YikeBike

I have ridden recumbent bikes (e.g. <a href="http://www.recumbents.com/home.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.recumbents.com/home.asp</a>) for decades. Mine is very much like the Yike: underseat steering, approximately 20" wheels, short wheelbase, and I sit almost directly over the front wheel (like the Yike) except I have to pedal. Here is what I know:<p>1. sitting on a wheel means every time you hit a pothole you say yike as your spine is pounded.<p>2. you MUST keep both hands on the wheel at all times because it is dynamically unstable (very different from an 'upright' bike which will steer hands-free).<p>3. forward center of gravity will dump you on your face under heavy braking (or for the Yike - the slightest braking).<p>4. small wheels feel every bump in the pavement (which has a fractal dimension explored in greater detail as the wheel gets smaller).<p>5. You can ride a recumbent for hundreds of miles in a day and still be very comfortable (I have) but it requires a chair-type seat; preferably with some recline to it. That seat looks painful.<p>6. A short wheelbase like my bike or the Yike allows you to turn on a dime - but it takes practice as both wheels do not have the same weight and a skid is unrecoverable. Do not attempt this on ice, snow, wet leaves, etc..

Yikes, that thing will not sell. The core demographic that would use it are the same people that want to look the coolest. And I can't imagine anyone cool sitting on something as dorky.<p>Another good idea killed by poor design.

Every person in that video seems to be thinking "Ha ha. Look at that moron!" though I'm sure that's not what I'm supposed to be thinking.

"How heavy is a YikeBike? The YikeBike weighs less than 10kg with a full battery and air in the tyres"<p>And how much does it weigh with a drained battery and flat tires? :)

This shouldn't be compared to a regular bike but to Segway. A popular electic bicycle would also be cheap and allow pedalling.

I'm going to go ahead and predict this same problem: <a href="http://paulgraham.com/segway.html" rel="nofollow">http://paulgraham.com/segway.html</a>

I would not want to go down a hill on that thing.

It looks like it will have pretty much exactly the same problems the segway has. It is too expensive (~3,500 - 3,900 Euros). The range is too short (9-10km) and it doesn't go fast enough(edit: When finished won't go fast enough). It reminds me exactly of how the Segway origionally wanted to be, long distance and high speed, but regulations and batteries kept it from doing so. If they are going for a small niche then they might be fine, but if they are trying to mass market it, then it seems like it'll be another pipe dream. That's not to say I don't think its cool, just not at all practical.

I can't imagine trying to bail out if you got into trouble with the handlebars around your legs like that.

Yikebike: How much: €3700~ ($5400) | How far: 9-10 km (5.5 miles) | How fast: 20 kph (12 mph)<p>For comparison...<p>Segway: How much: $2-7000? | How far: 38km (24 miles) | How fast: 20 kph (12 mph)

Sat that high up with not much in front of you... it looks like it might have some stability issues.

This bike and segway are marketing to the WRONG demographic.<p>City folk are too cool and care too much about their image to ride these things.<p>Come out here to the small towns of the mid/northwest where we drive our cars 10 blocks to get to work. Or the grocery store is 3 blocks away, so is the movie store, and Starbucks.<p>They are still too expensive, but every house on my block could benefit from one of these, and if we saw each other riding it down the street, we'd all be jealous of one another and want one.

Great, but I would not like to be seen on one.

It is a sad sad state of product design that the people who spent so much time designing and making it never rode a bicycle.<p>If they had they would know that even getting on this contraption would scare the daylights out of a seasoned cyclist(like me).<p>Not to mention that it is everyone's dream to look like an idiot at speed.

This is what I said the first time YikeBike was posted on HN:<p>"tiny wheelbase + forward centre of gravity + unexpected obstacle = faceplant."

It doesn't look stable <i>or</i> durable.

Kudos to all who are trying to make bike-like commuting practical. I'm looking forward to practical ideas.

I just hope that the price will be much more reasonable when it goes into production...

dammit when is apple going to release one of these so people think it's cool?