Folding Bikes - Folding utility bike! Wow!

This guy put a lot of time into this beautiful bike.

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/contest/grocerygetter/DavidMahan.htm

That is very cool reminds of of the Cetma Cargo bike.

I LOVE the idea, wow. Ingenious. Especially like that it converts into a shopping cart :thumb:

My only wish is that the steering linkage was routed frame level. Would be much more difficult to engineer so I understand why it is the way it is

Check out cetmacargo.com he did run it frame level. So it might be doable?

That is impressive! Now, if only there was a way to detach the front the same as he did the rear, leaving the middle as a more manageable shopping cart, and the front and back combine to be a short bike again...

The seat, pedals and the rear wheel are detachable. With small modification that can be used also as a unicycle. That is, unicycle + shopping_cart = utility bike.

Kam

A breakable Long-John! Wow! That is clever, great attention to detail, a very good job, I'm just not keen on that high level steering bar, it should definitely be underneath the basket (IMHO) like my Long-John.

impressive!

Impressive, but seriousely- is it strong enough? The original bike is not ment to be that long and therefor I would not expect the original frame material to be strong enough? Lenghtening it this much I would expect to be a problem, and then also adding the etra weight in the middle.. :twitchy: Hmm

That is amazingly cool. Gotta love hands on engineering.

:thumb::thumb:

Our jaws dropped when we saw this bike. Joe at www.joe-bike.com makes some pretty cool utility bikes too (not folding but we're hoping to change his mind one day!)

:D

This guy put a lot of time into this beautiful bike.

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/contest/grocerygetter/DavidMahan.htm

I followed this link over at the utility bike forum the other day. That guy is a freaking genius!

Edward Wong III
Qile Duo 5 Speed 20" Folder

Has anyone ever seen the utility trikes that Steve Horcha builds at Haley Trikes in Philly?
http://www.haleytrikes.com/

Pretty cool. He built the prototype for the first one in our courtyard while he was living in Savannah.

There's a small Dutch factory called Feetz ("fiets" being the Dutch word for bicycle) which makes semi-foldable trikes. The rear frame folds up against the front carrier or basket or whatever you have fitted on it, and the whole thing then can be used as a shopping cart or stroller. Wheels are 20"; the front wheels lean like on a normal bicycle. See www.feetz.nl which is in Dutch only at the moment but the pics are self-explanatory. I have not seen them in actual life yet; the long "bakfiets" models are used much more although they are definitely less practical. It's not the price; long Johns cost more. Two wheels are probably more fashionable than three.

I'd like to second the "too long" comment above and add my own concern:
Wouldn't it steer to the right when encountering a pothole?

Imagine hitting a bump, flexing the frame tube. This will reduce the distance between bottom bracket and front axle. Meanwhile the steering linkage stays the same length, effectively turning the steerer right.

But major respect to the guy who actually did it!

Have you seen this Taga?

http://www.taga.nl/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdzKnW2noVI

Have you seen this Taga?

http://www.taga.nl/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdzKnW2noVI

Pretty cool, but it sure doesn't show how teh steering works. Looks great going in a straight line though.

Impressive, but seriousely- is it strong enough? The original bike is not ment to be that long and therefor I would not expect the original frame material to be strong enough? Lenghtening it this much I would expect to be a problem, and then also adding the etra weight in the middle.. :twitchy: Hmm

I can say for certain that the original was (and is) strong enough. I am very familiar with the Flying Dutchman brand of bikes. My own bike which my father bought for me lasted for many years until I switched to my present bikes. When I was younger, I used these bikes exclusively during the late 1960s/early 1970s while in school. It was owned by a Dutch-Indonesian family that not only made bikes, but also mo-peds (motorized gas powered motorcycle-like vehicles with little pedals). I owned their road bike model. My sister had one too. I saw my first folding bike ever in their shop. It is exactly like the one in the blog except it was orange in color. The red color was the same as my old road bike. My taste for fine European bikes are the result of my family's long association with this shop. I do wish he left this bike in it's original form though.


There's a small Dutch factory called Feetz ("fiets" being the Dutch word for bicycle) which makes semi-foldable trikes. The rear frame folds up against the front carrier or basket or whatever you have fitted on it, and the whole thing then can be used as a shopping cart or stroller. Wheels are 20"; the front wheels lean like on a normal bicycle. See www.feetz.nl which is in Dutch only at the moment but the pics are self-explanatory. I have not seen them in actual life yet; the long "bakfiets" models are used much more although they are definitely less practical. It's not the price; long Johns cost more. Two wheels are probably more fashionable than three.

The Dutch seem to be always way ahead of the crowd when it comes to addressing needs of different populations. I rather use this bike to carry a child (or even a dog) than towing it in an trailer. I rather watch my passengers. That is one of the things I like about my front luggage clip-on system of my own Brompton.

I can say for certain that the original was (and is) strong enough. I am very familiar with the Flying Dutchman brand of bikes. My own bike which my father bought for me lasted for many years until I switched to my present bikes. When I was younger, I used these bikes exclusively during the late 1960s/early 1970s while in school. It was owned by a Dutch-Indonesian family that not only made bikes, but also mo-peds (motorized gas powered motorcycle-like vehicles with little pedals). I owned their road bike model. My sister had one too. I saw my first folding bike ever in their shop. It is exactly like the one in the blog except it was orange in color. The red color was the same as my old road bike. My taste for fine European bikes are the result of my family's long association with this shop. I do wish he left this bike in it's original form though.

Of course it is strong enough orginally, I am just saying that yo can not do this to a bike and expect it to takethe totally different strain that it is now getting. Read my posting again.

Some people are way too talented.

I wasn't impressed until it turned into a shopping cart
(more than meets the eye)

WOW! A well crafted design. Some people are just creative and talented. Good job.

I wasn't impressed until it turned into a shopping cart
(more than meets the eye)

Like this http://www.instructables.com/id/Cart-Bike/ :lol:

LOVE IT!!!! not a folder, you can call it a transformer! lol