If you live or work in a city, a bicycle can be a great way to get around. The only trouble is what to do with the bicycle when you need to go somewhere you can’t ride. Folding bicycles offer a great solution, but they still have their drawbacks. That’s all about to change with Folder, a new folding bicycle designed by Mikulas Novotny that has full-size wheels.

Read the rest of Folder: A Folding Bike With Full-Size Wheels by Mikulas Novotny

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Post tags: bicycles, bikes, biking, cycling, Folder, folding bicycle, folding bike, green transportation, Mikulas Novotny, urban biking

Back in the 80s, Honda created a unique folding electric motorcycle called the Motocompo. Now the automaker is updating the unique scooter with its modernized “Motor Compo” version, which it displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show. The bike is less than 1 meter in length and height, and it features a removable battery that can be used as an emergency power source.

Read the rest of Honda Recreates Its “Motor Compo” Folding Electric Motorcycle at the Tokyo Motor Show

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Post tags: alternative transportation, electric scooter, folding bike, folding motorcycle, green bike, green transportation, green vehicle, Honda, Honda Motor Compo, Honda Motorcompo, Motocompo, Motor Compo, Tokyo auto show, tokyo motor show

Folding bikes are favorites for city dwellers because they can be packed up after riding and carried into an apartment building or office – but until now most folding bikes have only made it down to briefcase size for storage. The Union concept bike by Weiche Wu and Minhan Lin aims to dramatically improve on that with a body that folds into a package only eight inches wide.

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Post tags: alternative transportation, bicycle design, city bike, collapsible bike, folding bike, green transportation, Minhan Lin, Union bike, Union folding bike, Welche Wu

Inhabitat loves all folding bikes, but we can’t ignore that some of the designs out there are slightly maladroit – that’s why were are psyched that Wallpaper Magazine has come out with “The International”. Just like James Bond, this bike is hot, streamlined, and… folds down to fit nicely into a stylish leather bag. The limited edition bike was designed by Japanese makers Kinfold and Portland-based spray painters Coat. The one thing we don’t love about this design is the price tag. The International costs £2,450, and for the bag – designed by Nivaldo de Lima – you can tack on another £2,500.

+ Kinfold

+ Coat

Via Gizmodo

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Post tags: bicycle, bike commuter, Coat, folding bicycle, folding bike, folding sport bike, Nivaldo de Lima. Kinfold, the international, the international bike, wallpaper magazine bicycle, wallpaper* magazine

Two wheeled urban transportation has never been so effortless, portable, or head turning. Hitting streets in carbon-fiber black, the YikeBike, provides an electric drive train that allows users to sit up and take in their commute. The YikeBike can go as far as 9-10km (around 6 miles) in one charge and comes with its own carrying bag weighing in at a total of 10kg (22lbs). If you have a longer commute and are worried about your ride home, you’ll be happy to know that the bike charges to over 80% in less than 20 minutes.

Read the rest of The YikeBike: A Fascinating New Form of Urban Transportation

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Post tags: bicycle, bike, electric bicycle, electric bike, Electronic Transportation, folding bicycle, folding bike, green transportation, sustainable transportation, Urban Bicycle, urban bike, urban transportation, Yike Bike, Zero Emission Transportation

Any big city resident can attest to the issue of rampant bike thefts — most of us have have experience with at least a wheel being stolen. The only solution up until now been to ride around on a cheap bike, but the Biomega Boston folding bicycle changes all that with a virtually theft-proof design.

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Post tags: bicycling, biomega, boston bike, folding bike, green design, Green Transportation, PUMA, sfmoma, sustainable design

There’s a reason you don’t see too many people toting around folding bikes; many have small wheels that make for an uncomfortable ride, and the ones that don’t tend to be too clunky when folded up. Enter the Contortionist, a sleek folding bike that uses full-size 26 inch wheels. Designed by Dominic Hargreaves, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, the bike contains pivots in its frame and a lockable universal joint in the front fork that let it roll up to an ultra-compact size that fits within the width of its wheels!

Read the rest of Contortionist Folding Bike Rolls Up Smaller Than a Wheel

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Post tags: bicycle, bike, contortionist, dominic hargreaves, folding bike, James Dyson

DRUMROLL PLEASE…

AND NOW THE ANNOUNCEMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR..

