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New Zealander Invents Segway Alternative
RainbowBrite writes "The YikeBike is the invention of a New Zealander aiming to alleviate city congestion. 'It might look like a collision between a praying mantis and a child's scooter, but it's the result of five years of work to reinvent the wheel, with one important addition: an electric motor. It's a bicycle, but not as we have come to know it. For a start, you sit upright and steer with your hands at your side.'" The YikeBike weighs in at a measly 22 lbs but has a hefty price tag of almost $5,000 US (£3,000). The battery's expected lifespan is only 1,000 charges, but the device has a projected range of around six miles.
No.
Seriously, this looks like it could trip on your average pothole, curb cut, or simply breaking hard.
Yes, your feet are fairly forward where you might be able to catch your self, but I see a lot of separated shoulders in this this bikes portfolio.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Looks great for posture too. Hopefully they will have a chiropractor rebate in there.
What happens if you brake going down a steep hill?
So, basically this thing costs about $1 per mile?
I sincerely hope the inventor manages to make it a bit cheaper to own before this thing hits the streets....
Remember the buzz around the Segway before it came out? (I know some Slashdotters these days are a bit too young, see e.g. Kemper's Code Name Ginger .) Basically Kamen's invention was first announced through the code names IT and Ginger, with the promise that this unknown invention would completely change life as we know it. When the Segway was finally unveiled, the disappointment pretty much killed off any widescale distribution of the device (along with crazy city ordinances). I wish this bike inventor luck, but I have a feeling that the less he touts how revolutionary it is, the more adoption it will see.
It's a bicycle, but not as we have come to know it
Better put as:
It's bike, Jim, but not as we know it.
If I had a nickel for every time I had a nickel, I'd be richcursive!
Speaking of good ideas. Has anybody heard of this one?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle
These things seem to be really popular. They work on nearly the same principle as the vehicle mentioned in the article and they're also light weight and a lot cheaper. Plus they don't make it look like your mom had a job at the circus taking canon balls to the stomach while she was pregnant with you.
And that was the last Terry Fox run I ever participated in.
It's more expensive than the Segway (which runs $3-5K last I checked), has 1/4 the range, and while it weighs less, this only partially offsets the more limited movement (it can't rise over a curb without aid, a Segway can). Unless your balance is atrocious, you can use a Segway (my 80 year old grandfather bought one as his knees declined). Why would I buy this?
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
The article says it can only go 12.5 mph. An ordinary person on a bicycle can go faster than that on a bicycle without breaking a sweat. The segway is at least more maneuverable than a bicycle at slow speeds; while this thing has no redeeming value at all.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -Aldous Huxley
If they'd made a model with something like tracks that work in deep snow and market it back country skiers/boarders, they just might have a winner.
... is to just use your damn bicycle. Why pay $5,000 for that thing? Why pay money for a segway? Buy a bike for a couple hundred bucks or cheaper. It's better for the environment and costs less. I don't see the need for this fancy motor scooter crap.
http://www.bicycle-power.com/electric.html
Hey. I've had a great idea. People could propel these things using their legs, getting fit at the same time. So you would be moving to your destination *and* saving money in gym fees *and* saving all that waste time at the gym too.
Think I'll patent it.
"A method for increasing human fitness and moving towards a destination at the same time."
Deleted
I find this personal mobility devices pathetic for able bodied people.
Why aren't we satisfied with walking anymore? I will be walking 30 minutes twice a day from September.
The only issue is boredom and wasting of time. I will counter this with podcasts.
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
it doesn't seem suited to be used on any terrain other than flat terrain. It looks like a bicycle but does not seem to have the same benefits. Bicycles have suspension that lets you lift the front wheel a few inches above the ground to get on elevated surfaces. This does not seem like it has suspension and even if it did, the steering handles are in an awkward position. What's the point of it, you're better off getting a bicycle that will do more and cost much less.
Kiwis have an interesting mentality. They're literally 1000 nautical miles from anywhere and have had to rely on inventing everything or else having it shipped it. So, their entire culture is based on inventing things. Farmers have come up with some amazing inventions in their time, but the culture permeates all other parts of society, sometimes to the detriment of re-inventing the wheel -- like in this case.
When the Segway was finally unveiled, the disappointment pretty much killed off any widescale distribution of the device (along with crazy city ordinances).
