Sir Clive gets on his bike

Good old Sir Clive Sinclair has obviously recovered from the whole Sinclair C5 problems in 1985 and is coming out with some pretty decent ideas. His Sea Doo device seems to be doing quite plus he’s got some other interesting stuff including some strange power-drive thing for a regular wheelchairs.

The original C5 above was probably ahead of its’ time. In fact, if they decided to re-release it in London now it’d probably sell better. The C5 was capped at 15mph to keep under the tax and licence laws so you didn’t need to class it as a motorbike, plus you just charged it up every night. However back in 1985 this invention was given some terrible reviews by people who tried it. There were stories of near-death experiences with trucks, coaches and other large vehicles who’d fail to see someone virtually lying down in a small white plastic go-kart. No amount of stick-on reflectors or flourescent jackets could save you. You were slow-moving-road kill in a sandwich box.

Clive has obviously had a bit of a think about his latest invention and has now launched the A-Bike – an lightweight fold-away bike which helps people get about without having to worry about finding somewhere to park or lock it up.

At first glance you may think that it’s just some weird walking-stick with wheels on, however this promises to be the ultimate gadget for the tube-riding Londoner or office worker commuting on the bus or train. Let’s say you commute to Manchester daily, you can easily wake up in the morning, grab your A-Bike out of the cupboard and cycle to the train station. After a quick fold you simply shove it in a back-pack and hop onto the train. You could even carry it into the office and pop it under your desk – it’s that small.

Sure, you’ve got the potential worry of pot-holes in the road. Those wheels don’t look large enough to fit over any potential hole plus you’ll want to keep well away from cattle-grids and drains. Some people have also picked up on the fact that a similar idea has been tried before. handybike.com have something similar and it’s been around slightly longer, however it does have a big dirty chain to contend with so you’ll probably want to keep it well covered when you’re lugging it about. There are certain sections of the media who say that Clive has pinched the design from handybike.com – we’re not sure but we sure as hell wish they’d pinch the advertising. Woaha! Now this is how to sell a bike…. ;)