The world is crying out for some decent folding electric bike designs and predictably, given its two-wheeled heritage, Robrady Design has delivered one of the best we’ve seen so far. Secondary transport solutions that are light and electric and can fold into small spaces are naturally an important part of the transportation equation of the future – Robrady designed the db0 for Taiwanese company DK City and it’ll be on the market within two months.
While ROBRADY is well known for its design prowess in the electric scooter and super bike world (notably its electric superbike and its association with the now defunct Vectrix electric scooter company), this is the company’s first foray into the electric bicycle market.
ROBRADY CEO and Design Director Robert Brady said his team “took a white page look” at the opportunity and set out to design a series of three bikes that would be instantly recognized as the next generation in folding bikes.
“The three new db0 bikes embody our mission to design a series of clean, bold, and innovatively simple folding bikes. Our design work promotes the folding mechanism as an integrated piece of the design- a ‘focal point’ that adds visual value to the bike design unlike it has ever been done before. We don’t hide the fact that these bikes fold- we have made it a distinguished characteristic of the series.”
Several features of the bike are currently being patented. DK City, which will be the exclusive manufacturers of the bicycle series, is also taking a fresh approach to the build, incorporating unique manufacturing processes that it claims will deliver a bicycle of superior craftsmanship. The partnership is planning several future projects beyond this series of bicycles.
Sadly, that's all we have at this stage - no pricing, no specifications, no top speeds or range. Looks good though, and stay tuned for when they release detailed information.
More good news is there are continuous advances in battery technology as well as the prices will decrease over the next several years. The db0\'s battery fits right into the swivel junction, which keeps the weight low and centered (makes sense).
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the essence of the db0 is that it\'s a real bicycle, and can utilize standard, off the shelf, replacement components for most parts that need occasional attention.
while the CAD models are pretty - that\'s where it ends...either the design company is at fault or the client company gave no direction - i don\'t know, maybe both
strange looks, odd / not compact folding, overly complex, to many loose joints resulting in a \"rattling ride\", poor human factors, cost beyond comparable folding priced models, engineering and factory tolerances are beyond what any normal Asian factory could handle in stastical quality.....the list goes on.....for a cool / clean folding e bike check out a Flyer model (of Switzerland)
What you want is an electric scooter, or motorcycle, not an electric-assisted bicycle (e-bike).
An e-bike is a bicycle -- a machine which you pedal -- that gets some extra help from an electric motor. There are any number of very well-designed, reasonably priced, functional e-bikes, as well as some excellent after-market add-on kits available. Panasonic, Bosch, Phantom, Flyer, Sparta are a few of the many. Still, to date and to my knowledge, none of them work well as folders. It's a question of weight.