sinclair launches world's smallest folding bike

story he
URL:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackage...pNews&storyID=
543638&section=news

or he
URL:http://tinyurl.com/2dmqx

or he
Briton peddles world's smallest folding bike
Thu 8 July, 2004 09:53

By Puja Vaswani

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Zipped into a bag, it looks like a large umbrella.
Unfolded, it plies the streets like any other bicycle.

The "A-Bike" is the brainchild of British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair who
made history in the 1970s by developing the world's first pocket calculator.
He described it as "the world's smallest, lightest foldable bicycle".

"My original thought was that if you could have a bicycle that was
dramatically lighter and more compact then ones that exist today, you would
change the way in which bicycles could be used," said Sinclair.

The mini-bike, unveiled in Singapore this week and set to go on sale
worldwide in 2005 at a price of nearly US$300 (162 pounds), is built for
riders as heavy as 112 kg (247 lbs) and is height-adjustable. It takes about
20 seconds to fold or unfold.

Like the U.S.-made Segway scooter, the idea was to find an innovative way of
navigating congested cities.

Its wheels are a quarter the size of those on a regular bicycle, but
Sinclair promises a smooth and sturdy ride for most cyclists. "You require
no extra energy to ride the A-bike and it can go up to 15 miles per hour (24
kph)," he told Reuters.

Constructed mainly of plastic and with pneumatic tyres, the 5.5 kg (12 lbs)
bicycle folds into a package of less than 0.03 cubic metres (1.1 cubic ft)
and is expected to go on sale in the United States, Britain and Japan in the
second quarter of 2005.

Sinclair also invented the first pocket television in 1984 and the
futuristic C5 electric tricycle in 1985. He said he hopes the bicycle will
attract yachtsmen, urban city executives, campers or anyone needing
transport for a short trip.

Research and development started five years ago in a collaboration between
Sinclair's U.K.-based Sinclair Research Ltd and Hong Kong's Daka Designs.

Daka chairman Pat Ma said Singapore was chosen to launch the invention
because of its prosperous population and compact size. In addition, Daka is
to list its shares in the city on July 16.

"Singapore has a small controlled market and it's a city that uses mixed
modes of transport," Ma said.

Other foldable bicycles on the market include the 8 kg (17.6 lb) Handy Bike,
which sells for around US$200, and the JD Bike, which weighs 8.5 kg (18.7
lb).

Choo Chee Kong, chief executive of SBI E2-Capital, which is lead managing
Daka's initial public offering, said he had already been approached by five
groups in Singapore to distribute the bicycle.

Sinclair, awarded a knighthood by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1983 for
leading what was seen as a renaissance in British industry, says the next
step for the A-bike is to add an electric motor in a few years.

davek wrote:

story he
URL:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackage...pNews&storyID=
543638&section=news

or he
URL:http://tinyurl.com/2dmqx

or he
Briton peddles world's smallest folding bike
Thu 8 July, 2004 09:53

By Puja Vaswani

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Zipped into a bag, it looks like a large umbrella.
Unfolded, it plies the streets like any other bicycle.

He He


The "A-Bike" is the brainchild of British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair who
made history in the 1970s by developing the world's first pocket calculator.
He described it as "the world's smallest, lightest foldable bicycle".

Sounds like a Clive soundbite.

"My original thought was that if you could have a bicycle that was
dramatically lighter and more compact then ones that exist today, you would
change the way in which bicycles could be used," said Sinclair.


The mini-bike, unveiled in Singapore this week and set to go on sale
worldwide in 2005 at a price of nearly US$300 (162 pounds), is built for
riders as heavy as 112 kg (247 lbs) and is height-adjustable. It takes about
20 seconds to fold or unfold.

Three seconds to collapse?

Like the U.S.-made Segway scooter, the idea was to find an innovative way of
navigating congested cities.

And the C5!

Its wheels are a quarter the size of those on a regular bicycle, but
Sinclair promises a smooth and sturdy ride for most cyclists. "You require
no extra energy to ride the A-bike and it can go up to 15 miles per hour (24
kph)," he told Reuters.

I recall the C5 launch. That was also supposed to be able to do 15mph.
The original leaflet IIRC claimed 15mph was twice as fast as a bicycle.

Constructed mainly of plastic and with pneumatic tyres, the 5.5 kg (12 lbs)
bicycle folds into a package of less than 0.03 cubic metres (1.1 cubic ft)
and is expected to go on sale in the United States, Britain and Japan in the
second quarter of 2005.

Oooh Pneumatic tyres!

Sinclair also invented the first pocket television in 1984 and the
futuristic C5 electric tricycle in 1985. He said he hopes the bicycle will
attract yachtsmen, urban city executives, campers or anyone needing
transport for a short trip.


Research and development started five years ago in a collaboration between
Sinclair's U.K.-based Sinclair Research Ltd and Hong Kong's Daka Designs.

Daka chairman Pat Ma said Singapore was chosen to launch the invention
because of its prosperous population and compact size. In addition, Daka is
to list its shares in the city on July 16.

in addition!

"Singapore has a small controlled market and it's a city that uses mixed
modes of transport," Ma said.

Other foldable bicycles on the market include the 8 kg (17.6 lb) Handy Bike,
which sells for around US$200, and the JD Bike, which weighs 8.5 kg (18.7
lb).

Choo Chee Kong, chief executive of SBI E2-Capital, which is lead managing
Daka's initial public offering, said he had already been approached by five
groups in Singapore to distribute the bicycle.

