Solar Powered Bicycle Of The Future Can’t Be Stolen

26 August 2009 | Green Cars | No Comments

Simple design, elegant and full of electronics. This is how Chris Boardman pictures the bike of the future.  The 40-years old cyclist, who won an individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics and broke the world hour record three times, imagined a bicycle that is “impossible to steal” ,working only by passing the fingerprint recognition system installed. It also features a mini-computer that display the burned calories, wheels without spikes to make it more aerodynamic and self-inflating,  puncture-proof tyres.

When you get tired of pedaling, the solar powered motor will kick in, giving you the energy boost you need. The motor is assisted by a battery, charged by solar panels placed on the bike. The frame is build out of carbon fiber, to make it strong and light at the same time.

Even if it’s still a prototype, Boardman argues that his “bike of the future” could be “the bike of the present”, if influential investors were interested enough to initiate a mass adoption out of this project. As he puts it: “It [the bike] could be built now if there was a will. All the technologies are already there, it’s just that nobody’s put them all together before.”
The only thing holding them back, is, as with most innovative products, the price. $3264 is the initial price, which, of course, is not affordable for everybody. But if we look at the components, like the carbon fiber frame, which brings great advantages, is, on the other side, very expensive, just  like, for example, the fingerprint identification system.
Let us just hope that some time in the future, the work that is being put in research and technology will pay off and makes this bike concept a reality.

Tags: aerodynamic, battery, bicycle, bike, carbon fiber, Chris Boardman, fingerprint, future, Green Technology, puncture-proof, solar panels, Solar powered, theft-proof

Leave a Reply