It seems like you can’t swing a dead 26 inch wheel without hitting a new a new take on the conventional two wheeler these days. We’ve seen some crazy stuff that makes me wonder if they even bothered asking one other person if it was a good idea, while others make me smack my forehead and say, why didn’t I think of that? Along those lines, the Halfbike is out there for sure – but just how far out is the question.
Scoot past the break to see how the Halfbike works and if it could become your better half…..
I took the name… “Half Bike” and did some calculations: Though you can’t “scoot” it, it does have scooter ergonomics so I’ll give it 25% scooter. It has three wheels, which kinda makes it a TRIke vs. BIke, (semantics I know, but…), so I’ll give it 12.5% trike, and because it uses a somewhat of a skateboard “truck” out back, I’ll give it another 12.5% skateboard since that is how you maneuver it. Okay, sure, it’s half trike bike, so I’ll go with it.
Martin Angelov (left) and Mihail Klenov (right) are the mad scientists creators of the Halfbike. What started out as a competition to develop a new means of transport, turned into a successful Kickstarter launching their idea into production. The Halfbike is made of an aluminum “frame”, and the “handlebar”, (the entire portion from the wheel up), is made of impregnated plywood that is said to be able to handle the worst of conditions.
The standing pedaling position gives me the impression that this thing could really improve my Mark Cavendish impression, though not being able to sit for periods of time makes me question this being something I would want to ride for more than 10 minutes. It looks great if you wanted a hell of a work out to get yourself ready for short & skirt season. However, seeing how it carves turns in the video (below), I can kind of see how this might be fun to whip around on. How they left a wheelie kick-bar off the back blows my mind though. I’ll just have to stick to a foot-jam stoppie 180.
Thanks to the compact build and 19lb weight, the Halfbike could have appeal for someone that may have to carry it into an office or onto public transportation.
In addition to only being a scant 14 inches wide, it also collapses to about a third of its height so finding a place to store it should be easy. In the end, this thing actually looks fun! As far as how efficient it is and how costly compared to an “adult scooter”, it’s hard to say if it’s something I’d throw a leg over…. so to speak.
Regardless, of its abilities, it was included in the Design Museum’s Cycle Revolution exhibition in London which is pretty cool in its own right.