ERIKA has been selected as the winner of our Pimp my Eco Ride Contest

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Post tags: areaware, folding bicycle, folding bike, green design, inhabitat pimp my eco-ride contest, strida 5.0 sx limited, sustainable design, sustainable transportation

THERE IS STILL TIME TO WIN A FREE BIKE WORTH $950!

We’ve extended the deadline for our Pimp My Eco Ride contest to Wednesday, June 24th at midnight, which means that there’s still time to score this beautiful Strida 5.0 SX Limited folding bike provided by our great friends at Areaware.

ENTER OUR PIMP MY ECO-RIDE CONTEST >

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Post tags: areaware, bike contest, folding bike, green ride contest, mark sanders, pimp my green ride, strida 5.0 sx limited, strida eco bike, strida folding bicycle, strida folding bike, sustainable design, sustainable transportation

The Strida 5.0 series of slick folding bikes are revered as some of the most sturdy, lightweight, and compact cycles in their class, with everyone from urban cyclists and eco-geeks to space-starved city residents singing their praises. Recently designer Mark Sanders rolled out the latest and greatest folding cycle to grace the lineup, the SX Limited. This souped-up folding bicycle features extended handlebars, a classic comfy leather seat, and thinner, larger 18″ Schwalbe tires for faster and smoother cruising.

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Post tags: areaware, folding bike, mark sanders, strida 5.0 sx limited, strida folding bicycle, sustainable design, sustainable transportation

WIN A $950 STRIDA FOLDING BIKE!

As the weather gets warmer we’re looking forward to spending plenty of sun-soaked days outdoors – and what better way to take full advantage of the beautiful weather than by breezing along on a slick bicycle? We here at Inhabitat want to encourage the use of the world’s most eco-efficient (and fun) mode of transportation, so we’ve teamed up with our fantastic friends at Areaware to give away a styling brand new STRiDA 5.0 SX Limited folding bike!

All you have to do to win is provide us with photographic evidence of why you need this awesome bicycle – is your current ride a crusty old clunker? Is there a mammoth mountain of steps leading up to your 6th floor walkup apartment? Whatever the case, upload your photos after the jump and leave a comment explaining why we should pimp your eco-ride, and we’ll be selecting one lucky winner to receive this beautiful limited edition Strida bicycle valued at $950!

TO ENTER:

1. Sign up for our newsletter

2. Leave a comment on this post, and upload a photo explaining why you need this fantastic folding bike! All photos must be sized to 537 pixels wide and should be under 100k in file size.

*Our image uploading is a bit tricky – sorry! Please don’t forget to copy and paste the image tag for your photo submission in the comment form or it will not show up in the comments. It has come to our attention that many of you are submitting comments without photos. As this is a PHOTO CONTEST – entries without photos will be deleted.

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Read the rest of PIMP MY ECO-RIDE CONTEST: Win a Strida Folding Bike!

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Post tags: areaware, folding bike, mark sanders, strida 5.0 sx limited, strida folding bicycle, sustainable design, sustainable transportation

Amongst all the hoopla at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, we were pleasantly surprised to see a gorgeous foldable bicycle with no electronic components soaking up the spotlight. Mark Sanders IF Swivel Mode is a sleek bicycle that features an ingenious collapsible design. Whereas most folding bikes entail a compromise between portability and performance, the elegantly engineered Swivel Mode manages to pack a full size bicycle into a compact folding package.

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Post tags: areware bike, compact bike, foldable bike, folding bike, full sized folding bike, IF mode bike, mark sanders bike, Swivel mode bike, urban bike

Here at Inhabitat we love the practicality and ease of mobility that folding bikes offer, so we were ecstatic to hear that folding bike company STRiDA just released its fastest, most advanced cycle to date! We were huge fans of the company’s brilliantly engineered 5.0 Bikes, and it looks like STRiDA has outdone itself again with its sleek new MAS Special Signature. The retooled ride features a Swiss engineered drive system and a rustproof aluminum frame that folds in just 5 seconds flat.


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Post tags: Collapsible STRiDA Bike, cool bike, folding bike, foldup bike, mark sanders, mark sanders strida bike, mas bike, mas strida bike, mini-bike, urban bike