Amuro Lee

I just translate the title of the video directly into English. "The King of xxx" is a common slogan in Chinese used on advertising.

The King of Folding Bikes ── The folding and unfolding steps of the FREE RIDE folding bicycle
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjU4NzY0NjYw.html


The auction pages on Alibaba and Taobao
https://detail.china.alibaba.com/buye...002157191.html
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10254531482

bendembroski

Did I see the price correctly? Around £95 (give or take)?

chagzuki

Wow. Crazy stuff.

chagzuki

The fold is tiny. I wonder how much it weighs.

Edit: 13kg. . . is that the bike or bike plus packaging?

badrad

One of the pics show 2 folded bikes takes up the same space as one dahon. Now that's tiny.
And they stuffed 3 in a small trunk and still have plenty of room for basketball and gear.

Azreal911

That is such a fresh design unlike the copies those companies usually put out. I see the back half of the chain is actually a belt too! Soooooo are we doing a group buy or what??? I like the funkyness of it and looks like some of us would take up the challenge and mod the crap out of this. Seems like you can try change the front chainwheel to make it a higher gear but the real cool thing is that it has coaster wheels so you can drag is around while folded up like a brompton.

bendembroski

I'm sitting here wondering what I could use it for... I'm assuming it's not going to be useful for trips over a couple miles.

I wonder if it's adjustable enough for a kid to ride it.

DVC45

Very nice!
The girl at the end of the vid is too!

I like!

JCFlack

Reminds me a little of a Mobiky.

Folding-Bikes

Its very cute!

Edit: It does remind me of mobiky too, but its so much more compact

geo8rge

I was thinking the same as the appear willing to sell 1 bike. I am wondering about customs issues. I sometimes buy flashlights and other small stuff direct from China with no problem, but this thing might attract more attention. Maybe if I call it 'art'.

geo8rge

It appears to weigh 26lbs, which implies cheaper materials.

chagzuki

I probably want one. . . I mean, I do want one but if I were to force myself to think it through perhaps I'd change my mind. I do want one though.

Geeeyejo

Very cool - would hate to see one of those front or rear fork/wheel hinges fail when riding though, ouch! Probably not practical for any real distance with those 12" tires either

jur

Someone obviously put a heck of a lot of thought into that design. It seems ideal for using in a multi-mode commute on crowded buses/trains, and short hops on either end.

jur

Price 998yuan, about $150... locally bought I assume.

Clownbike

Already on ebait - https://cgi.ebay.com/12-Super-Folding...item19c6509364.

Marvelous engineering, and seems well executed. I've got a buddy coming back from Shenzhen and will see if he can pick one up cheap and drag it along.

Now if Pacific would license the design and build an alloy version with 16" wheels...

vmaniqui

$250 buy it now and add the $140 shipping cost = $390. i emailed my co worker who is in shianghai right now and asked him if he can carry one home. it's a long shot though.

owenfinn

Am already wondering how many I can load onto a Yuba Mundo cargo bike!

That is a great price for such a small fold. Looking forward to hearing some reviews - with wide 12 inch wheels, I imagine it should be at least as good to ride as the Carryme. However, with so many moving/folding bits, I would really like to know more about the quality, safety and durability of the bike.

Azreal911

the only scary thing is that it's a bit pricey for a bike of unknown build and probably zero aftermarket support. for 300 more i can pick up a pacific carryme which is tried and tested from a reputable company. that's if you need a micro bike.

Also the 12 inch wheels shouldn't be much of a problem because schwalbe makes 12 inch big apples . I have to give credit to the designer the fold is pretty amazing and the folded size is so ridiculous it would fit my office drawers! This is why it's still soo intriguing to me and I can't get it out of my head.

if they sold this bike to pacific for them to make it to their specs then I would buy this in a heartbeat! I love mini folders and try to go stupid distances with them!

thatsut

great design!!!!!!! with aftermarket support a few more expensive options a brompton beater! e.g. a ful ti version lol

2_i 

That was my impression: of the Chinese bike companies moving beyond basics into original innovative design, and this when strolling down a Beijing street with factory stores already 2 years ago. However, the innovative offerings were then at 1k$+ and I was not ready to jump in. The price of the folder above is aimed at mass sales, within the Chinese Dahon range and a factor of few above the cheapest folders in China. Still I would tame the quality expectations, and these could be painful given multiple custom parts. Over 60% of technical items I bought in China at the time, I had to return or replace because of quality issues: these usually prevented an item from functioning in practice. People from outside grumbling about the quality of Chinese products do not even realize how bad it is inside - foreign companies working with Chinese apparently contribute a good deal in filtering the bad apples.

The concept still is clearly very good. I would want fenders and a rack added.

DVC45

Its a spare bike that you can carry on your main bike.

thatsut

Amuro thanks for sharing BTW!!!

fietsbob

Looking at the picture, I see a significant Crank Forward, frame layout,
for flat footed stops.