The ThisWay concept bicycle is based on ideas Swedish designer Torkel Dohmers had during years of commuting by bicycle in big European cities.The ThisWay bicycle is a comfortable pedal powered bicycle with weather protection. Emphasis is made on automotive qualities in the design, to attract non-previous cyclists more used to cars and motorcycles.
Fabricated from composite materials, carbon or flax fibre, makes the vehicle very lightweight. It has built-in LED lights front and rear, powered by a rechargeable battery and obtains its power from roof mounted solar cells. For minimum maintenance ThisWay's built-in belt drive is well protected and all cables are hidden within the frame.
The car-like ergonomics offers a riding position lower than a traditional bike to keep a low centre of gravity and optimal aerodynamics. The design has simple controls for ease of use; single hand brake lever and Torpedo Duomatic hub gears providing low and high gearing. The rear of the frame has a "luggage connector", where the user plugs-in his/her luggage such as the office briefcase, helmet box or a rack for shopping bags. The design also benefits from flexibility and comfort for riders of different sizes, as the crankset and seat is adjustable in length and height.
A "hybrid" version (pedal power/electric motor) will assist in hills and additional battery packs can be plugged-in into the luggage connector to extend the range further. Although this design is more expensive to manufacture compared to its traditional rivals, it is still just a fraction of the price of a car and virtually zero running costs.
There are roofed bikes on the market already such as rickshaws, recumbents, HPVs (Human Powered Vehicles)/velomobiles, etc., so covered bikes are not new but the challenge is to design a functional and desirable bicycle that even appeals to non-cyclists.
It makes sense for a commuter bike to offer some degree of weather protection for improved comfort. Instead of creating a totally enclosed design similar to other HPVs/velomobiles and running the risk of making the user feel isolated, a more open design will allow a higher degree of interaction with the surroundings. This bike gives the user a feel of "owning the street".
The ThisWay concept recently won a design competition at bicycledesign.blogspot.com. The judges remarked that, "Overall, out of all the entries, “ThisWay” was the concept that most of us on the jury felt was “different enough to be a 'paradigm shift' from, and an alternative to, existing bikes.”
Visit: http://www.redtop.se/
Show/Hide comment form
