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news
Halfbike 1Video: Halfbike, "a new type of personal vehicle" seeks funding on Kickstarter
Currently looking for funding on Kickstarter, here’s Halfbike, a short-distance urban bike that’s one of the more, erm, intriguing crowdsourcing pitches we’ve seen.
The invention of architect Martin Angelov, Halfbike is a seatless, short-wheelbase pedal-powered trike that you steer by leaning. Martin says it’s intended for short urban rides - between the office and the train, for example — and the idea is that it’s compact enough that you can take it on the train easily, and then get it in the lift up to your office.
It’s rather like a pedal-powered Segway, though Martin clearly hopes it will be used by more than just mall ninjas.
On Halfbike’s Kickstarter page, Martin says: “It all started from my passion to optimize things that surround me and my love for bicycles. I started sketching different concepts for a simplified bike and soon reached a point where I needed to test these concepts in real life.
“For some of the early prototypes I used old bicycles and parts I found at the attic. I was amazed how well people reacted to the idea and that made me want to keep up. Along the process other people were drawn into the project creating a small team.
“After further development and experiments with various rider positions followed by even more prototypes, the desired level of control was finally achieved. What we have now is a patent pending new type of personal vehicle ready for the market.”
Martin is looking for $80,000 and with 28 days to go $24,234 has been pledged, most of it from the 25 people who have signed up to get themselves a Halfbike for $799.
Here's the Kickstarter video:
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 5 hours 15 min ago
Thank goodness for that. I don't suppose anyone would want you to. You certainly behave like one though.
- Eton Rifle 5 hours 23 min ago
You do see some utterly ridiculous examples of car use....
- Eton Rifle 5 hours 45 min ago
Exactly. Every road death is a tragedy but this is at the "twat deserved it" end of the spectrum, looking at the state of that car.
- Rendel Harris 5 hours 53 min ago
I'm not the editor of this article, nor indeed of anything on this website. One would have thought that didn't require explaining.
- Eton Rifle 5 hours 53 min ago
I think the answer is in your question. I genuinely didn't know he was married to her. It does kinda explain it. Disappointing, nevertheless.
- Daclu Trelub 10 hours 38 min ago
In a perfect world, we'd have a measure of how easily distracted someone is, as part of their driving test....
- Sredlums 11 hours 6 min ago
These products are nothing but ridiculously expensive and superfluous, and they bring nothing but bragging rights....
- Daclu Trelub 11 hours 25 min ago
Of course they are, and not so different. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B662CDN?crid=34M42BETAMFT0&th=1 The bugger's got four versions up now!
- squidgy 11 hours 42 min ago
At least the van driver was nowhere near the stationary cyclist.
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18 comments
500 quid?! For that? They must be mad.
Is it possible to do a sharp turn on this, such as turning left at a traffic light controlled cross-roads?
Is that a couple of planks that are holding the hand grip on?
Very IKEA...maybe it should be called a BIKEA
...goes and checks patents office/kickstarter funding rules...
And my pet hate - people wearing hoods to cycle (or drive). Worse than mobile phones, in my opinion.
Shouldn't half a bike be called an "Ike"?
More accurately it's a bi, a ke or my favourite; an ik.
It is in fact a trike, just like my first one which I had at 2 years of age and which was driven by the front wheel without gearing.
Intriguing design, although unless I'm missing the point it looks like it doesn't fold so you've got a something that won't ride like a folding bike and won't fit in the luggage space on the train?
I'm also worried that if you had one you would have to weave from side to side all the time.....
I doubt that Segways would have ever made it big, but Segway has never had a chance to take off in the UK because it is illegal to use them on public roads or public pavements, thus they will only ever be a novelty act in center parcs or the like.
...The review for the Halfbike was merely a two word review which simply read "shit bike"....
Fantastic, something that may finally help me get my long planned staged production of Chorlton & The Wheelies off the ground.
You, Sir/Madame, win The Internet.
With the CoG so high and far forward, the braking performance must be terrible. The slightest application of brakes and you'll go over the front wheel.
An excellent point!
It would appear that due to this severe flaw in the concept, the brake may work on the tiny wheels at the back. We all know how effective rear brakes are at speed.
For urban cycling, this thing seems to have all the disadvantages of a unicycle (braking distance, learning to ride a new thing), a folding bike (less efficient, small wheels are less comfortale), a kids tricycle (looks daft, tiny wheels fall into the smallest potholes), a bmx/trials bike (nowhere to sit) and a road bike (can't fit it on busy trains).
I can't think of a single advantage that this thing offers over any one of those bikes.
Quite happy to see someone try new ideas though. I just wouldn't consider spending any money on this particular one!
If I really want something smaller than my Brommie and faster than my feet I'll take my inline roller skates. They cost me rather less...
no. No. NO.
Apart from as a toy for hoodies in parks, no.
I defer to people with a much better grasp of human physiology, but fundamentally we either run or sit down and cycle. When we stand for very brief periods, we lean forwards and brace with both arms. This just looks an awful, unholy mess of trying to support your weight and press down on the pedals and steer all at once.
There's a reason Segways have not taken off, and this compounds all the bad while adding nothing good. We already solved the bikes-on-public-transport thing two decades ago - it's called a Brompton. And you don't have to learn anything to use one.
...oh, and when your Kickstarter video has to resort to waffle for 95% of its duration - that's a hint that your idea might not be as clear/good as you think it is.
I was thinking the same thing. The reason cycling is so efficient is because the mass of the body is being supported allowing the leg and lower back muscles to work as efficiently as possible.
What will the 'bike-fit' industry do if this takes off?
Absolutely ruthless with that comment but 100% spot on. Pretty pointless idea and for not many more notes you can buy yourself a pretty nice entry level road bike and have much more fun riding for miles and miles...
Humm, isn't the point of the Segway that you don't take any exercise... ?
Looks like fun but I'd love to know how he came up with £480 for the price.