Sinclair, awarded a knighthood by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1983 for
leading what was seen as a renaissance in British industry, says the next
step for the A-bike is to add an electric motor in a few years.

why not


Jules

Cynical ex-owner of

Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator
ZX81 - needed bag of frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered
RamPack wobble
Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those before one worked properly)
Sinclair QL (oh remind me - microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest
keyboard membrain award

In article ,
says...
Cynical ex-owner of

Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator
ZX81 - needed bag of frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered
RamPack wobble
Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those before one worked properly)
Sinclair QL (oh remind me - microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest
keyboard membrain award

A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard membrane died... the
tracks cracked where the ribbon bends to join to the board.

Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution. Despite having the inverse Midas Touch [1] he plods onward
undaunted.

Jon

[1] Everything he touches turns to sh..

In article ,
Jon Senior wrote:
Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution.

He's what's wrong with Britain: we hate it when our friends become
successful, but we love the plucky underdog.

ian

Jon Senior wrote:

In article ,
says...

Cynical ex-owner of

Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator
ZX81 - needed bag of frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered
RamPack wobble
Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those before one worked properly)
Sinclair QL (oh remind me - microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest
keyboard membrain award


A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard membrane died... the
tracks cracked where the ribbon bends to join to the board.

I think that happened to most people. I was moving a couple of years
ago and disposing of lots of stuff through Ebay. I dug out the QL out
of my attic (it had got put there been when I bought an Amstrad 1512 in
about 1986) to see if it was likely to be a collector's item but the
keyboard didn't work. I looked inside and found the membrane was very
decayed.I guess it's the way the tracks are bent through 180 degrees. I
found a company that sold QL spare but they had sold out of membranes
years before!

You might like to see

http://www.uni-mainz.de/~roklein/ql/Primus.html

Mine went to somebody wanting to do this.


Cheers


Jules

Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution. Despite having the inverse Midas Touch [1] he plods onward
undaunted.

I know. Makes you proud to be British :-)

Jon

[1] Everything he touches turns to sh..

Jon Senior wrote:

Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution. Despite having the inverse Midas Touch [1] he plods onward
undaunted.

He plods onward undaunted by the fact he's "inventing" technology to
replace existing technology that's at least as good. At the time of the
C5 debacle there were already plenty of ways of doing most of the stuff
Much Better. His electric bikes haven't done anything you couldn't do
better with a Heinzmann setup in a Brompton. He seems too convinced of
his own brilliance to bother scoping the existing market very well,
which is a shame because if he did he could squander some neurons on
actually useful stuff!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch wrote:

He plods onward undaunted by the fact he's "inventing" technology to
replace existing technology that's at least as good. At the time of
the C5 debacle there were already plenty of ways of doing most of the
stuff Much Better. His electric bikes haven't done anything you
couldn't do better with a Heinzmann setup in a Brompton. He seems
too convinced of his own brilliance to bother scoping the existing
market very well, which is a shame because if he did he could
squander some neurons on actually useful stuff!

In one of the elderly editions of the BHPC Newsletter, there is a photo of
Sir Cret^h^h^hlive attending one of our race meetings. Alas, he learned
nothing. I am expecting his next product to be as useful as, oooh, thse:

URL: http://www.obvious.fsnet.co.uk/dolbysausages/dolbysausages.htm

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========

Julesh wrote:
Jon Senior wrote:
In article ,
says...

Cynical ex-owner of

Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator ZX81 - needed bag of frozen peas to
stop it over heating. Suffered RamPack wobble Sinclair Spectrum 48k
(got through four of those before one worked properly) Sinclair QL (oh
remind me - microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest keyboard
membrain award


A QL. I've got one of those in my flat... keyboard membrane died...
the tracks cracked where the ribbon bends to join to the board.
I think that happened to most people. I was moving a couple of years
ago and disposing of lots of stuff through Ebay. I dug out the QL out
of my attic (it had got put there been when I bought an Amstrad 1512 in
about 1986) to see if it was likely to be a collector's item but the
keyboard didn't work. I looked inside and found the membrane was very
decayed.I guess it's the way the tracks are bent through 180 degrees. I
found a company that sold QL spare but they had sold out of membranes
years before!
You might like to see
http://www.uni-mainz.de/~roklein/ql/...ttp://www.uni-
mainz.de/~roklein/ql/Primus.html
Mine went to somebody wanting to do this.
Cheers
Jules

Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution. Despite having the inverse Midas Touch [1] he plods
onward undaunted.
I know. Makes you proud to be British :-)

Jon

[1] Everything he touches turns to sh..



I had two ZX81s, one working, one not. When I rediscovered them I found
that the keyboard ribbon cable had perished. I did sell them both and a
few accessories on eBay for an acceptable amount.



--

Julesh typed


Jules

Cynical ex-owner of

Sinclair Oxford 300 calculator
ZX81 - needed bag of frozen peas to stop it over heating. Suffered
RamPack wobble
Sinclair Spectrum 48k (got through four of those before one worked properly)
Sinclair QL (oh remind me - microdrives!) Winners of the world' cheapest
keyboard membrain award

You are showing your age and that you needed a *lot* experience before
the cynicism finally switched on. You must have had more money than I
had in you misspent youth!

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Jon Senior typed


Despite this I've got a soft spot for Mr Sinclair. He's a true British
institution. Despite having the inverse Midas Touch [1] he plods onward
undaunted.

Jon

[1] Everything he touches turns to sh..

Shouldn't that be the Sadim touch??

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.