'ufold' by andre costa - 'seoul cycle design' competition shortlisted entry
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'ufold' by andre costa - 'seoul cycle design' competition shortlisted entry


'ufold' by andré costa


'ufold' by andré costa from portugal is one of the shortlisted design entries from more than
3000 participants in our recent designboom competition, 'seoul cycle design 2010',
organized in collaboration with seoul design foundation.

designer's own words:
the 'ufold' is a fun city bike, a cross between mountain bike size and city bike use. it has a simple design
with an easy-to-use folding system. the central joint in the two-piece frame is what makes it easy to use.
the safety trigger and  angle two piece frame allows the wheels to be aligned when open and side by side
when closed, all in one folding movement. made to have fun traveling in the city, but also to be easy to store,
the handles in the frame makes it easy to push, while closed.



folded state



components



folding direction and details

---
for those who wish to republish an excerpt of this article, please have the courtesy
to mention that the project is a part of the seoul cycle design competition,
organized by designboom in collaboration with seoul design foundation,
and link back to the original publication on designboom. thank you.
erica db
09.22.10  
16
great idea
hans   09.22.10
Maravilloso y transportable diseņo...
Pablo Silva   09.22.10
great design, form, function, colors...
cokol   09.22.10
Uauhh..a concept what can work!
carbomo   09.22.10
Good concept, with just a little problem.
As we can tell from the images the wheels are not aligned, in order to fold the bike.

I would like to se somebody ride this bike!
Spark   09.22.10
Design inteligente e funcional!
Daniel dos Santos   09.22.10
not to be picky, but those spokes don't make sense.
very cool design tho
kris   09.23.10
fantastic design and concept
dany   09.23.10
carbon belt chain that doesn't dirt clothes ! everything is amazing ! can we have some kryptonite mudguards ?...
slas   09.23.10
Where do I line up to buy one!?
Wheels not aligned is not a problem
as long as they are pointed in exactly the same
direction.....

What a great bike for in city commuters...
jim in kawartha lakes canada   09.23.10
neat bike.

@ spark :
"...As we can tell from the images the wheels are not aligned, in order to fold the bike."

not necessarily depends on how the axis "works". only a question of angle.
buzzoff   09.23.10
@ buzzoff

The axis doesn't move in or out with folding. We can see in the images that the joint is the same width before and after folding.

If you're suggesting that the axis is set at an angle so that the wheels clear eachother, the wheels would be about 20cm apart when folded. Trust me I've looked into this kind of problem a lot.

The bike would have to have irregularly aligned wheels, which would make cornering interesting!
tommyjj   09.24.10
@Spark: Proof of how the wheels are misalligned? Because if you draw virtual lines over the image, they pretty much alligned.

@Buzzoff: exactly, from what I read on the description, itīs just a question of angle in the frame joint.

@Tommyjj: 20cm apart when folded? Where do you got those numbers? All you need is an angle that sets the wheels appart enough not to touch eachother, thatīs it, not 20cm, not 10cm, just the correct amount so they become side by side when folded, itīs pure comon sense to me...
And irregularly alligned wheels? Why exactly? Donīt know where you guys get all these non-existent engineering problems, really...
Lenny   09.24.10
What a work of art! Functional with elegant simplicity. Trust the designer on alignment, as otherwise would be a trifle difficult and impractical. Congratulations Andre, hope to see them on roads worldwide d;-)
Jetwax   09.26.10
So how did you get around chain stretch? Surely the carbon belt is still susceptible to this problem. If not I'm all for this and would at least get rid of my old steel chain (that has to be replaced every few thousand kms).
Mark   09.27.10
@Lenny: "All you need is an angle that sets the wheels appart enough not to touch eachother, thatīs it"
So how will the wheels fold flat against eachother like that if they are pivoting from the same place?
tommyjj   09.27.10
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