I don't know about crazy city ordinances, but I was astounded by the speed with which the electric personal assistive mobility device gained recognition and all the rights of a bicycle under Virginia Law. I believe the law changes were in the books even before the first Segway hit pavement in Virginia. And I'm just willing to bet that you'll find similar treatment in state laws on both U.S. coasts.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
You had me at "praying mantis"!
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
From TFA:> I have just become the first British journalist to road test the YikeBike, billed as a mini penny-farthing for the 21st century.
Hey, just in time for this retread
I'm surprised there isn't a bigger market for rechargeable-electric-motors that retrofit on existing bicycles.
If there's a low-range, commuter version good for maybe 10 miles between charges if you don't pedal that costs less than $1,000 plus the cost of the bike then there should be.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
So that's about 83 cents per mile, over the lifetime of the product, just for the purchase. Plus the cost of the electricity to charge it. That's not terribly cost effective. Especially if I can never get more than 3 miles from home, in order to make the round trip without having to drag it.
A New Zealander invented the foot?
The only use I could see is for storing in the trunk of a car as a back up/short hop alternative. It'd have to have 3X the range to be practical for even that. It seems pointless. Electric bikes normally have 3X to 4X the range and cost less. If it's supposed to take on the Segway it needs a lot more range and it lacks the coolness factor of a self righting vehicle. A fold up traditional electric bike would make more sense. Gee it'll be great when batteries are 10X better? So will every other invention including the Segway. It's a solution in search of a problem since it doesn't fit any existing need.
This has all of nothing to do with the Segway. It's a tricycle with the center of gravity moved forwards. It is significantly less stable than the Segway, and it's almost certainly more uncomfortable.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
I can buy a mopehead ("scooter") for less than £1000 which can go over 30 MpH. Why would I buy this? You cannot use it on roads OR on footpaths in a lot of locations and it is too small to really work as a carry-around and too big to park up.
Not as cool/affordable as the eniCycle (http://enicycle.com/).
Handlebars on traditional bikes are a good idea. Leaning slightly forward in your normal position with your hands in front of you on a nice solid piece of metal, if you have to brake suddenly your weight shifts forward.
So on a traditional bike if you hit the brakes when that inevitable Volvo driver cuts across you without signalling/pulls out, your weight shifts forward and you brace yourself with your arms. Your arms are pretty strong and it's a very natural position for them to take weight: we've been falling over and putting our weight on our arms since we were toddlers. The weight transfers to your arms, onto the rigid handlebars, and this is transferred through your front forks onto your front wheel, which has a little give with the pumped up tyre. You're still in control of your bike in this position, and the next most dramatic move is to slip forward off your saddle to a standing position forward of a saddle both feet on the floor. You've got your vehicle to brace yourself against to stop moving forwards, and you're gripping the handlebars tightly so getting the most out of your brakes.
On this new bike, yikes indeed. You stop suddenly and from the look of it your head is ahead of the rest of you. To stop you flying forward you're relying on your grip on the handlebars, much less reliable I'd imagine than locking your arms in front of you. Still your head is going to swing forward some amount. An alternative is that you've got to let go and lose control of your vehicle and take a few tenths of a second to swing your arms in front of you - nothing to hold on to - but just to protect you from the moving car or the road. You're not in control of your vehicle and all you can brace yourself against is the road or the car.
I think the traditional bike wins in this situation. Thoughts from others?
People didn't buy the segway because it was as expensive as a motorcycle with a limited range and went slower than most people could pedal a bike.
How is this better? Didn't learn from the Segway, did you? This costs more, has less range, and goes about the same speed.
Sorry to rant, but I'm just incredulous. I rode a $500 bike 75 miles in 5 hours. I can't imagine why I would want a $5000 "bike" that goes 6 miles in 30 minutes, then dies.
Here's the thing about progress. Later inventions are supposed to be better. Not cooler. I'll grant the Segway is kinda cool, and so is this, it's just a poorer solution to the getting from a to b problem than existing products.
Leave it to a Kiwi to put training wheels on a unicycle.
Sure, it's big, it's bulky, but for the most part, you will no longer need a car.
And for those who like things a little more space age, There's the go-one and similar vehicles, like this one pulling into a campus at Intel.
The velomobiles will protect you in the rain, and you can't face plant in it. The Stokemonkey is stupidly powerful and extremely practical (try and haul 2 little kids and 4 sacks of groceries on a yikeBike). The YikeBike is for yuppies who want a cool toy.
However: the future is not to be denied: the future of transportation lies in lightweight electric and electric assist (i.e. electric assisted pedal bikes and trikes) vehicles.
