Yep, you’re reading and seeing that right… Hong Kong-based innovators Ram Air Fairing (RAF, but not that RAF) will soon be starting a crowdfunding campaign for its ‘Pioneering Bike Backpack’ that is designed to reduce drag and enhance safety. “Say goodbye to cumbersome gear and hello to effortless cycling with our lightweight solution”, boast the enthusiastic founders.
The Pioneering Bike Backpack, that as far as we can tell isn’t actually designed to carry anything, is described as “a one-of-a-kind accessory that sets you apart on the road”, and aesthetically we’ve certainly never seen anything quite like it. Why else should you back this backpack on Kickstarter, then?
> Where are they now? The best, worst and wackiest cycling crowdfunders
“Our backpack’s efficiency is unparalleled, meticulously engineered to elevate your speed on the road”, says RAF.
“By significantly reducing air drag, you’ll effortlessly slice through the wind, propelling yourself towards your personal best with ease.”
As far as we can see there are no claims on how much “air drag” you might save yourself, not that that’s stopped plenty of cycling brands in the past…
Inspired by a desire to improve cycling aerodynamics, RAF’s founder, a professional paraglider, sought to merge the principles of paragliding with cycling to reduce resistance and elevate the riding experience (hopefully that doesn’t mean cyclists wearing the Pioneering Bike Backpack will be taking off into the sky).
RAF continues: “This innovative backpack is designed to increase speed by reducing air drag, ultimately minimising padding force and optimising your performance on the road!”
…but that’s not all.
RAF also claims that the Pioneering Bike Backpack enhances safety with integrated airbag protection. It certainly does look like a comfier landing than most backpacks, but we’ll have to see how it handles in crosswinds before verifying the safety claims.
The claimed weight is 299g, which perhaps isn’t surprising as most of it is simply air. The dimensions of the backpack are 95 x 35 x 65cm, or roughly the same size as a large kitchen bin for reference… and to ensure your kitchen bin-sized aero backpack looks as stylish as possible, you can match it to your kit in either white, blue or black colourways.
Since the Pioneering Bike Backpack doesn’t appear to function as a traditional storage item and alters the rider’s body shape, we’re anticipating that it will fall foul of the UCI’s technical regulations, so it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing a RAF in the pro peloton any time soon.
Article 1.3.033 says: “Items of clothing may not modify the morphology of the rider and any non-essential element or device, of which the purpose is not exclusively that of clothing or protection, is forbidden. This shall also apply regarding any material or substance applied onto the skin or clothing and which is not itself an item of clothing.”
So, will it really work?
While the idea of airflow staying attached to you for longer is well documented and invariably a successful way of decreasing drag on the bike, RAF doesn’t provide any wind tunnel data or specific performance metrics for the Pioneering Bike Backpack. While wind tunnel testing can be expensive, the lack of concrete details makes it difficult to assess the actual impact of the backpack’s performance claims.
In response to the FAQ about how much faster you can go with the backpack on its website, RAF provides a vague answer: “Our air-filled backpack is engineered to slash air drag, boosting your speed and optimising your cycling performance for a noticeable difference.”
Even if it does work, the appearance could be off-putting for some based off some comments we’ve seen around social media so far. But who are we to judge?
Unfortunately we don’t have pricing information yet, and would struggle to even make an educated guess… so we’ll update you when the crowdfunder goes live instead.
For more info go to Kickstarter or ramairfairing.com, and do let us know what you think of this creation in the comments below.
67 thoughts on “An air-filled cycling backpack to “reduce drag and “enhance safety” is about to hit Kickstarter”
All those product claims are
All those product claims are just hot air.
The are certainly inflated.
The are certainly inflated.
Not once in the video do
Not once in the video do either of them use the drops
Big aero much fastly moar science!
As an aside it’s actually
As an aside it’s actually considered more aero to stay on the hoods and lean down nowadays rather than using the drops, because the horizontal forearms in the hoods position create less frontal area than the more vertical forearms in the drops.
Which is great for all of
Which is great for all of about 10 minutes until your triceps are burning and you need to switch to the drops for a rest.
Finally a perfectly shaped
Finally a perfectly shaped backpack for when I go shopping for fine china and then want to visit the house of cards building championship. Maybe I’ll go visit the domino toppling exhibition as well.
