Good morning , folks! Whilst we sit in Cape Town and hope the sun peeks through the thick fog, we can also day dream about riding bicycles through fields of daisies, basking in glorious sunshine. If you’re not sure what your very own bike would look like, you can give thanks to The BBC for compiling this very attractive, hipster-drooling wish list.
Some of them can fold up to the size of a wheel, others cost the same as a car, and one very remarkable one… well, I’ll leave that one till last.
Here are our top five, in no particular order:
(I know I said no particular order, but isn’t this one a stunner?) Michael Embacher , a Vienna-based designer, has a 220-strong bicycle collection, and part of it is going up for auction. This circa-1937 Schulz Funiculo will be one of those bikes. Originally bought for $20 000, it is certain to fetch a whole whack more. Take this one on your morning Vida e coffee and chocolate croissant run.
Società Piemontese Automobili in Italy is behind this sleek looking Bicicletto. It’s a pedal-electric hybrid made from carbon composite frame, and that thing that looks like a fuel tank is actually just for storage. It can reach a cool 45km/h and the battery power will last about 30miles (more if you help by pedalling). I reckon this is how you want to get to work in the mornings, especially if you’re on the Atlantic Seaboard to Woodstock route.
Next up is the Ford MoDe:Pro (yes, made by Ford). The idea behind this little guy is that “couriers, electricians, and goods and delivery services ” drive their big Ford delivery van to the outskirts of the congested city centre and then hop onto their MoDe:Pro to do their inner city drop-offs and drop-ins. Clever.
This, surprise, surprise, is called the Oddity:Halfbike II and, as The BBC describes it, is “one part clever urban mobility solution, one part Cirque du Soleil prop”. Whilst slightly easier to ride than a unicycle (thank goodness for those fairy wheels) it’s still going to take some getting used to. Made from aluminium and plywood, the single front wheel provides the drive and the two rears do the steering.
This is the Velomobile. She comes out of Michigan in the US and is described as a “beautiful vision for petrol-free mobility”. Where do the people go?
Two passengers pedal in unison to create forward motion, while behind the seats is a massive storage bay, perfect for errands around town. But the Zeppelin cuts such a captivating profile that its utility reads as a bonus feature.
And that’s them! To see the rest of the bicycles you can click through to The BBC.
