- Probably illegal to drive in most countries in the EU (max 250w is allowed, otherwise it is a "motorcycle")
- Probably too wide. Riding in the city will be a pain. Driving in the country side will annoy cars. The probability of getting hit by a car is much higher as well.
- Boat? A speed boat passing could be enough to flip it over, causing it to sink, and possibly drown you in the process.
- Price is 14500 EUR?
I could go on.
It's a fun idea that is likely a nightmare in practice.
This is HN’s classic “middlebrow dismissal,” which serves to end interesting conversations rather than start them. So, let’s try again: what do you like about the concept, and how would you change it to reduce the flaws you identified?
This is the root problem of so many "designer" products which try to combine together different things. Of course those who practice these kind of activity know that the alternative to this bundle of joy is cheaper, safer, lighter and thorougly tested. But it involves buying multiple different things, namely:
- An electric bike (or just a regular bike)
- A packraft or a collapsible kayak
- A tent
- Bike bags
- a plant pot (why?)
So the question is who is this for? My instinct tells me that this is pure investor bait, with no real customer base.
To expand on the theme of "dangerous" - the rider strikes me as being in an extremely vulnerable position, perched high up and at the front of the vehicle. In the event of a collision, the rider will be the first thing to make contact with an obstacle and they will do so with the weight of a boat behind them. The design of the frame is such that if you hit a low wall, you will be launched over the handlebars.
It's pretty horrifying that the rider in their ad copy isn't wearing a helmet. At that height, almost any minor accident could result in brain damage.
Wouldn't it be a lot cooler as a bicycle? If the body were elongated into a canoe shape with a square-stern, there could be a fold-out rear wheel / outboard motor combo, then the front wheel assembly would simply fold into the nose of the canoe.
Then if you want enclosure, the canoe could have an enclosed torpedo-like shell.
It reminded me of Steven K. Roberts' "microship", an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran - https://microship.com/ .
He started his 'technomadic publishing' in the 1980s on bike. His BEHEMOTH was famous; it's on loan to the Computer History Museum. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dItCJUuFY4U for a BBC interview with him.
He then switched to microships for a while.
His description of struggling against the wind and current to make shore made me not want to go that route.
To be clear, Roberts's bike and microship were all human-powered, with no motor assist.
It's an interesting concept. Definitely a little odd - feels like it's trying to find a niche that may not exist. But I don't want to dismiss it.
It seems like you could take this out in a short days bike/boat, camp, and ride back the next day. Maybe cool if you wanted to do something like lake camping.
I think I'd be more curious in a small canoe sized house boat. But then I would have the problem of transporting a canoe which adding a bike solves. I dunno.
- Probably illegal to drive in most countries in the EU (max 250w is allowed, otherwise it is a "motorcycle")
- Probably too wide. Riding in the city will be a pain. Driving in the country side will annoy cars. The probability of getting hit by a car is much higher as well.
- Boat? A speed boat passing could be enough to flip it over, causing it to sink, and possibly drown you in the process.
- Price is 14500 EUR?
I could go on. It's a fun idea that is likely a nightmare in practice.