Do you think they’d make a custom painted one that might look a little bit like a squirrel tail?
Didn’t your SaddleSpur arrive
Didn’t your SaddleSpur arrive yet?
chrisonabike wrote:
I’m waiting for their haemorrhoid-friendly design first.
I reckon that backpack might be really useful for Triathlons. Jump in the water wearing one of those and all the other competitors will think there’s a shark.
No. Just no.
No. Just no.
Emily, I think this press
Emily, I think this press release might have been embargoed until 1 April.
“Say goodbye to cumbersome gear”!
“sought to merge the principles of paragliding with cycling to reduce resistance”. I would have thought the para element in para gliding is designed to increase air resistance (at least in one direction), no?
Too much mirth! Absolute
Too much mirth! Absolute Black and RAF in one day?!
I sent Absolute Black a pic
I sent Absolute Black a pic of myself wearing the RAF pack. They invited me to buy fifty of their exclusive Ti pulley cages at only £839 each. Who’s laughing now, suckers!
It fills with air. So how
It fills with air. So how much of its ‘aero’ gains are lost by it acting as a parachute?
I suppose it’s probably
I suppose it’s probably cheaper than a faired recumbent, but if you want to reduce drag and don’t care about UCI rules, that still seems a better answer.
If you go over your handlebars and land on your back, it does look as if it will provide a soft landing.
There have been a few “faired
There have been a few “faired – but with a sock to save weight / cost compared to velomobile” production recumbents. Off top of my head:
The UK Kingcycle – came with a fibreglass tail box and you could get a front fairing (I only had the former). If you’d both you could also get a sock which fit over them to fair you. Although as they were usually yellow the main effect was to make you look like a two-wheeled banana.
The US Lightning – p-38 usual model had an F40 variant – fast, fish-shaped and frightening: https://www.lightningbikes.com/f40/index.html
Hase of Germany produce delta trikes which can mount a fabric fairing. More of a leg-poncho this though. https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/recumbents/hase/foldable-fairing/
I’ve designed a perpetual
I’ve designed a perpetual motion bicycle, just pedal it once and it keeps going forever. I anticipate much profit: from crowdfunding gullibles mainly.
eburtthebike wrote:
You are ET (ETthebike?) and I claim my £5.
I do hope it features L
I do hope it features L shaped cranks and indicators!
Without a sgnificant gust of
Without a sgnificant gust of wind, that’s a product that’s never going to take off.
How can you say that, the
How can you say that, the designer is a keen paraglider!
I wouldn’t be caught dead
I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that thing, but you all go ahead, which I know people are going to embrace it like other things cycling world came out with that was nuts.
We seem to have overlooked the elephant in the room, on even mild days your back is going to sweat like crazy, not to mention on hot days, and what about freezing temps?
Freezing? Just add some
Freezing? Just add some feathers and you’ve a massive down jacket!
Too hot? Just add ice cubes.
The other elephant: sidewinds
The other elephant: sidewinds? There’s a local lake crossing near me with a bike path that regularly sees massive wind gusts, anyone wearing this would be flying with the seagulls before streaking across the lake with the kite surfers.
Silly.
Silly.
What a load of…
What a load of…
It’s not April!
It’s not April!
It might work, or it might
It might work, or it might not. Unfortunately without any evidence the claims are baseless. I was wondering how it will be affected by sidewinds. Perhaps it deflates and so has no impact.
“Also quite stylist” is completely subjective. They can claim this but the proof will be in the sales.
If it makes the rider more aerodiynamic, will it be less advantageous to draft someone wearing one of these?
Pub bike wrote:
Probably quite a big advantage to be had by drafting someone that’s wearing one and just grab hold of it for a free pull-along
The answer, my friend, is
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
Utter nonsense. It’ll all
Utter nonsense. It’ll all blow over soon enough.
I mean just no.
I mean just no.
Unless it works and then everyone will be after them.
Everyone seems to be missing
Everyone seems to be missing the main question here – what’s the optimum PSI to inflate it to?
And even more importantly:
And even more importantly: what colour valve cap?
Oil slick.
Oil slick.
I’m going to say it needs to
I’m going to say it needs to be higher than that flimsy thing can take.
Even on the video you can see the material billowing as they ride which has to equaly more, not less drag. It needs to be pretty much rigid to provide any decent benefit.
