Filtered By: Scitech
SciTech

Foldable bikes and wheelchairs? Now you can fold their wheels, too


With cycling becoming a popular mode of transportation amid the pandemic, foldable bikes have been a huge help to many people.

Parking bikes can be a problem, as some delivery riders have experienced after falling victim to bike theft on the streets. With foldable bikes, cyclists can carry their rides indoors and take it with them when riding public transportation such as trains and buses.

There's a limit to how much you can fold your bike, however, mostly due to the size of the wheels. Luckily, we now have a game-changer to solve this issue: foldable wheels!

American engineer Alex Animashaun created Tuck Bike, the world's first ever folding bike with a folding wheel.

"I invented Tuck Bike because I wanted a full size bike that I could take anywhere. There are other folding bikes, but I wanted a bike that I really wanted to ride," Alex said.

"Re-inventing the wheel is a crazy hard thing to do, but the good news is - the hard part is done," he added.

The Tuck Bike has a compact design that features a 28-inch puncture proof foam tires that can be divided into three parts.

Aside from Tuck Bike, Revolve Air has also come up with foldable wheels for foldable wheelchairs.

The idea is to level up wheelchair services in airports, making it more convenient for passengers to take their wheelchairs on the plane.

The wheelchair has a 26-inch wheel that measures only nine inches when folded. The whole chair can be dismantled so it can comfortably fit into the overhead bin.

This eliminates the need to check-in the wheelchair hours before the flight, making air travel more convenient for wheelchair users.

The innovation, which is a huge help to persons with disabilities (PWDs), was hailed among the TIME Magazine's best inventions of 2021.

—MGP, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT