Does this belong in the bike lane? It's what you want in the bike lane if you're driving a car and in the car lane if you're riding a bike.
I like the video because the music is so inappropriate.
June 24, 2024
"Cycling when it's raining and cold doesn't always make you want to cycle, so I said to myself why not put a roof on the bike and, as we thought about it, we arrived at this concept."
Says the inventor of the Karbike, quoted in "Meet the Karbike: not just an e-bike, but not quite a car/And the French see a role for it in the mobility landscape" (autoblog).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
67 comments:
I'd put that with golf carts, wherever they go.
Bike lane.
The carriage revisited. There is also the ever popular slicker that offers greater versatility, and lower cost of entry.
Yabba dabba doo!
If that's the thought process for coming up with the solution, they would have ended up with this IP: https://internationalsurreyco.com/
You just know some asshole is going to go down the sidewalk in one.
They seem too wide for a bike lane, would effectively serve as a roadblock to other cyclists, particularly if behind a slow cycler that it could not pass.
How fast is this electric cart supposed to go? and for how long?
Also.. WHY are e-bikes allowed on bike paths, and mopeds AREN'T?
Rickshaws for the green-minded. EVs for a maintainenable, if not sustainable, illusion.
A bicycle should be exposed to the elements and have no more than 3 wheels. To me, this falls into the category of golf cart or side by side. Looks pretty cool though. I'd rather have this: https://blixbike.com/products/packa-electric-cargo-bike
The wetness comes from the road, not from above. It requires a lot of oiling of the power train when you get home.
Some first thoughts:
It's nothing new, it's a rickshaw, it's a pedicab.
Rain doesn't always just fall straight down. Do they have doors for it?
It'd be a bitch in the wind.
It would take up a lot of the spaces at a bike rack. The thing just cries for vandalism.
Get a Harley.
Le Car has already been done...
The gamification of special interest safety infrastructure continues. Before you know it will increase in weight to 500lbs and they'll still ignore traffic rules like their spandex ancestors.
Does it have space for a prayer rug and a compass to locate Mecca?
Yes, this thing would hurt others in a bike lane, but the operator would get badly hurt or killed in a traffic lane. For a while Canadian governments were asked to consider a ZENN vehicle, zero emissions something something. Eventually a crash test was done. In a crash at about 30 klicks, maybe 20 mpg, the thing disintegrated in some surprising ways. The only hypothetical survivor was a baby in one of those rear-facing carriers. For some reason the hood remained intact while separating from the vehicle, travelling through the air like a huge steel frisbee. More potential casualties.
It's one of those inspired ideas that is guaranteed to make drivers insane with rage, especially in those progressive minded municipalities that have stolen pavement to assign sacred ground to bike lanes.
The idea might work in closed- off downtown areas where yhere us only pedestrian traffic.
It shouldn't be in the bike lane because it's not a bike. It's too wide and you can't get around it. It shouldn't be in the car lane because it's too slow.
In the last 5 years or so there's been an explosion of weird new conveyances and they all suffer from this same problem--there is nowhere to put them.
gilbar said...
"How fast is this electric cart supposed to go? and for how long?
Also.. WHY are e-bikes allowed on bike paths, and mopeds AREN'T?"
It has a top speed set at 15 mph and it has a range of about 100 miles.
Also, I've noticed that a lot of people don't know what a "moped" is. A moped is a motorized bicycle with pedals. (That's where the "ped" comes from in the name.) I constantly keep seeing people referring to scooters as "mopeds."
Blogger Old and slow said...
A bicycle should be exposed to the elements and have no more than 3 wheels.
I guess for the numerically challenged.
Brought to you by Moteurs de Singe
+10 pacwest @11:37am
So in my town golf carts are generally allowed on public roads like in Palm Springs. My community sends out emails every fewonths that golf carts should be on paths. They neglect to mention on paths with landscape and housekeeper vehicles ebikes bikes razor scooters pedestrians dogs on and off leash. I take my chances with the cart in the road…
So, its not really a bike. Its really a small electric car aka a golf cart with a bigger roof.
