Categories
Personal Transportation

Portable A-Bike Electric folds small enough for a backpack

While most people are far more comfortable on a bicycle than on anything else, it doesn’t mean most bicycles are suitable for the demands a busy city commute places on someone. Even the lightest bicycles can be ungainly to carry around and a pain to lock up everywhere, making them less than stellar options for getting around quickly.

The A-Bike Electric takes the compact nature of Sir Clive Sinclair’s original idea and supercharges it with a dual chain drive and brushless motor, featuring a 24V battery providing up to 15 miles of assisted pedaling even up hills. Its 26-pound foldable frame uses telescopic design in order to fold up into an extremely portable, place-it-in-a-bookbag form in about 10 seconds, making the A-Bike a worthy alternative to most commute cutting options. An A-Bike can be had for $900 provided its $76,000 campaign sees success by August 13th, 2015. Backers will be able to hop on and ride in October 2015.

The A-Bike Electric is successful at being compact, cleverly designed, and light while still retaining the familiarity with bicycles most people are comfortable with. Being able to take it along on the train or into a coffee shop is a convenience would prefer versus leaving a bicycle unattended outside. The Impossible E-Bike attempted something similar but ultimately never materialized, leaving a huge gap for products like the A-Bike Electric to be successful.

Categories
Cycling

Dillenger e-bike conversion kit pimps your bike, adds lightweight motor and Bluetooth

Huge hubs with brushless motors inside are popping up pretty much everywhere, having signified the rise of the e-bike. Their versatility has been proven, especially for those who care to streamline their entire commute or just make it slightly easier. The problem with e-bikes, however, lies in the fact that most people have regular bikes already, making the decision to buy a completely new one pretty difficult, if not impossible.

The team at Dillenger have created an e-bike conversion kit to make the switch easier. It differentiates itself from other bulky, all-in-one solutions usually attached to the back of most bikes with its lightweight front-wheel based design. The Dillenger kit preserves the entire bike while outfitting it with a 250-350W brushless motor and a removable 36V, 400W lithium ion battery that connects to the bike’s frame; an upgrade from products like the Fusion Sports Drive. The Bluetooth LE enabled kit allows for iOS and Android devices to control the bike’s settings for the entire 80km span of each charge. The $20,000 AUD (~$16,430 USD) campaign is offering the conversion kit for $699 AUD (~$580 USD). Two Dillenger-branded, fully electric bikes are being offered at $1,249 AUD (~$1,000 USD) and $1,449 AUD (~$1,200 USD), respectively, with all due to be shipped in May 2015.