Strollers and big diaper bags are not things you would normally put in the basket on a bicycle but then again, this bicycle is anything but normal and it practically flies. Neal Saiki invented a bike that defies gravity.
The magic isn't voodoo or fairy dust. There's a small motor and a big battery, and together they "help" a rider pedal. It's a little like the faraday electric bike that debuted a few months ago with one key difference.
"Ordinary bikes, you just can't carry anything, and one of the things that really frustrated me was I like to ride a bike, but then I'd have to resort to getting my car out if I just wanted a gallon of milk or go to the gym after work," Saiki said.
So, he designed the entire bike around a cargo basket that holds 100 pounds of stuff. "The reason no one's really invented a bicycle like this before is because when you get a lot of bulky load or trying to carry 100 pounds of cargo, the steering or the handling of the bike really goes to pieces. So what I had to do was I had to reinvent how a bicycle steers," Saiki explained.
The new contraption puts the motorized front wheel directly under the cargo, making it perfect for the heavy things that have always been delivered in trucks. "Packages and all kinds of deliveries, food, flowers, you name it, every kind of delivery in the city," Saiki said.
Saiki has already had a lot of interest in the new bike from Europe, where bicycle delivery is just part of the culture. But the bike's abilities on hills are what he thinks will make it a huge hit in San Francisco.
Saiki knows it's a tech town and a coffee town, so the bike even features a USB charging port and a coffee mug holder. He built the bike tough as nails, but with businesses in mind.
The $3,400 bike has gotten an awful lot of interest from individuals. "People who just want to carry their laptops and a gym bag and get some groceries after work, so it's kind of made for everybody," Saiki says.