Get 'em now while they're relatively cheap and unwanted...
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
It's a good thing it's a damned sight slower than a road or even mountain bike, because it's a recipe for road rash. In terms of design, trying to compare it to a Segway seems like a serious non sequitur to me, more like an attempt to misframe it in order to find it a position in the market: by comparing it to the Segway, it effectively rides on the coattails of the Segway, in the same way that intelligent design advocates create false "controversy" to give their claims a phony legitimacy.
This isn't so much news as it is marketing.
So given that the 6000 miles figure is obviously going to be optimistic, You're basically paying 1$ per mile to look like an idiot and probably be even more vulnerable to getting in an accident than a bicyclist. No, I don't think I'll be getting one of these.
Unpleasantries.
a real bike, which instead of burning the money out of my wallet would burn the calories off my fat arse.
Good people go to bed earlier.
" 'Round here, we call her The Decapinator."
How about getting an electric scooter? It's a proven concept. And it doesn't look as awkward.
--- Sigmentation Fault - Comments Dumped
how about I remove the need for a battery all together by adding a device which you could work with your hands or feet to build up capacitance ... or wait... we could transform your mechanical action directly into rotational motion of the primary wheel. I'm thinking some large foot pedals. But then it's too high to pedal stably... put a low seat on it between two smaller wheels. Then the person would reach with their feet up to the main large wheel and pedal on it directly. It would have a big wheel in front and two small wheels in back supporting a basic chair... I wonder if there's a patent?
[signature]
Looks really weird, but at least is no South Park's IT.
Small tires do poorly on anything less than really smooth roads.
I have kids and can see the difference when they are ready and I take the training wheels out. Much less vibration, and faster cornering.
This may have some positives, but they would hardly outweigh the risk of facing a 2" pothole.
... for the Prisoner remake.
Guess you're not from Cleveland.
6 miles? That won't even get me halfway to my college. I'll use my actual legs and just use a actual damn bike. Don't even get me started on a limit of 1000 charges for something that expensive.
"They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
Stop trying to one-up the bicycle. It works, it is cheap and it is time tested.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Except maybe Southwest.
It's not for the ladies. Actually it's against anyone who doesn't have two bendable legs free.
You can't wear a dress. You can use it if you're in a brace. You have to be able to 'mount' the thing.
It's basically just a less useful design of a normal bicycle. The few improvements are balanced by new problems.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
Yet another article where a bunch of know-it-alls put down an invention for not being the status quo. "It's too expensive. It looks dangerous. Ride a bicycle. Ride an electric bike. Ride a motorcycle."
Go back to your basements and play WoW. The creative people are busy creating.
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
When I first saw a photo of this thing without the rider a few days ago I couldn't even figure out how the hell to sit on it. Seeing it now the thing looks like an awful safety hazard. The center of gravity rests too far forward. It's like riding a tricycle, minus the second rear wheel, by sitting on the handlebars. Hit any bump that causes the thing to stop suddenly and the rider is going to find him or herself sprawled all over the ground. Even small bumps that simply slow the vehicle would risk having the rider stumble out of this thing. Then there's the fact that your face is pretty much going to be the first part of your body that comes in contact with whatever you hit.
And why the carbon fiber frame? I can appreciate the strength and weight benefits. But I think a good plastic shell and an aluminum frame would do the job just find and would dramatically reduce the price of this thing. But I have to say, the prospect of riding that thing freaks me out.
This contraption is a gimmick, pure and simple. I'm not quite sure why the penny-farthing is pictured in the article. Is it there to serve as a justification for this thing? That was another bad idea which was limited by the technology available at the time, unlike this YikeBike.
The impression I get is that the creator wanted to remake the Segway but was hard-pressed to come up with an idea that wasn't derivative. There's a reason why bikes are designed the way they are. Need to get around efficiently? Get a bike, and if you get one at Goodwill for a few bucks you won't even have to worry much about theft or exposing it to the elements.
'Bicycling Science', Ergonomics and Mechanics, by Whit and Wilson, mit press, is now in it's 3rd (?) edition. It's a must read, should have, if you're at all serious about cycling and it bleeds geekiness. I build my own bikes from stripped down frames up and do almost all my own maintenance. I've played with ideas for new bike designs for a few years and now am onto a new brain storm, likely to end with me struck by lightening and toasted, but I can't get enough of it.
ideopath @ play
Are you doing you family's shopping every day? On every trip?
