IF Mode Folding Bicycle
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The IF Mode is a full-size folding bicycle designed to make urban bicycling a more appealing transportation option. Folding bicycles have typically been heavy to carry, difficult to collapse, and look disproportionate with their small wheels. By contrast, British designer Mark Sanders and Ryan Michael Carroll and Michael Lin of Pacific Cycles, based in Taiwan, conceived of the IF Mode as portable luggage with a handle to push it around. The bicycle is made of lightweight materials with simple, elegantly designed components. It successfully eliminates oily chains, complex tubes, hidden dirt traps, and much of the clutter of conventional bicycles. Unlike most folding bikes, it has full-size wheels and should be seen as a “personal transporter,” offering a new image to people who previously thought of bikes as only for enthusiasts or for recreation. According to Sanders, “Instead of looking at the bike and thinking of how to fold it, it began with the folded shape and thinking of how to turn it into a bike.” Furthermore, as mobility systems become increasingly interconnected, portable designs like these will facilitate transfers between different modes of transportation. Like laptops, they might eventually become a standard piece of one’s luggage.
Location: taiwan, united kingdom