It’s about time someone invented a truly portable and foldable bike that you could easily place in the trunk of your car.  That someone was young designer Dominic Hargreaves from London, England.  His invention dubbed “The Contortionist” folds onto itself and is sandwiched between the bike’s two 26 inch tires.

The Contortionist came about when he complained that it sucked that none of the foldable bikes out there actually were portable or convenient to carry around.  Rather than resign his fate to the choices out there in the market he decided to use his Royal College of Art design education to build his own bike (maybe I should get him to do my folding napkin sweatshirt idea…).

As cool as this folding bike is there are some things to take note about the Contortionist:

• It’s still in the design/prototype phase (so not for sale unfortunately)
• If you looked at the pictures and video you should have noticed that there is no chain or belt (he says this can be adopted to accommodate either or a hydraulic drive system)
• The wheels are mounted directly onto the frame and are offset from each other, meaning that front and back wheel are not perfectly inline, though this shouldn’t affect riding performance
• Once it is folded you can wheel it around (rather than carry it around)
• Again, it’s not for sale

I think the fact that you can wheel the bike around while in transformed folded form is a major benefit.  Other foldable bikes are useless when folded, but not so with the Contortionist.  Hopefully Dominic gets cracking and gets someone to start mass producing these as soon as possible.  If not I should get him to do my folding napkin sweatshirt idea…

Learn More:

• Visit Dominic’s Website
• Read about Dominic and the Contortionist in a Guardian article

For Other FuncFash Bike Items:

• Check out the Stylist Helmet/Hat’s by Yakkay

For Helmets and Other Bike Riding Accessories:

• For the MEN
• For lady riders
• For the up and coming riders

Related posts:

1. FFPI #4: Ultra Foldable UK Plugs Are Pretty Sleek
2. FuncFash Recap (Week of 8-3-09)
3. FFPI #1: Sweatshirt that Folds to Napkin Size