I see the woman pumping her legs but how much speed is that adding? or is that just to help charge the battery?
Now I'm getting deleted...
The Simple Solution is:
* use our lax immigration policies to import a Bevy of Beautiful Burmese* Babes
* put this Bevy of Beautiful Burmese* Babes to work, pulling us all around in rickshaws
Win! Win!
Burmese* well, anywhere in SE Asia.. but i said Burmese for alliteration assistance
i Should have said Mumbai, but i would have had to spell it with a "B"
C’est le Tuk Tuk
Nobody cares if you die in an urban bike lane. You get a mention on Boston.com and life moves on
thanx for the info loudogblog ..
Any you are TOTALLY RIGHT, that that WAS the origin of the word moped..
in Iowa.. https://iowadot.gov/mvd/motorcycle/operating-and-registering-mopeds
The definition of motorized bicycle (moped) found in 321.1(40)b of the Iowa Code is as follows:
"Motorized bicycle" means a motor vehicle having a saddle or a seat for the use of a rider, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and not capable of operating at a speed in excess of thirty-nine miles per hour on level ground unassisted by human power.
This definition does not require that a moped have an engine of a particular displacement. Consequently, a moped may be equipped with either an electric motor or engine to serve as a source of propulsion.
The key to whether a vehicle is a moped or motorcycle is its maximum operating speed, as certified by the original manufacturer. The speed of a moped cannot exceed 39 miles per hour on level ground unassisted by human power. The top speed of 39 mph must be printed on the manufacturer’s certificate of origin.
Please keep in mind that other terms, such as “scooter”, may be used to describe a moped or motorcycle, but how the vehicle will be registered depends upon how it was certified by the manufacturer and its top operating speed.
I actually think this is a great idea.
But only on really calm days.
As a cyclist I can tell you that the worst thing about cycling is not rain, but wind.
And that’s from a fairly skinny rider on a very light bike.
You add the huge profile and moderate weight and any wind even from the side and you’ll be dead in the water.
But just as a challenge event it would be interesting to ride it across the Texas panhandle.
Remember how Segways were going to take over the streets? Good times, good times.
"They seem too wide for a bike lane, would effectively serve as a roadblock to other cyclists,"
So they would be to cyclists what cyclists are to cars in two lane roads.
I think they should make a special lane for vehicles that aren't bicycles or cars. We need to get beyond the binary categorization and makes sure non-binary vehicles have their own access.
A lot of things that don't work in US work elsewhere.
I think it's fantastic. Anything that will prevent me from having to view someone in their skinny-ass bike shorts is OK by me. Now if they will just invent a similar enclosure for pear-shaped women walking in yoga pants my checklist for things to protect our society from visual blight will be complete.
I think I’ve seen videos of these in China and the Asian rim. Nothing “new” to see here.
Designed, developed, had built under contract, OK. But "invented" is a stretch.
Any traffic violations by such vehicles should be policed by Cartman on a Big Wheel.
PSA - The narration in that link can induce violent reactions in some viewers.
This is simply a velo. I suppose the “electric assist” is new but this concept is almost as old as the safety bicycle.
- Rafe
In the United States having one of those would make you a future organ donor.
Blogger R C Belaire said...
"Remember how Segways were going to take over the streets? Good times, good times."
They're still around, but mainly as organized Segway tours through Golden Gate Park on the weekends. I don't see any in the wild though.
So it's a rickshaw that you pedal yourself?
Much less protection than an Amish Buggy.
I'll stick with Clarkson's P45.
Looks like scooters I've seen in Rome that have full roofs. The only difference is that this has pedals. I don't know how it protects you from rain if there's any wind though.
" ... and the French see a role for it in the mobility landscape"
That landscape will require bike lanes at least twice as wide as today's already inadequate bike lanes. And some place (places really) to park them.
