Vello, the impossibly clever folding bike

[haven]

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/magnet-folding-bike/

Back in the day, I commuted to college on a Moulton, so I am always on the lookout for a clever folding bike design. The Vello is just that. Rather than fold the frame at the downtube, the Vello uses a magnet to attach the rear triangle. Check out this animated GIF

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Vello.gif

I learned about the Vello through an article on Wired http://www.wired.com/2014/10/magnet-folding-bike/

The company web site is http://www.vello.bike/
The bike is a Kickstarter project https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1844575826/vello-bike

 

[SiliconTi]

Well, it is clever, but still too large folded to be really useful, IMHO.

 

[ober27]

Are there any members here who have folding bikes? Do you like them? Photos are always nice.

 

[Rallyroo]

I used to have a Dahon folding bike. I commuted by folding bike for two years, but then decided to go back to fullsize. The cool part of owning the folding bike was being able to leave it in the boot of the car and pull the bike out whenever I wanted to, take for example, to go riding on the boardwalk at the beach.

The one problem with folding bikes is weight. Smaller does not mean they are that they are lighter than a full size road bike. So don't expect to carry your folding bike long distances. Some folding bikes roll while in the folded configuration, while some don't. So take that into consideration if you plan to use a folding bike for intermodal transportation.

 

[Squatchout]

My main interest in a folding bike would be fitting it in my solo canoe for river shuttles. Float down ride back to the truck 15 miles or so. So i'd want something pretty compact when folded.

 

[stillman]

Are there any members here who have folding bikes? Do you like them? Photos are always nice.

We have 3 inexpensive folding bikes but only one, very poor, photo of them.



L-R Yeah! by Dahon, Citizen Miami, and Boardwalk by Dahon. All three were purchased from craigslist ads.

I bought the Citizen for Daughter because the Dahon steering was too twitchy for her. There's not a lot of difference but the Citizen is noticeably slower to respond to steering input.

They are odd bikes but all three will fit in the trunk of Wife's Honda Accord.

 

[ober27]

Thanks for the responses guys. There's some clever designs out there.