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Any thoughts on the enclosure? It seems to me that making it enclosed defeats some of the most significant benefits to a bicycle: compactness. Once something

by mchusma 14y ago

Any thoughts on the enclosure? It seems to me that making it enclosed defeats some of the most significant benefits to a bicycle: compactness. Once something gets over the "too big for a bike rack or my apartment" threshold, you run into parking problems. Also, with its size, you can't go around traffic. Despite showing this on sidewalks, I would anticipate that you in practice couldn't do it that often. It would be highly irritating to me as a pedestrian. So I do love it because it is cheap & electric. I like that because it is so large and the range is short enough to be concerning, plugging it in would be a pain and the solar cells solve that. I don't love it because it is not a bicycle replacement, it is a car replacement with short range and little space. This is because expensive enough to be a considered purchase (the price of a 2005 Hyundai Elantra) and large enough that it needs identical parking/road space. The niche for this is seems to be people in suburban areas who live within a few miles of frequent destinations and want to bike but not really. I love that people are trying to reinvent transportation, and if this is a really niche cool thing, that's great. I would be curious to see if anyone thinks that could have broad appeal.

stephengillie 14y ago
It can't even do 25mph. That's a deal breaker for most car users, especially when it costs as much as a used car. This idea feels more like "How far can we extend a bicycle?" than "How can we make a smaller, cheaper, better way for people to transport themselves?"
- stcredzero 14y ago
  At 25mph, it would fill the same sort of niche that golf carts fill in some retirement communities. Although, there are compelling arguments for reorganizing large parts of metropolitan areas with 25mph streets. Apparently, traffic fatalities go down and pedestrian traffic goes up. > I don't love it because it is not a bicycle replacement, it is a car replacement with short range and little space. It is not a replacement for car or bicycle. It's an attempt at an intermediate niche.
- benajnim 14y ago
  This is unfortunately a federal restriction on electrically assisted bicycles. The motor cuts off at 20 mph, the driver can peddle faster than this but the electric assist is only for the low speed range.
at-fates-hands 14y ago
" It seems to me that making it enclosed defeats some of the most significant benefits to a bicycle: compactness. Once something gets over the "too big for a bike rack or my apartment" threshold, you run into parking problems" This was my first thought. Also, if you can't ride on the sidewalk, it's way too big and slow to be in normal traffic. I'm sure it would irk the hell out of people driving cars as well. A lose/lose proposition if you ask me.
bryanlarsen 14y ago
The rendering on the original article doesn't convey it well, but it is compact. It's about as wide as a football player's shoulders. The enclosure makes it look a lot wider than a person on a normal bicycle, but it really isn't much different. So this is actually an advantage: one of the problems with bicycles is that car drivers underestimate just how wide a person on a bicycle really is and how much room they need. The wheels might be skinny, but add a body and handlebars, and it becomes much wider.
Someone 14y ago
If you click through to http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/16/2545386/hobbit-sized-elf-cycle-ready-to.html http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/16/2545386/hobbit-sized-..., you see that that article does not show it from its most flattering angle. It also seems to show a 'cargo' variant. That second photo shows something similar to bike taxis like http://www.tourpress.nl/materials/pers_images/090114_090114_vakantiebeurs_neckermann_fietstaxi.jpg http://www.tourpress.nl/materials/pers_images/090114_090114_... However, I do not see the benefit of having on-board solar. It means you need a square meter or so of horizontal area 'high up' to put it on, and that makes for a fairly large enclosure. I would keep the solar part stationary (that is: separate from the bicycle). That allows for lighter, better streamlined designs. For examples, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile or at http://en.velomobiel.nl/fietsen/ http://en.velomobiel.nl/fietsen/ Also, 20 miles per hour, to me, is asking for trouble, especially in the USA. In the Netherlands, where car drivers are way more familiar with cyclists in traffic, 'power assist' bikes are limited to delivering power up to 25kph (around 15 miles per hour), for safety concerns (there is pressure from recumbent bike enthousiasts to increase that speed, but AFAIK that is not going anywhere at the moment, as bikes that go 20mph by themselves get close in speed to small motorbikes, which require helmets and a driver's license)

by mchusma 14y ago

stephengillie 14y ago

It can't even do 25mph. That's a deal breaker for most car users, especially when it costs as much as a used car. This idea feels more like "How far can we extend a bicycle?" than "How can we make a smaller, cheaper, better way for people to transport themselves?"

stcredzero 14y ago
At 25mph, it would fill the same sort of niche that golf carts fill in some retirement communities. Although, there are compelling arguments for reorganizing large parts of metropolitan areas with 25mph streets. Apparently, traffic fatalities go down and pedestrian traffic goes up. > I don't love it because it is not a bicycle replacement, it is a car replacement with short range and little space. It is not a replacement for car or bicycle. It's an attempt at an intermediate niche.
benajnim 14y ago
This is unfortunately a federal restriction on electrically assisted bicycles. The motor cuts off at 20 mph, the driver can peddle faster than this but the electric assist is only for the low speed range.

at-fates-hands 14y ago

" It seems to me that making it enclosed defeats some of the most significant benefits to a bicycle: compactness. Once something gets over the "too big for a bike rack or my apartment" threshold, you run into parking problems" This was my first thought. Also, if you can't ride on the sidewalk, it's way too big and slow to be in normal traffic. I'm sure it would irk the hell out of people driving cars as well. A lose/lose proposition if you ask me.

bryanlarsen 14y ago

The rendering on the original article doesn't convey it well, but it is compact. It's about as wide as a football player's shoulders. The enclosure makes it look a lot wider than a person on a normal bicycle, but it really isn't much different. So this is actually an advantage: one of the problems with bicycles is that car drivers underestimate just how wide a person on a bicycle really is and how much room they need. The wheels might be skinny, but add a body and handlebars, and it becomes much wider.

Someone 14y ago

If you click through to http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/16/2545386/hobbit-sized-elf-cycle-ready-to.html http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/16/2545386/hobbit-sized-..., you see that that article does not show it from its most flattering angle. It also seems to show a 'cargo' variant. That second photo shows something similar to bike taxis like http://www.tourpress.nl/materials/pers_images/090114_090114_vakantiebeurs_neckermann_fietstaxi.jpg http://www.tourpress.nl/materials/pers_images/090114_090114_... However, I do not see the benefit of having on-board solar. It means you need a square meter or so of horizontal area 'high up' to put it on, and that makes for a fairly large enclosure. I would keep the solar part stationary (that is: separate from the bicycle). That allows for lighter, better streamlined designs. For examples, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile or at http://en.velomobiel.nl/fietsen/ http://en.velomobiel.nl/fietsen/ Also, 20 miles per hour, to me, is asking for trouble, especially in the USA. In the Netherlands, where car drivers are way more familiar with cyclists in traffic, 'power assist' bikes are limited to delivering power up to 25kph (around 15 miles per hour), for safety concerns (there is pressure from recumbent bike enthousiasts to increase that speed, but AFAIK that is not going anywhere at the moment, as bikes that go 20mph by themselves get close in speed to small motorbikes, which require helmets and a driver's license)