New idea ? Battery and drivetrain in fork

[KirstinS]

One-armed bandit: Electrolyte integrates bicycle electrics in lefty fork

I've never heard of anything like this before (although flecc and D8veh may well have!)

Yes, crazy expensive and yes possible battery replacment issues (maybe not though)

Still perhaps this would make a great conversion kit at a sensible price- Just swap over your forks and you are done !

Certainly makes for a very clean looking, stealthy bike

cheers
Kirstin

 

[flecc]

Apart from some historical front motor drive systems long gone, the nearest to that integration today is the Gruber downtube to bottom bracket motor. This has a somewhat weird look about it and certainly doesn't look stealthy in my eyes, probably wouldn't sound stealthy either.

Will it stay the course? I doubt it.

 

[KirstinS]

No external battery, no wires hanging over bike. That's quite stealthy surely !

It's def a marmite thing in looks. But then I like the cannonade lefty forks

Good tip about the noise though - that would put me off

Actually, right now it's the extortionate price

 

[oigoi]

Interesting idea, only real downside I can see apart from the price is that the conversion adds all of its weight at the front of the bicycle which might feel a bit weird to ride

 

[MikeyBikey]

Brilliant, now that's thinking outside the box, definitely
I might go further though, integrate the display at the top of the tube (if it isn't already), front light LED's shining through holes (like that Brompton seatpost from Singapore), folding handlebars, horn, radio, mp3, and cupholder. Well, maybe last 1 or more were whimsy but one can dream ;-)
Do they make one with suspension in the Brompton size? :-D

 

[flecc]

No external battery, no wires hanging over bike. That's quite stealthy surely !

On that basis alone, yes. Trouble is the weird fork will make others look, and then they'll be looking straight at that odd circular blob at the foot of the fork. In other words, it's shouting "Look at my motor!", and that's not stealthy. And of course in Britain and the other sensible countries that drive on the correct side of the road, that weird fork is on the pavement side so easily stared at.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I've not seen that before, but I suspect very expensive for no real practical gain. Personally, the asymmetry of the single-sided forks looks horrible to me. Single-sided rears OK; forks,no!

 

[jackhandy]

I could understand the ethos of that fork if the rest of the bike was out of left field too:
But the frame & wheels are so totally conventional, that drainpipe bolted on the front just looks gruesome to me - As if the designer ran out of puff & they just used a frame from the stockroom & didn't bother respraying it.

 

[Clockwise]

The extra weight on one side of the steering will give it that nascar handling?

 

[MikeyBikey]

Good for getting round one -way systems quickly then

 

[jazper53]

From a engineering point of view, the system looks flawed, with the motor being secured only on one side, it looks like there could be excessive pressure to off side of axel