A Bellcycle is a new kind of bicycle that is built from a DIY kit and lets you ride with a straight back and hands kept in a natural position. It’s modular and can even be set up to carry cargo.
The Bellcycle is a concept from Labs Bell and has been designed by Alex Bell, an engineer who was born and raised in NYC, US. He builds new ideas following the motto, “Where is the future and why is it taking so long to get here? Let’s build new, different and innovative solutions. Let’s not be afraid of failure. Try different things. See what sticks.”
The modular bike
So what’s different with the Bellcycle? It can be transformed to meet the needs of the rider. In most example photos and videos shown, you can see the rider sitting on top of the front wheel, followed by a supporting second wheel which is slightly smaller.
However, the Bellcycles are trying to inspire the riders to tinker with the system. It’s built in a relatively open way, so the customers can change and augment the bike in the way they need it to be like. It could become a tricycle, or some might even use it as a unicycle.
They even thought of the option to provide an electric motor to their Bellcycles. They worked with Analog Motion to build an electric kit that can upgrade the Bellcycles to become e-bikes. The kit comes with a rear wheel, battery, sensors and everything you need to install it.
Funded on Kickstarter
Starting from $249, you can back their product now on Kickstarter. With a focus on modularity and open source hardware engineering, they quickly managed to attract a lot of interested backers and right now they have already achieved more than twice the targeted goal in crowdfunding money.
Alex Bell, the designer of the solutions, describes the conception like this, “I threw away all conventional understanding of what a bicycle is and said what would an inexpensive, modular and comfortable commuting bike look like? It would be easy to repair, it would convert into a cargo bike or tricycle depending on the day, and you would sit upright with your hands by your side as if you were sitting in a chair.”
YouTube: Bellcycles DIY Bicycle Kickstarter Video
Photo credit: Alex Bell (Labs Bell)
