As cities search for cleaner, smarter ways to move people and goods, Karbikes offers an exciting solution. This innovative company is reimagining urban mobility by combining the practicality of a small vehicle with the low carbon footprint of a bicycle.
but I don’t think this format will ever find a market.
pedal power input isn’t worth the extra weight of the drive train
There are many countries where “having pedals” is the precondition for using the bike lanes. And then using the bike lanes gives you lots of advantage during heavy traffic in the cities.
Ewwww no. No no no no NO. Fuck no. I don’t want to share my bike lane with these things! They’re heavier than most motorcycles! That’s dangerous as all hell. A rear-end collision is likely to be deadly. Americans might be used to Surron being able to slap a couple fake pedals on their motorcycles to skirt the law, but that’s absolutely insane. The point of a bike lane is to reduce conflict between heavy vehicles and fragile road users, not to separate “pedal havers” from “pedal not havers”.
Thankfully in France - where they’re from - and presumably most of the EU, bicycles with too much power (here in Belgium it’s “speed pedelecs” which are capped at 4kW /45 km/h) are banned from all cycle lanes except where authorized by explicit signage.
So I have good news for you ;)
There are many countries where “having pedals” is the precondition for using the bike lanes. And then using the bike lanes gives you lots of advantage during heavy traffic in the cities.
There’s your market.
Ewwww no. No no no no NO. Fuck no. I don’t want to share my bike lane with these things! They’re heavier than most motorcycles! That’s dangerous as all hell. A rear-end collision is likely to be deadly. Americans might be used to Surron being able to slap a couple fake pedals on their motorcycles to skirt the law, but that’s absolutely insane. The point of a bike lane is to reduce conflict between heavy vehicles and fragile road users, not to separate “pedal havers” from “pedal not havers”.
Thankfully in France - where they’re from - and presumably most of the EU, bicycles with too much power (here in Belgium it’s “speed pedelecs” which are capped at 4kW /45 km/h) are banned from all cycle lanes except where authorized by explicit signage.
This doesn’t really respond to my point though - a cargo bike is superior in every regard, and has pedals.