Yeah – should have got
Yeah – should have got themselves e.g. a Nazca Fuego (now sadly discontinued).
If these catch on, there will
If these catch on, there will be a rash of cheating allegations that some are filling them with helium.
I expect to see these en
I expect to see these en masse at next years’ TDF in which they all experience ‘accidental’ rapid deflation from a rearward facing ‘puncture’ during the sprint finish.
As a bike courier I had a
As a bike courier I had a left hand turning car cross my path while I was roaring on a call. As I flipped endover in the air I felt my bag, a full-sized backcountry backpack I rode with which was fairly empty that day I felt it inflate catching the wind and I landed on it flat on my back, felt my heels connect with the tarmac the air push out from my pack then the back of my head held by the straps as my helmet split in half. My bike was trashed. I lost some cash and my knee was smashed.
On my other bike the next day
Freaking cop told me no charges to be laid and no insurance info for me as the driver was from the States and “didn’t know”.
Laz wrote:
Or maybe the motorist
worked for one of the three letter agencieshad diplomatic immunity?If it was a standard beat
If it was a standard beat /station cop, they tend to know next to nothing about traffic policing.
You would most likely get a much more sensible outcome submitting a video (if you have one) to the online traffic offence reporting portal
They should have done better
They should have done better research: Spinosaurus also had a long tail and was most likely grey/green/brown. In order to replicate that past time beast accurately this aerosaurus halloween costume is also missing an inflatable 15″ snout that attaches to the helmet.
A pack of these Velo
A pack of these Velo-ciraptors coming round the corner will have people dying (of laughter).
A 10 Euro version could be
A 10 Euro version could be useful for the Dutch commuter market (headwinds both ways on a very upright bike)? Just deflate it when you get to work. Apparently you do see the odd Omafiets with tri-bars to deal with this.
Colleague of mine commutes by
Colleague of mine commutes by bike from Zoetermeer most days…with aero bars on his city bike
I doubt this provides
I doubt this provides positive aerodynamic benefits.
I almost spat my tea out when
I almost spat my tea out when the video said ‘also quite stylish’ 😀
HLaB wrote:
Same!! Here’s the link to the sweet spot, to save a lot of cringey preamble and get straight to the goods!
https://youtu.be/ZDozUXTGHHs&t=71
When standing upright the
When standing upright the wearer looks like an insect
I had a look on their website
I had a look on their website. They claim to have a large number of 5* Trustpilot reviews, but when I look on Trustpilot they haven’t got any reviews at all…
I’m not even clear how they
I’m not even clear how they could have any reviews, given that they appear to have one product that hasn’t even launched yet. ?♂️
They can’t, and they don’t.
They can’t, and they don’t. But I am pretty sure this more a “Yes Men” style fake thing, albeit with a less political agenda, to perhaps make fun of the “aero is everything” trend, than an actual scam.
It’s a scam. One way or
It’s a scam. One way or another it’s a scam – if they make it, they’re scamming idiots; if they take kickstarter funding and run with the money, they’re scamming idiots.
Put a flashing light inside a
Put a flashing light inside a light coloured one and I suppose it’d help visibility. But you’d still look a bit of a twonk wearing one, so no thanks.
Could look quite nice I’d
Could look quite nice I’d have thought?
If you pump it up to 90psi
If you pump it up to 90psi and 50m from the line pull the plug to give you an extra boost, is that cheating?
eburtthebike wrote:
Only if you fill it with acrid smoke so that nobody behind you can see or breathe
Would love to see someone
Would love to see someone turn up at our Tuesday chain gang with that on.
Pretty sure that it is not safe.
Agreed, my memory’s flagging
Agreed, my memory’s flagging something about bouncy castles blowing away in the wind?
As if we needed more reasons
As if we needed more reasons to have the pi$$ taken out of us!
Has anyone posted this, yet?
Has anyone posted this, yet?
Put me more in mind of…
Put me more in mind of…
5th picture down cracks me up
5th picture down cracks me up looks like some kind of cyber shark cosplay crap ?….
I only have two questions well three, why? Just why and how flammable?? ?
Born_peddling wrote:
Depends if you go with the helium filling someone else suggested, or with hydrogen instead.
WTF were they thinking.
WTF were they thinking.
It’s not April the 1st yet is
It’s not April the 1st yet is it.
I had to check my calendar
I had to check my calendar too…