I'm a college student, and I use my bike to get around just about everywhere. Plenty of students do the same thing, and like many other students, I've also had a few bikes stolen.
The problem is that bikes are about six feet long, but a bike rack is just a few inches wide, and usually looks something like this.
That's what Kevin Scott was trying to fix when he designed a bendable bike that can wrap itself up around any post. He's a 21-year old graduate of The De Montfort University in England, and his bendable bike was runner-up in the Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award.
When he was a college student, Scott faced many of the same problems I have in keeping my bike secure. If you don't have a huge lock for the frame and the tires, a thief can easily walk away with half your bike. Because this bike can become so compact when you wrap it around a light post, one small lock can keep the frame and the tires safe.
According to Inhabitat's Brit Liggett, this bike uses a ratchet mechanism so it's both rigid and bendable, but not simultaneously. When you jump off the bike to park it, you push a lever on the frame and the bike becomes flexible, so you can wrap it around the nearest post or bike rack.
In a press release from the university, Scott says he plans to commercialize his design. “I am now going to take this forward to produce a fully resolved solution and hopefully this will be a stepping stone into a career in the bike designing industry,” he says.
Hopefully it's on the market before another one of my bikes is stolen.
Photo: Tony Kyriacou/Rex Features
Tags: Bicycles, Bike Safety, Gadgets, Inventions
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