Most
electric bikes are fairly sordid affairs, little more than an ordinary bicycle with
a motorized hub, a strap-on battery pack and
regenerative braking capabilities (if you're lucky). Not this HMK 561 electric bicycle concept, which took home an iF Design Award for some seriously forward thinking. It's not just the stylish forward rake of this juiced cruiser that's innovative, it's the frame -- composed completely of a conductive carbon fiber weave that allows the bike's body to not just pass electricity to the motors, but
actually store it like a giant capacitor. Factor in integrated lights and a pinch of that aforesaid regenerative braking at each axle, and you've just about got the bicycle of our dreams. Oh, and did we mention
a prototype has already been built?
Yeah.
I'm looking at the concept, and it looks like the rear wheel support has a cylinder that spins, supposedly transferring this spin to the rear wheel. From the picture, I would think the two halves of the wheel would spin in opposite directions. This would be a great way to spin round in circles and wear out some tires, but it won't get you anywhere.
Why no pedals? Don't even have to connect them to the wheels, just having them directly drive a small generator at a constant resistance would give you some exercise and dramatically increase it's range as well rather than giving the western world another way to sit around and get fatter.
@Bratyr Exactly what I'm thinking.
Nice design! I like it. And if they can have it up for less than $800 then I might buy it!
Concepts piss me off. They get my hopes up and then I find out they won't be released for a long time, or never. Whats suckts the most is that the dates are usually past December 21, 2012...
@ckrames1234 The world isn't going to end. It didn't end when 2000 came and the Myans couldnt predict Cortes.
Note: no one is riding this art project
It's stupid. The frame is not triangulated, there's no place to put the feet. the rear swing arm just sticks out of the back of the frame at 90deg angle (has this moronic designer even calculated the torque on that hinge)? The 4 wheels is stupid, heavy and complicated. The whole thing is just plain stupid... Any 20 year old bicycle will have a more rigid frame, and will weigh 30 pounds less than this frame (WHAT HAPPENED TO PROGRESS?), Someone who has never built a bicycle, or appreciated the beauty of solidworks (any other mechanical cad software), or never has taken an even a beginning engineering class, but who has too much money to burn, is bullshitting you. There's design, and there's absolutely NO ENGINEERING in there. I wholeheartedly anti-endorse lame products like this. I bet this moron designer drew it in 3dmax (or some other artsy-fartsy software).
He might as well mount square wheels on this insult to all technological progress.
But HEY!!! It looks cool!
@pretol You need to have your eyes checked. While you're there, see if someone can fine tune your tasteless sense!
@darkmax
What he said is true. Any road bike will out perform this bike. If you've never ridden one, i suggest you try one out. They are very fast, use no batteries, very light. This does look nice, but wouldn't you think it is a little obnoxious to ride around in it? Riding around in this won't make you cool. Just like driving around with your windows down and the sickest soundtrack in a bentley won't make people praise you.
@questionexclamation
You forget one simple thing: you have to pedal a road bike! The bulk of the frame is also storing electricity. Why don't you compare it to a scooter instead of a road bike. That would make much more sense. But I'm glad you defended the above moron because it proves that you too are a moron.
@69camaroSS
My point is this:
If you put the same motor/batteries on a 50 year old bike, the 50 year old bike will be LIGHTER/STRONGER/FASTER!!
It's as simple as that.
Goodbye pedals and effort...
Hello prostate cancer.
What happens when you hit a pothole and your wheel goes out of true?
As if sitting on a cold bike seat didn't kill enough sperm...
Where do you put your legs...?
Have fun pushing your bike home when it runs out of power
Where the hell do I put my feet?
...and this thing took home the iF design award?
i thought a prototype is suppose to work (to some extent) but not just looks good
A little too cool...
Yeah, it's very pretty, but, like, how does it actually move?
Cool bike, but one question... Where do you put your feet?
It looks very stylish but also very uncomfortable...imagine hitting a bump in the road on it...
@balwheeler
Hitting a bump on the road on a standard road bike is no picnic either.
@69camaroSS
Stay consistent. You need to compare it to a scooter. Pothole on a scooter will be a lot easier on your ass than this POS. Plus on a scooter, your rear swing arm will still be attached. On this no-engineer-design-team garbage, the frame will be bent.
It's not a bike. It's a mockup of an electric scooter that will certainly never work in its current form.
Makes you more attractive but that doesn't matter much as your genitals are doomed by the strategically designed ball buster bar.
this thing has prostate cancer written all over it
The design does not make sense, the shaft rotates turn the one wheel forward, the wheel on the other side of the hub will rotate in the opposite direction.
Poor design!
do you fuck this bike to turn the wheel?
@Ren021 its like a pogo stick that will jump?
Why are "new" designs still based on old designs?
This makes your bakc and neck hurt and might even make you impotent.
Look to recumbents for both better comfort, speed and looks.
What about the petals.