Having a different vehicle for different kinds of trips is more vehicles to store, maintain, and insure. If I want to drive to work, but I want to drive to the grocery store on the way home, I need to take the grocery store vehicle.
Or I can just ride a regular bicycle which has at minimum the following advantages:
That's just off the top of my head. I admire the designer trying but the bicycle is really a very elegant piece of engineering. I find it hysterical they compare it to the old high wheeler design (which was notoriously dangerous) rather than a modern bicycle.
You misunderstand.
Creativity is good. In developing the next something, there should be a massive burst of creativity with ideas flowing all over the place. Then there's this point where you start winnowing. This one's a cool idea, but nobody wants it. That one's a great idea and people want it, but it will cost us more to make than anyone will pay. Etc.
It's a hard lesson, but perhaps the value which should come from bashing unsuccessful products is the warning to the next inventor. It's not enough that you think it's cool. It has to fill a need in the marketplace. If it doesn't, it won't be commercially successful.
Do we really need the control wands inserted in the mouth and anus?
I invented a segue alternative, but I'm really disappointed in the lack of puns in this article.
As of 10/06/03, I hate COBOL developers.
It may make sense if you live too far from work to bike directly, but could use public transportation for most of the way, and then the portable gizmo for that last mile or two. You can carry it on a crowded bus.
However, some variation of a skateboard would seem like a better way for that to me.
Table-ized A.I.
Hello.. is this thing on?
I do a lot of walking but now I'll be living in town rather than campus which means it will be every day rather than once or twice a week.
I walked in London for about 1 hour in a smart suit and hot weather without knowing where I was going. I sympathize.
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
is a bigger bike.
then you don't need that clunky car for shopping.
(I just weighed my Big Dummy. Oy.)
This is exactly what I need to get to that next Flight of the Conchords show!
Bow-ties are cool.
http://www.electric-bikes.com/bikes/folders.html
When they can get the price tag on these down below $500 instead of $5000, then they'll catch on. Till then, it's an awful lot of money to pay for something of so little utility and so easily stolen. Why should I pay $5000 for one of these when I can get a decent bicycle or electric scooter for about $300?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Don't wear your expensive suit.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I don't get why people keep come up with all these bizarre alternatives. If you want basic city transportation, get a bicycle or a folding bike (if you need to take it on public transit). If you can't pedal or don't want to sweat, get an electric bike or electric assist. If you have balance problems, get an adult tricycle (they also come in folding and electric varieties). Those are cheap, proven transportation solution that will also keep you fit.
The fundamental problem of using something smaller and more efficient than a car is that you're at risk in a collision. But none of these "alternatives" solves that problem any better than a bicycle.
Yet another article where a bunch of know-it-alls put down an invention for not being the status quo. "It's too expensive. It looks dangerous. Ride a bicycle. Ride an electric bike. Ride a motorcycle."
There are reasons why standards become standard.
The safety bicycle takes recognizable form no later than 1887. ca. 1887 Safety Bicycle
It was easily adaptable to male and female riders.
The notion that girls would benefit from vigorous exercise as much as any boy evolves along with the bicycle - and you begin to see active "sports wear" becoming available to women.
The cyclist could make good time and good distance even on an unpaved road - and his kids could keep pace.
Small parcels become manageable.
But it isn't obvious what there is to gain beyond incremental improvements and customization.
The cyclist of 1890 bought a closed car in 1910 - and an after-market electric starter in 1915.
The point is this a story about a New Zealander.
ScuttleMonkey's focus is New Zealand, and always has been, just as the focus of a couple other /. "editors" is Australia.
Slashdot has become a site for "editors" to promote their home nations, or even just nations they happen to think are (or may be) "cool".
Get a foldable bike... near free. Get a foldable electric bike, a little bigger and heavier for 1/4 the price.
Get an electric scooter: 1/4 the price, weighs less, goes faster and folds to be smaller. You look like a child instead of a pretentious fag, which is worse is up to you. xootr eX3 Electric Scooter is an example btw ( http://www.geocities.com/estephanovich/ )
I can by a perfectly good electric scooter on eBay that will do 15mph, with a range of 10 miles, for only $200. If I want a better one with a range of 20 miles and enough torque to go up a decent hill, call it $400-$500. Max. The whole reason the Segway never took off was its ridiculous price point. Nobody wants to spend $5000. The incremental utility is simply not there.
--
But just the same way I don't see Segways at the Wal-mart, but do see the occasional Hover-round Chair, I don't think this is going to transform cities overnight :) It's got too much punch, needs acceptance from communities and the law, and has too large a price tag.
