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The CycleWing, a sail for your bike, is now crowdfunding on Kickstarter

Not getting enough tailwind? You may want to invest in CycleWing, a sail that fits to almost any bike and allows you to rotate it with a bar control system to better catch the wind...

If you want to make the most of your tailwind on long days in the saddle, these US Entrepreneurs may just have the thing for you... it's a sail that attaches to the rear of your bike controlled by two handlebar-mounted buttons, dubbed the CycleWing and now crowdfunding on Kickstarter to bring the working prototype into full production. 

First look: Tailfin launches  AeroPack rack range on Kickstarter 

cyclewing packed

Attaching to almost any bike like a rear rack, the sail and mast are covered and packed when not in use (above) and when you want to boot up the sail you simply turn it on via the buttons on the handlebar-mounted head unit. The screen displays the angle that the sail is set at, and you can adjust it according to conditions. It can give you a boost from a wide range of wind directions, with about 35° to 45° on either side unable to generate any power (bad luck if you're riding into a full-on headwind).

The engineers who developed it say the CycleWing was made for long distance touring along country roads, as using it in crowded cities would have fairly obvious shortfalls. 

cyclewing controls

 

The CycleWing is currently a working prototype and fully made in the USA, and if/when it goes into production the finished product could weigh less than 7kg if made from light materials such as carbon. They say it's arguably the greenest form of powered cycling, and to bring it to life CycleWing are looking for almost £60,000 worth of crowdfunded investment. A $500 pledge will get you one at an earlybird discount of up to 40%, with various other items offered for lower amounts. Head over to the CycleWing Kickstarter page here for more info.  

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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