zeppinger

Bicycle frame handle: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...dle?ref=thanks

I wish I had had one of these on my last tour. Asia is pretty bike friendly but I still had to haul my loaded bike up many flights of stairs, usually with the top tube sitting on top my shoulder. This would have been much easier.

Omiak

I've seen photos of vintage bikes with handles like that. I wonder if it would be to easy to accidentally scrape your knuckles on the big chainring. Might be good for a bike where the rear brake cable runs naked under the top tube. I have one of those and I can't really shoulder it without getting a cable stop into my shoulder and worrying about scraping the paint with the exposed cable.

Newspaperguy

In the late 1980s, there were some small frame bags which had a reinforced piece to allow the rider to carry the bike on his or her shoulder. It was great if anyone had to carry the bike a while, as it was a lot more comfortable than just resting the top tube on one's shoulder.

zeppinger

My Long Haul Trucker is just such a bike.

gerv 

I'm a little lost here. Why do you need a frame handle when bicycles are designed to roll on their wheels?

Maybe you be concerned if you had muddy tires and a white carpet... I normally just roll my bike into the garage or sometimes in the winter into my porch. No carpet on the floor anywhere in my house.

Robert C

My immediate thought when I saw that picture; I would get grease all over my pants of I were to do what he is doing in the picture.

Robert C

In China there are a lot of places where bicycles must be carried or they will not be permitted. There are also a lot of staircases.

Artkansas 

For many of us, the last hill we have to climb is the set of stairs between the ground and our front door.

Dahon.Steve

You don't need to buy this handle. Just pick up the bike from the bottom of the seat tube!

Thor29

Bikes are pretty easy to carry without a special handle. The top tube is pretty darned handy for carrying a bike. I carry mine up the stairs every time I ride it. But the amazing thing to me about these morons is that you should never carry your bike on the drive side unless you want to get chain lube and dirt all over you from the chain and chainrings. But I guess if you can't figure that out, then you can't figure out how to lift a bike the normal way without a handle. Maybe they should watch some cyclocross racing videos...

Smallwheels

Whenever I ride I must bring my bicycle down stairs. I grab the bottom tube near the crank with one hand and use the other to steady the handlebars or front wheel. Going up stairs is easier because that grip position naturally makes the front wheel go up. The angle the bicycle takes means I don't need to focus on keeping the rear wheel elevated the way I do when going down the stairs. Such a grip tool would make it easier for me due to the comfort factor. The down tube on my frame is very fat and sometimes slips in my hand.

In the video I think they deliberately lifted the bicycles while on the chain side to demonstrate that it is easy to hold the frame away from the body.

Sixty Fiver

Have you ever loaded your bike on the bus ?

My wee little daughter learned how to lift her Raleigh Twenty in a very similar manner and the frame design provides a hold for her and all she has to do is reach down, grab, and stand up and use her legs to lift her bicycle up and she uses her free hand to balance the bike at the handlebars.

Have carried many bicycles up and down stairs is os preferable to be able to shoulder them and I have a number of those old frame bags with the shoulder brace and wiith my folders I usually hang the nose of the saddle on my shoulder and hold the lower frame to support some of the weight.

The frame handle looks to be a well thought out idea having seen people struggle to get bikes up and down stairs... lifting the bike from it's lowest point keeps the wheels high enough to clear stairs and makes the lift easy for smaller persons who may not be able to "manhandle a bike".

Artkansas 

In winter with gloves on, its harder to grip the downtube. Some people may not have the hand strength, and loading a bike on the bus you may need to lift it on the chain side if you are using the front rack. There are reasons to use this

bragi

This is perhaps the most utterly useless thing I've ever seen.

Sixty Fiver

I am sure a few ladies might disagree.

My folders come with built in "pick up" handles... it really does make it easier to lift them.



Pick up point is right behind the hinge clamp... you just reach down, grab, and stand up and my 12 year old daughter knows exactly where the balance point is on her R20 folder.



My wife rides a very heavy Breezer Uptown 8 and when she picks it up she uses the cross bar on the lower part of the frame and even with limited upper body strength can load this bike on the bus in record time. The brace serves as a structural support but also serves much like the frame strap to allow for an easier pick up.

You not want to carry this bike up and down stairs... it's weight and wheelbase make this difficult.



A step through frame without this cross brace is a much more awkward bicycle to lift and for diamond frames can see how this can aid persons who may not be as physically able to lift and shoulder a bike.

doc0c

I could use something like this. On my way home, I have to walk my bike up a pedestrian bridge that goes over railway tracks. This would be a very efficient way to carry it over.

Artkansas 

Why is it useless?

Shimagnolo

Am I the only one who has bottle cages which would make that unusable?

Artkansas 

No. My water bottles would get in the way as well. But no one is claiming that everyone needs this, just that it's useful for some people.

contango 

... it's just hard to see it being very useful for very many people ...

Artkansas 

Nor are touring panniers nor flickstands. But they have their markets.

I'm sure the woman living next door would love this for her bike, she's got no water bottles on her walmart bike and has to lug it up and down stairs. It's obvious from some of the comments here that there is a place.

I don't imagine that the denizens of Shark Tank would go for this product, it's too much of a niche product. But it's got its place. With 10 hours to go till their Kickstarter deadline, they have raised $18,153 of their $3,500 goal with 484 backers.

notenspeed

I get so tired of bicycle snobs. This would obviously be useful for many people, just like kickstands are. Look how many people have signed up to buy this handle. Look, I'm 5'2" and my tires are the same size as your tires. So when I grab my bicycle by the top tube it is much more difficult for me to make clearance than someone who is taller. I also have tendinitis from years of weightlifting. Then, 7 years ago I had a major surgery and I'm not ever supposed to lift heavy weights again, so my upper body strength is nothing compared to what it used to be. I would love to have this for when I go up the stairs at my sister's apartment, and maybe even when I am pulling the back out of the back of my car. (I'm just waiting for the bike snob response: real cyclists don't ever have to put their bike in the back of the car, right?)

Hoshnasi

If you had a tourer loaded down a handle like this could be useful now and then. A bit more purchase through the handle would be nice if your bike is on the heavy side.

Artkansas 

The numbers I quoted were not people who signed up to buy the handle. They signed up to invest in making the handle.

bjjoondo 

When I rode ridged MTB's in the early 80's, they used to make a "shoulder strap" that velcroed to the bike, it was broad enough for decent support, to bad I haven't seen one for many years!