We see this all the time in Amish country. Has four wheels, a horse and goes very slow. Going uphill they are down to a crawl. Coming around a bend you stumble across the men in black in a buggy. Every few months a car/truck makes solid contact with one of these. Horses generally succumb, the drivers get injured, usually seriously. What a great idea!
In the rain, with proper gear, I'm dryer on my motorcycle that I would be in this toy.
I like the video because the music is so inappropriate.
ha ha ha ha ha
They ought to install a boombox right under the handlebars
and play that damn thing when you're zooming in the bike lane
people would be like "ahhhhhhhh!" and falling in the grass
you could trying playing that song while you're in the car lane
that's kind of like Wile E. Coyote music
very confident
right before you get squashed by some little old lady going 45.
I suspect that Carbike is made by the "Acme Corporation"
I found the secret-agent music amusing too. I was waiting for the oil-slick and ejector seat demo.
Plaintiff lawyers have to love the Carbike
That's what we call an "attractive nuisance"
You're too damn slow!
And you're making Richard Petty mad. He might give your bicycle a little bump.
It's the brunch of transportation!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFd0DlMotHI
There is no bad weather. There is only inappropriate clothing.
Looks like the Chinese beat them to it - here is a three-wheeled electric roofed bike from China.
https://jinpengev.en.made-in-china.com/product/CwLfBJMbfyUP/China-Three-Wheel-Electric-Mini-Tricycle-with-Roof.html
He invented- nothing. Heck, the EU has a law definition just this vehicle-
Quadricycle (EU vehicle classification)
The quadricycle is a European Union vehicle category for four-wheeled microcars, which allows these vehicles to be designed to less stringent requirements ...
He is good at publicity seeking. Hene, his quadricycle, not anyone else's, is making an appearance on this blog.
Non motorized quads are available on Amazon. Cyclists consider them toys.
Trikes, OTOH, are increasingly popular among the older set with physical conditions that make two wheeling it dangerous, difficult, or impossible. But still want to get around.
A lot of the bicycle deaths in cities could be avoided by bicyclists following a simple rule. Never pull up alongside a semi or other big commercial vehicle at a stop light, especially if it’s got its turn signals on to turn in front of your path. The driver may not see you, and the body of the vehicle is going to come over into the bike lane as it makes the turn.
Blogger Leland said...
I guess for the numerically challenged.
OK, a "cycle" then. You've got to allow for the third wheel for old people.
The speed of a moped cannot exceed 39 miles per hour on level ground unassisted by human power.
That's about twice as fast as should be allowed on bike paths. Not just for the safety of non-motorized bikers, but e-bikers routinely ignore traffic lights (as do regular bikers) as well as directions (going the wrong way on a one-way road), and not infrequently mow down unsuspecting pedestrians. Some of those pedestrians absent-mindedly wander into the bike path, but some are legitimately crossing with the light.
This is not to justify bike paths, which in cities at least give bikers a false sense of security and authority, and can't possibly pass any kind of cost-benefit test. Here in NYC they have reduced the number of traffic lanes for cars, creating much more congestion and therefore pollution.
Every new(ish) contraption is overhyped, as if they operate outside the normal laws of physics.
We are all going to be our own rickshaw peddlers. God help us.
Imagine one of these in those bike lanes in Amsterdam. The appropriate song would be "Wrecking Ball."
You can see how advanced are the Bisdak of Cebu Philippines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4JhKYDpxFA&t=94s
Youtube video to a Cebu News story on ebike traffic. Queued up to bypass all the talking "botbot".
Here's my favorite version of "Wrecking Ball" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WfjYIGd1g0
It's by The Knitters, which you probably already know is Exene Cervenka and John Doe, formerly of the LA punk band X. I always heard that they considered themselves to be a country band, but I didn't get it until they released Poor Little Critters On The Road.
Hasn’t this been done before? And before that?
A kiddie car for adults.
https://x.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1802816782115217765
Here is a link to video on x of a few of these vehicles involved in a m''e'##le&e-- (melee), with a more traditional form of transport.
Wrecking ball is apt.
Post a Comment