Kickstarter -- Real Innovation?

[George S.]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...e-first-electric-bike-that-folds-in-o?ref=tag

Several features of note. Solid tires. Belt drive.

It's not a recycled bike from Alibaba.

 

[flymeaway]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...e-first-electric-bike-that-folds-in-o?ref=tag

Several features of note. Solid tires. Belt drive.

It's not a recycled bike from Alibaba.

Hi George,

My $.02.....the front fork is a very poor design. Not supporting the axle on both ends invites a disaster. Looks really "cool", but from an engineering perspective it is much less then optimum. Without seeing the components; axle, bearings, it's hard to evaluate the risk, but the load forces at the single supporting fork location are extreme, well beyond what's experienced in a traditional 2 fork assembly. That supporting axle had better be a much larger diameter then a standard axle and the bearings supporting the wheel should be very high quality radial bearings ABEC 5 or better. I'd also be concerned about wear at the point the axle is mounted to the fork. Any deflection would move the wheel off center. The axle mount takes a beating on this design. Think of the force on that point when the rider hits a bump on the road.

Not for me.....

Court J.

 

[George S.]

Court,

This is a discussion of another single sider.

http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q...d-cons-of-single-sided-forks-cannondale-lefty

And the Lefty site:

http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/innovation/lefty_headshok/

My brother has a Montague folder with 26 inch wheels. It's 10 pounds lighter but seems fairly cumbersome to load. To me the problem is that you can buy/build a really versatile bike for $1500 these days, so you need a great reason to own a folder with real limitations. Curious they went with LiFePo. It would help a lot if it was pleasant to ride. They could find a niche. I don't think you really know what you would be getting, with a bike like this, but it could be handy for certain types of commutes.