that the fold isn't in the main frame, this should allow for a more solid feel to the ride. Helix will be coming to Kickstarter soon with an opportunity to order at a price starting at $1199 USD. Update - Helix's Kickstarter campaign was one of the most successful bicycle funding campaigns ever - raising over $1.7 million USD! Dahon Announcements - Eurobike 2014 Dahon made quite a few product announcements to coincide with Eurobike 2014. New for the 2015 product line will be the Clinch (shown above), the Qix, the EEZZ 3-speed, the Ciao Electric, and at long last, the Curl. The Curl has been in development for several years and has been available in China but it will finally get wider distribution. The Curl is Dahon's answer to the Brompton as they are very similar in the way they fold and in the compactness of the fold. A video of these new bikes follow below. Also announced was the doubling in size of manufacturing facilities in China, due to a growth rate of 15-20% per year over the last five years, and the entrance into the traditional full-size bicycle market which will include Ford branded bikes through a partnership with the Ford Motor Company. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of one of the most iconic folding bikes ever made, Graziella has produced a special edition version with a 24-carat gold plated frame and walnut burl powder-coated varnish trim. Conceived by noted Italian designer Rinaldo Donzelli and introduced in 1964, the Graziella became synonymous with folding bikes since it was the first one most people had ever seen before and they were exported to dozens of countries. Many are still ridden to this day.Brigitte Bardot helped bring notoriety to the bike by starring in an advertising campaign proclaiming Graziella, The Rolls Royce of Brigitte Bardot . Salvador Dali was known to ride a Graziella as well. The bike's simple U-shaped design inspired many other copycat folding bikes that proliferated in the 1970's. While the special edition is not for sale, an updated homage to the original can be purchased for 699.00 . One of the new models is named the Brigitte another the Salvador in honor of these two famous folding cyclists who helped popularize the original Graziella. Bike Intermodal Announces Folding Bike Prototype Bike Intermodal, a European Union funded project to study the multi-modal integration of cycling mobility, has developed a new folding bike prototype that weighs as little as 7.5kg (16.5lbs) and folds down to a size of 50 cm x 40 cm x 15 cm. The bicycle is designed with a pre-stressed frame that opens and closes like an aircraft landing gear made of die cast aluminum or magnesium and sailing-grade cables. The bike is also designed to accommodate an electric assist motor. More IFMove Nominated by the Design Museum The IFMove folding bike from Pacific Cycles was nominated as the Design of the Year in the transport category by the Design Museum in London. A previous Red Dot Award winner, the IFMove has 20 wheels, disc brakes, 9-speeds, weighs 11.8kg (26lbs) and retails for $1930.00. The Most Compact Folding Bike? FUBi, a Finnish company, has designed what it claims to be the world's most compact, full-sized foldable bicycle. This was achieved by having the bike's tube frame components all fold as parallel to each other as possible. With the design finished, FUBi has launched an Indiegogo campaign to put the bike into production in both aluminum and titanium. The Kwiggle Bike, seen below, claims (unverified) to currently be the world's most compact small-wheeled folding bike. Return of the MicroBike? Innovations are exactly what the word says, new things and functions. Often this creates a problem for the inventor with the ambition to become an entrepreneur. It is not unusual that it may take many years or even decades for others to adopt, especially if the innovation seeks to alter the behavior of the customer. Now the inventors behind the MicroBike, invented 1986, feel that the timing may be good for its revival. Between 1987 and 1993, they manufactured and sold some 16,000 MicroBikes in Europe, USA, Japan and other markets. The reason for contemplating a revival is that they are getting more and more contacts from people still using their MicroBike and those people meet other people that also want to buy one. The special thing with the MicroBike is that it was invented and designed exclusively to optimize a person's transport with buses, trams and the subway. This takes special considerations which resulted in an unconventional design to allow extremely quick folding and unfolding and to allow the user to sit in a seat with the bike. It is also quite effective for use with trains and cars. For those interested in seeing a revival of the MicroBike, pay a visit to www.microbike.se and let them know that you want one. New French Folder The French bicycle company B'TWIN recently introduced a new folding bike called the Tilt. The Tilt features an innovative patented folding mechanism, in-frame headlight and a belt drive. As can be seen in the video above, the bike folds very quickly and they tout it as the one second bike . The Tilt comes in 3 models and 8 colors ranging in price from 399.95 to 699.95 . Older Posts

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