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news
Still taken from Babel Bike promotional video on IndiegogoIs the Babel Bike the safest bike ever made?
“The inspiration came one day after I bounced off the side of a turning van,” says Crispin Sinclair about his Babel Bike project. Sinclair thus envisioned a ‘safety cell’ for cyclists, not dissimilar to the roll cages used in racing cars. Using this and other features, he claims he has come up with the safest bike the world has ever seen.
Describing the Babel Bike as ‘the biggest step forward in bicycle safety for over 100 years’, Sinclair – who is the son of the famous inventor Sir Clive Sinclair – is appealing for backers for his project via Indiegogo. At the time of writing, Babel Bike had attracted over £11,000 of a £50,000 target with 30 days to go.
Describing his creation, Sinclair says:
“The Babel hybrid bike has the highest level of primary safety equipment ever fitted as standard to a bicycle, with built-in lights that come on as soon as you start pedalling, indicators, hazard flashers, brake lights, mirrors and a loud car horn.
“But even these won’t help in a collision with a turning truck or bus at a junction – by far the single biggest cause of cycling fatalities. So we have designed into the bikes a roll cage like those found in racing cars, along with seat belts, a custom-made safety seat and steel foot protectors.”
Sinclair says that the bike is designed so that it won’t be crushed by a truck. He and his team say they have tested the bike against a 38-tonne truck and seen it pushed away rather than flattened.
The bike comes with a Shimano 250-watt electric assist motor with a 50-80 mile range as standard, but it can also be ordered without. In terms of security, one of the foot protectors can also double as a lock.
The team’s stated aim is to put a million more bikes on the roads and so take a million cars off them. The electric version will be priced at £3,499 plus £149 for the security pack (which as well as the lock also involves all the components being sealed and locked inside the frame). The non-electric version will cost £1,999. It is hoped that both will be available from May 2016.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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31 comments
You are right I wouldn't be seen dead on that.
Are you sure its not a BMW? (ref. C1 scooter) - I didn't buy one of them for the same reasons
This is a cycle helmet for the whole body, and given that helmets have completely failed to improve safety, it doesn't seem likely that this will either, and for the same reasons.
Perhaps the good Mr Sinclair might like to read "Risk" by John Adams before investing any money into this to find out why it won't work. I'm pretty sure it'll go the same way as the motorcycles which had very similar cages to protect the rider, and are spectacularly obvious by their absence on the roads.
Reminiscent of the good old bikeE. (Mine is still going strong).
So, Sir Clive Sinclair doesn't have 50k to spare, for funding his son's project. Either he's skint, tight, or doesn't think its a good investment.
Can't quite make my mind up, personally - the aims of the project are laudable, but probably too expensive for the kind of customer who it would appeal to.
Tricky thing to get right.
Maybe the crowd sourcing is a way of gauging the market. If enough people sign up, then perhaps it's a runner.
I too scoffed at electric bicycles, until my Brother who suffers from an arthritis type disease bought one. Absolutely brilliant for commuting and keeps him fit when otherwise he would be pretty much forced to use a car.
You're right, e-bikes do have a place and are useful for a lot of people particularly disabled riders or on bikes that carry a lot of cargo or passengers.
There does seem however to be a growing number of fit and able bodied using e-bikes. I'm not a fan of this, it seems a lot like using a mobility scooter simply because you are too lazy to walk. Plain weird if you ask me but still better than using the car I guess.
No one will ever crash one... Because no one will ever ride one.
Presumably this is aimed at people who are currently too scared to cycle because of the fear of traffic.
Are those people really going to spend £2k on a bike?
More to the point, if you are scared to mix it with the traffic on the roads, would the design of this bike actually make you feel any safer? I'm doubtful.
Well everyone laughed when the first electric bikes were introduced. Bikes like this WILL become the norm eventually. That's once politicians get their heads banged together to provide suitable road conditions for ALL users !
Some of us are still laughing at e-bikes.
Might I suggest you refrain from such a crass response if you see my lady riding hers. For she is a toughie and I hate to see a grown man cry.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't berate an e-bike rider in the street. I don't know their reason for going electric and I certainly don't poke fun at disabled people or those with mobility issues - e-bikes do have their place.
What I do laugh at are concepts like the Copenhagen Wheel that are marketed to enable easy and sweat-free hipsterism. Young, fit people don't need e-assist to cruise to keg parties and fashion shows.
If only there was a way of reducing car traffic and keeping people on (and off) bicycles safe, which was even more effective and didn't require the potential victims to spend £2,000 or more on a bicycle in self-defence.
Like, I dunno, taking away some space for cars and turning it over to proper hard-separated cycle tracks.
*starts sketching Iron Man suit for use at zebra crossings*
needs an ejector seat and I'm in.
"needs an ejector seat and I'm in."
Or rather, out, mrchrispy
Aye, your average roadie isn't going to be buying this but that's not who it's aimed at. If it finds a niche market that helps remove more cars from our roads then give it a chance.
Yes, I too think that this is a smart design. It may take time to catch on but it looks like a good, well thought out project. The Old Man's original C car design was brought out way before its time and way before the design and technology had been properly proved or tested. All the technologies in this new bike have been tested and are constantly being improved. Anything that gets lard arsses out of their cars and into the fresh air gets my vote. Incidentally you would of though that Sir Clive would have left a bit of cash for something like this project. The eventual prices for these machines seem reasonable though!
Look at it as an alternative to a scooter and not a bicycle and it sort of starts to make sense as a tax free, cheap to run commuter which you don't need to wear a motorcycle helmet to ride. I bet it goes like a stabbed rat off the line with the electric motor.
youd think after approx. 30 years, the sinclairs could have come up with something better than a recumbent with a roll cage to replace the C5. I'd have expected rocket boosters (to help jump potholes Michael Knight style) and lasers by now!
It's safe, because all the traffic stops to gaup at you when you ride one.
Because of potholes I'm thinking of designing a bike where the front wheel is disproportionately larger than the back wheel. Any takers? (Maybe I'll call it the £2.05 bike - y'know, like coin sizes?)
perfect..................... for riding down the same road as the c5 that is
a non runner, surely??!!??...anyone that gave money to this (electric version) is patently mad and not a (real) cyclist...they'd be better protecting themselves cocooned in a padded rubber room with a wraparound 'safety' jacket...
This article is two weeks late.
Whatever happened to this? ("Estimated delivery 2011")
http://www.sinclairzx.com/spec-x-1.html
stupid idea, stupid price tag, nobody will ride these anyway
also
"he/she should have been in an armoured bike!"
I have a bad feeling about this .....
http://www.a-bike.co.uk
Jeeez.
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