More and more people living in urban centers are turning to good old bikes for their commuting needs. And it’s quite understandable because they are environmentally friendly and promote a healthy lifestyle. However, conventional bikes do not seamlessly fit the current urban lifestyle, where a lot of people have to enter trains or buses to get to their destinations.
There has been a range of foldable bikes that hope to change this narrative, but none quite matches the Tuck Bike. Unlike its counterparts with a limited range of folding, the Tuck Bike features foldable frame and wheels. Thus, it can shrink to the size of your travel bag and accompany you wherever you are going.
Design and features
The Tuck Bike’s portability is its unique selling point, and it beats the completion hands down in this regard. According to the manufacturers, the full-size bike weighs no more than 14kg (30.86 lbs) and folds down to a compact 61 X 83 X 37cm. Even when folded, the Tuck Bike remains easy to transport as its caster wheels give room for rolling on smooth platforms such as subway stations. The bike can also stand on its own in a packed train and fit into small areas such as under your desk or in your car trunk.
A full-size bike that folds
Feedback from users shows that most folding bikes have small frames and wheels, and do not ride like full-size bikes. That is why the manufacturers of Tuck Bike first set out to create a full-size bike that riders would love before thinking about making it a folding bike. The result is a bike that has full-size wheels and frame, and the fact that it happens to be a folding bike only makes it all the more appealing to riders. The manufacturers assure that the handling, speed, and feel is no different from the regular bikes you have come to love.
Patent-pending folding wheel system
Tuck Bike is able to sport full-size wheels and frame thanks to a first-of-its-kind folding wheel system. Unlike the conventional tires we have become used to, Tuck Bike is equipped with airless foam tires that fold into three pieces. Users also get the added advantage of riding a bike with puncture-proof tires that never require pumping.
Folds and unfolds in 2 minutes
Folding and unfolding the Tuck Bike is not a complicated process. The user starts releasing the kickstand to balance the bike and then gets around to folding the wheels. The handle and frame are up next, and the caster wheels become exposed after complete folding. The manufacturers assure that the folding or unfolding process would not take more than 2 minutes.
Pricing info
Updated 1st Mar, 2021: Tuck Bike is still in the prototype stage. Reports indicate that a Kickstarter campaign would be launched soon. If you’re interested in buying or finding out more about the bike, you can register for updates via their official website. According to New Atlas, the bike’s retail price range should fall between $1600 and $2500.
Startup
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to become registered, startups refer to new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo founder. At the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to be successful and influential. Some startups become unicorns; that is privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion.
Actions
Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will begin market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype, to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take a long period of time (by some estimates, three years or longer), and hence sustaining effort is required. Over the long term, sustaining effort is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes. Having a business plan in place outlines what to do and how to plan and achieve an idea in the future. Typically, these plans outline the first 3 to 5 years of your business strategy.
Design principles
Models behind startups presenting as ventures are usually associated with design science. Design science uses design principles considered to be a coherent set of normative ideas and propositions to design and construct the company's backbone. For example, one of the initial design principles is "affordable loss".
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