Impossible – the smallest portable electric bike yet!
For quite some time now, making smaller and fold-able bikes have been the goals of people who want to encourage the “go green” motto. However portable bikes are made, they couldn’t be reduced to a size smaller than a suitcase and weight lesser than 5 kilograms. Moreover, it is indeed a very cumbersome process to unfold and fit the parts together to transform it into a bike.
What is Impossible?
Impossible, made in China, addresses these issues. The Impossible bike is a portable electric bike designed to fold even more and weigh even lesser than the currently selling smallest bikes. It can fit into a small backpack.
Why is Impossible great?
It has a steel carry case that is used as a shock-absorbing saddle. It can travel upto 12.4mph with no pedaling. In fact, there is no option for pedaling. (Why is it called a bike in the first place!) There are not many separate parts. All parts are connected to one another, they can easily be unfolded and assembled to form the bike. Fitting the folded triangular shaped bike into a backpack is a traveler’s dream come true!
Why is Impossible not great?
Even though it is small and weighs less, I still think it is a pretty tedious process unfolding it. When I saw the video below, I thought whoa what a small bike, how much weight could it possibly bear? Impossible says it can bear up to 85 kilograms. Now, that would eliminate a lot of people from buying this bike. I am also unsure if it would be really helpful for travelers. Also, I am skeptic about how it can manage wear and tear. One more thing that looks bad is the comfort. This bike may not suit tall people as it looks very small and the saddle looks very uncomfortable.
The Bottom-line
It surely is a revolution when it comes to making portable bikes. Once customization options begin to kick in, it will see more market. Questions still arise on the reliability and durability of this technology. Surely, taking this as a model, more innovations would address all the issues.