The bike is up, then the bike is down. You sit on the bike upright in the city, then set it down to cruise in the suburbs. It’s intuitive. It’s wild. It’s a thesis project. It’s got a video to go with it. It’s already mocked up. The final version will have a battery and hubmotor for a little kick in the pants. Environmentally friendly city and country transportation in one bike.
Each frame is adjusted to the weight of the rider. The rider may ride in either mode forever, but if the rider wants to switch from one position to another, they’ve just to push the locking lever and lean forward or backward. The rider may change positions while continuing to ride the bike.
Info on the mockup movie, below:
This is the proof of concept mockup for a commuter bike with variable frame as part of the diploma thesis of the product-designers daniel knüpfer and stefan wallmann at anhalt university, dessau in mai 2008. In the concept, the frame can be locked by a lever on the handlebar, that feature is missing in the mockup. Also, the springs that help bringing the rider in an upright position need to be adjusted to the riders weight to balance the frame (making it possible to switch positions while leaning back or forth). these springs are too weak in this prototype, therefore the riders in the video need to push the backrest a little bit. only a very lightweight rider managed to bring himself up by simply leaning forward.
Vielen Dank, Deutschland.
Designers: Daniel Knuepfer & Stefan Wallmann