"I got it all together but I forgot where I put it."
I can see to this puppy are the low weight and the fact you can fold it up into a small parcel, otherwise it might as well be a Sinclair C5. I commute by pushbike and wouldn't use something like this for commuting myself, but a few years back I used to commute by public transport to a point 2 or 3 km from work then used a child's folding scooter for the final leg, so in a city like London where people travel ridiculous distances by train to somewhere near their work I can see a slight advantage on both fine days of the English summer. They need to get the price down and increase the range to be taken seriously though.
I have no idea why I put a B in Hummer.
What is the title of a movie starting Jim Carrey that rhymes with "Hum and Hummer"? That might give you a clue to your Freudian slip.
Well, they do in some jurisdictions. Major impediment.
'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;
He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;
He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;
He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;
And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,
The grinning shop assistant said, "Excuse me, can you ride?"
"See here, young man," said Mulga Bill, "from Walgett to the sea,
From Conroy's Gap to Castlereagh, there's none can ride like me.
I'm good all round at everything as everybody knows,
Although I'm not the one to talk - I hate a man that blows.
But riding is my special gift, my chiefest, sole delight;
Just ask a wild duck can it swim, a wildcat can it fight.
There's nothing clothed in hair or hide, or built of flesh or steel,
There's nothing walks or jumps, or runs, on axle, hoof, or wheel,
But what I'll sit, while hide will hold and girths and straps are tight:
I'll ride this here two-wheeled concern right straight away at sight."
'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that sought his own abode,
That perched above Dead Man's Creek, beside the mountain road.
He turned the cycle down the hill and mounted for the fray,
But 'ere he'd gone a dozen yards it bolted clean away.
It left the track, and through the trees, just like a silver steak,
It whistled down the awful slope towards the Dead Man's Creek.
It shaved a stump by half an inch, it dodged a big white-box:
The very wallaroos in fright went scrambling up the rocks,
The wombats hiding in their caves dug deeper underground,
As Mulga Bill, as white as chalk, sat tight to every bound.
It struck a stone and gave a spring that cleared a fallen tree,
It raced beside a precipice as close as close could be;
And then as Mulga Bill let out one last despairing shriek
It made a leap of twenty feet into the Dean Man's Creek.
'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that slowly swam ashore:
He said, "I've had some narrer shaves and lively rides before;
I've rode a wild bull round a yard to win a five-pound bet,
But this was the most awful ride that I've encountered yet.
I'll give that two-wheeled outlaw best; it's shaken all my nerve
To feel it whistle through the air and plunge and buck and swerve.
It's safe at rest in Dead Man's Creek, we'll leave it lying still;
A horse's back is good enough henceforth for Mulga Bill."
Banjo Paterson
I reserve the write to mangle english.
You know, this sort of bigoted elitism is exactly why "creative people" typically find such a frosty reception for their ideas. How dare the great unwashed reject this on scientific grounds!
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Just in case this hasn't been posted yet, check out the video on the product website: http://www.yikebike.com/ The expressions on the faces of the observers are extremely funny :-)
The creative people are busy creating something even less useful than a segway. Because it's motorized, no matter how slow it is there's all kinds of additional restrictions. You're better off with a normal bicycle like everyone said. Pedal, lazy ass.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Although you can use a motor to drive it, you don't actually need one!
Requires no electronics at all! Let alone complex controllers.
So no danger to lose power and crash your face into the ground.
Costs can go as low as $150!
Easy to repair. Everyone can basically do it himself.
I think I will call it a... "bicycle"! Yes. That's it! Waddaya think? Good name? Hm? Hm?
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
What you actually need is one of these. They go faster, last more than 1000 uses and cost less.
What is the reason for the tiny rear wheel?
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Why not just ride a proper fucking bike? is it that hard?
But that's an old fashioned design, using old fashioned materials and doesn't cost more than a modest second-hand car. If it was down to people like you we'd still be living in caves.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
the problem is that people want their heated cupholder and cooled seats while doing the "5 min" (more like 50 with rush hour) ride from their AC-ed home to their AC-ed office.
and preferably the ride should be big and make a lot of noise.
all in all, we have become all to comfortable, to the point where riding something that exposes one to the elements either have to be a luxury ride (see those without a top, and even those can be closed up if the elements turn nasty) or some kind of proof of the persons physical abilities...
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
This looks about as comfortable as a stick up one's a**.