A portable bicycle is a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

that has been designed to be small and light enough for easy carrying. It is usually dismantled to make a convenient bundle and the frame often has a folding action to facilitate this. The design of a portable bicycle involves a trade-off between ease of carrying and ease of riding.

History

The first popular bicycles were the large

penny-farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every ro ...

s. The pioneering inventor, W. H. J. Grout of

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

, invented a portable version in which the large front wheel could be dismantled into four pieces so that they would fit into a carrying bag. In the 1890s, Captain Gérard of the 87th Regiment of French Infantry was an advocate of bicycles for military use. To enable his troops to operate in rough terrain, he devised a bicycle which could be folded in two and carried on the soldiers' backs; the weight was between 10-12 kg (22-26¼ lbs). The first time the Gérard portable bicycle was used, it "gave complete satisfaction and justified all expectations". The bicycles were manufactured by Charles Morel who commercialised the type. In 1919, Charles Haskell Clark of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

filed a patent (granted in 1921) (patent US1381281) for a portable bicycle that was easy to carry onto trains or street cars. Additional advantages of small wheels, described in the patent, were the reduced interference with skirts and the ability to dodge in and out among the crowd.Google Patents
Charles Haskell Clark velocipede. The December 1919 issue of

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

had an article describing Mr. Clark's "city bicycle".

Riding performance

The riding performance of portable bicycles is challenged by the need to make the bike small and light. Rider body weight and size, and road conditions, have a strong impact on design and on performance. Typically, portable bicycles intended for the

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

market (

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, ...) can be designed for riders lighter than 80 kg and shorter than 174 cm.

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

require designs for riders up to 120 kg and 200 cm. City roads are generally smoother in Asian cities, but the bicycle has to be able to ride in crowded city sidewalks. Many European city streets are paved with

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

, so portable bicycles marketed in Europe need to cope with such a pavement. The smaller the diameter of a

bicycle wheel A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels. Bicycle wheels are typically designed ...

, the higher the rolling friction and the rougher the ride, which is a challenge for portable bicycles as well as for

kick scooter A kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) is a Human-powered land vehicle, human-powered street vehicle with a mwod:handlebar#:~:text=: a straight or bent bar,usually used in plural, handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by ...

s. New technological solutions are being studied to offer the same rolling friction at smaller wheel diameters.

Carrying and folding

The point at which a folding bicycle can be considered a portable bicycle is not precisely defined, and depends on the user. A benchmark for portability are the

Brompton Bicycle Brompton Bicycle Limited, trading as Brompton, is a British manufacturer of folding bicycles based in Greenford, London. The Brompton folding bicycle and accessories are the company's core product, noted for its self-supporting compact size w ...

s, medium-size bicycles (from 9.5 to over 13 kg, depending on model) that fold well and are the world's most numerous built on a single design. A bicycle easier to carry than the Brompton C3 (9.5 kg and 349 mm / 16" wheels) can be considered portable. Many portable bicycles weigh below 6 kg and fold in less than 20 seconds. Above these figures the risk is that the bicycle is too heavy for easy carrying, or takes an inconveniently long time to fold. Folding and unfolding has to be easier than is needed for ordinary full-size folding bicycles, because portable bicycles are used for shorter trips than full-size folding bikes. Image:Zerobike_01.jpg, Zerobike Image:Zerobike_02.jpg, Zerobike folded Image:Mini125 02.jpg, Mini 125 Image:CarryMe riding SCP jeh.jpg, Pacific Cycles CarryMe Image:Mobiky Gov Island jeh.jpg, Mobiky

Use

Frequent uses for a portable bicycle include: * last mile scooting from a far away

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

* city district riding * subway or

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

station shuttle * family fun *

pit bike A pit bike is a small motorcycle, used primarily for recreational purposes, stunt riding and motocross racing. Pit bikes are characterised by small, air-cooled engines, and are rarely used for professional racing, instead being intended for use i ...

* short-distance travel Bicycles can reduce

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

emissions by shortening or eliminating car trips, and by extending the reach of

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

as part of a mixed-mode commute. Portable bicycles often can be used also by children and so can be kept for a lifetime.

List of portable bicycles, commercially available (present and past)

Many portable bicycles are or have been commercially available; they include: * A-bike (5.7 kg) * Alessandro Belli Bike * Mini125 (5.9 kg) * BikeaPack * Bickerton portable * Bike Friday (Oregon) *

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

** Transit Compact ** Transit Super Lite
Carry-Me
* Cherubim Ultramini * Cocolofoo CB-2E * Frog * Giatex * Handybike 8 * JD Bike RB300, R100 * Kahenseki ** Koma ** Kallima * Moulton * Mobiky * Panasonic Traincle 6500, 7500 * Piccolino, UGO * Skoot * Strida (approx. 10.5 kg) * Vikkino P * Zero Bike * 17bicycle EX Walker

References

External links

cafe.daum.net/MINIVELO

5 of the best folding bikes

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