After posting news of the Enicycle a few days ago, here comes another personal transportation device that purports to solve the issue of urban mobility. It’s called the YikeBike and is essentially a folding electric bicycle with a design reminiscent of the high wheelers of old (also known as Penny-Farthings). It’s powered by a 1 kW battery and can accelerate up to 20 kph (about 12 mph) with a range of 7 to 8 km (or about 5 miles) on a 30 minute charge. Made from carbon fiber, it weighs in just under 22lbs and with practice can be folded up and stashed in a bag in about 15 seconds.
There are working pre-production models and the first 100 orders should be delivered in “early to mid 2010″. But at €3,500-€3,900 (~ $5,500), you might as well get a Segway.
Hit the jump for a few videos of the YikeBike in action and a gallery.
Or on top of, rather. The EniCycle is an a prototype self-stabilizing unicycle from Slovenian inventor Aleksander Polutnik. Featuring a three-hour battery, gyroscope and a spring damper, Polutnik claims a 30 minute learning curve. The video we’ve embedded after the jump shows UK “The Gadget Show” Ortiz Deley learning to ride the device. Within a few minutes he’s not falling off and actually steering.
Looks like some kind of fun, but sadly this isn’t a production device unless (like so many things) Polutnik finds some funding to market it. There are currently only two models he built himself.
I have my doubts the Shweeb will become the defacto standard for transportation in crowded cities, but as an alternative to cars and even bikes, it does have some merit. Each capsule holds a single rider who has to pedal in order to get from point A to point B, and besides the whole eco-friendly aspect of not relying on a motor or electricity, the Shweeb is actually faster than a bike. And since you’re suspended from a rail on a set path, you’re free to make phone calls or check your email without the worry of having an accident.
In a practical sense, setting up a network of rails to accommodate single riders all going to different places is a logistical nightmare, which is why the Shweeb only exists as an amusement park ride at the Agroventures Adventure Park in Rotorua, New Zealand. And if you happen to find yourself in their neighborhood while visiting your Kiwi pals, a 3-lap ride around their course will set you back about US $30.
I never thought I’d ever want to go back to school again, but the captains-in-training at the Warsash Maritime Academy in England have to start out on these amazing supertanker replicas before they ever get the chance to pilot the real thing. And with a price tag of over $240,000, you’re actually better off strapping a lawn chair to the RC Titanic replica I wrote about on the weekend, then trying to buy one of these for your own amusement. But replicas or not, apparently piloting these miniature supertankers can provide plenty of useful experience for the real thing, without the fear of causing the next Exxon Valdez disaster because you spent the night before your big exam partying.
I would have never considered riding a Vespa or any kind of scooter to be an ‘extreme’ activity, but apparently all you have to do is remove the seat and you’ll end up with something like the Standbike Board which appears to be an easy way to make the evening news. (In a bad way.) Powered by a 250 ccm Aprilia engine, the Standbike has a top speed of about 87 mph and it provides a unique riding experience since without a seat you need to use your whole body to brace and balance during acceleration, braking and cornering. Not surprisingly the Standbike isn’t street legal and is designed to be enjoyed on a closed track with plenty of safety gear, but there is a seat accessory that can be easily attached allowing it be used like a regular scooter on public roads.
At the moment the Standbike isn’t quite available to the public, but if you’re interested there’s a no obligation sign-up form on the company’s website and applications will eventually be filled based on the order in which they were received.
It’s not actually powered by steam in any way, and according to the creator ‘bdring‘ it can’t really turn very well, but if you’ve been looking for an extremely cheap DIY alternative to the Segway, head on over to Instructables where you’ll find everything you need to build your very own Legway. It’s even eco-friendly since there’s no emissions (unless you count sweat) and the original model pictured above was constructed from mostly found materials.
From what I’ve seen, the large wheels on the Segway are capable of maneuvering over most terrain, but there’s clearly a reason why humans have legs and feet instead of wheels. So a bunch of students from the University of Louisiana decided to build their own Segway, called the Cajun Crawler, that uses a bunch of short legs underneath the platform to move about. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it fast, in the video below the Cajun Crawler does move a lot quicker than I thought it would.
And if the walking mechanism used by those legs seems familiar, it’s because the Cajun Crawler was actually inspired by Theo Jansen’s kinetic walking sculpture that wanders the beaches of Holland.
Bicycle sharing programs, where you grab a bike at one locale, ride it to your destination, and then return it to another, are not uncommon in large urban areas. But sometimes a non-human powered mode of transport is preferred, and the ‘Link’ Urban Scooter System is just that, finding itself somewhere between bike sharing and renting a car. The ‘hubs’ can be mounted to existing light poles, which are already secure and wired for power, and each one contains 4 collapsible electric scooters that can be borrowed and used for short trips around the city.
Users would have to pre-register with the program in order to gain access to the scooters, and they’d also be issued a mandatory helmet which would have to be worn at all times. Clearly the guy in the photo montage above is NOT a registered user.
The ‘Link’ Urban Scooter System concept was created by Anton Grimes, a student at the University of New South Wales, as part of the Australian International Design Awards. But it also suits Sydney’s 2030 plan to reduce the amount of cars in the city and make it more pedestrian-friendly.
The Monowheel has never come across as the safest looking mode of transportation to me, but shrink them down so they’re small enough to wear on each foot and you’ve got my attention. That’s what a company called Inventist did with the Orbitwheels, which they were showing off at this year’s Toy Fair. While they look like a monowheel crossed with a pair of inline skates, riding them is apparently more akin to being on a skateboard, though to propel yourself you have to make an ’s-pattern’ type movement with your feet. Now I’m not sure if Orbitwheels can be considered a safer alternative to skates or a deck, but the long warning scroll at the beginning of this instructional video doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in me.
But if a skinned knee or a shattered wrist is a small price to pay for a new adventure, you can order a pair of Orbitwheels from the Inventist website for $119.95.
Related Tags: Electric Bike, Transportation
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