EU-funded folding bicycle project nears market

Bike Intermodal, funded by the EU, has developed a prototype of a folding bicycle that weighs just 7.5kg and folds into a 50cm x 40cm x 15cm box. The bike’s parts are also fully recyclable, therefore it offers a completely environmentally-friendly lifecycle.

Alessandro Belli of Tecnologie Urbane, founder of the Bike Intermodal spin-off start-up, said: “We have reinforced the sturdiness of the bike by limiting the number of parts and using the most resistant yet lightest materials available such as magnesium. Each part is tested, traceable and can be recycled. Our process focuses on quality control, product lifecycle traceability and environmental consciousness.”

At the core of the ‘intermodal bicycle’ is a pre-stressed frame that opens and closes like an aircraft landing gear made of die cast aluminium or magnesium and sailing-grade cables. The start-up is also looking at the possibility of using graphene in the future to strengthen and lighten the frame even further.

Public transport providers ATAF (Florence, Italy) and LPP (Ljubljana, Slovenia) carried out field studies devised by the University of Florence in order to optimise the size and weight of the bicycle.

The Bike Intermodal research project was granted €1.58m in EU funding. The company is in discussions with a number of venture capitalists as well as members of the automotive industry to take the prototype to market. When in fully optimised production, Belli said that a power-assisted version of the bike could cost €1,300, while a version without a motor could cost €800 and a minimal fixed gear version could cost €500.

Michael Jennings, spokesperson for European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, said: “One of the main objectives of Horizon 2020, our new research and innovation funding programme, is to get great ideas like this one from the lab to the market. The more innovative companies we have, the better it will be for Europe’s economy.”