YikeBike • Hacker News Board

Re: YikeBike

#21

Post by vaksel » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:33 PM UTC

dpcan wrote: post #19

This bike and segway are marketing to the WRONG demographic. City folk are too cool and care too much about their image to ride these things. Come out here to the small towns of the mid/northwest where we drive our cars 10 blocks to get to work. Or the grocery store is 3 blocks away, so is the movie store, and Starbucks. They are still too expensive, but every house on my block could benefit from one of these, and if…

small towns don't have proper sidewalks for things like that, and having them on the road is a recipe for road rage.

Re: YikeBike

#22

Post by JeremyChase » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:37 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #4

Sat that high up with not much in front of you... it looks like it might have some stability issues.

Yes, even the guy in the video looked wobbly.

Re: YikeBike

#23

Post by Keyframe » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:38 PM UTC

Great, but I would not like to be seen on one.

Re: YikeBike

#24

Post by Keyframe » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:38 PM UTC

tel wrote: post #3

I would not want to go down a hill on that thing.

Or uphill.

Re: YikeBike

#25

Post by robfitz » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:39 PM UTC

bmj wrote: post #15

ntoshev wrote: post #5

This shouldn't be compared to a regular bike but to Segway. A popular electic bicycle would also be cheap and allow pedalling.

A popular electic bicycle would also be cheap and allow pedalling. Absolutely. If I wanted an electric bike, I'd go with something more sensible, like this: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/schwinns_new_line_of...

The perks of the Yike (I feel funny just saying that) are the weight (20lb vs 45lb) and size. I see lots of business people here (London) on those little fold up city bikes. The Yike seems more targetted at those customers than the traditional cyclist.

Re: YikeBike

#26

Post by xinsight » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 3:56 PM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #7

Yikes, that thing will not sell. The core demographic that would use it are the same people that want to look the coolest. And I can't imagine anyone cool sitting on something as dorky. Another good idea killed by poor design.

Sadly, I'm sure they spent a lot of time on the design. I think they're just solving the wrong problem. The lack of storage space limits this to joy riding. You can't buy groceries, commute with a laptop, etc. etc.

Re: YikeBike

#27

Post by wouterinho » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 4:02 PM UTC

TravisLS wrote: post #9

I'm going to go ahead and predict this same problem: http://paulgraham.com/segway.html

First thing that came to my mind as well. I like the foldable functionality though. In Amsterdam there are a lot of people using folding bikes. They commute to Amsterdam by train taking their bikes and then use the bike to get into the city. Works pretty well, but it still looks kind of silly.

Re: YikeBike

#28

Post by bendotc » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 4:06 PM UTC

modoc wrote: post #20

"How heavy is a YikeBike? The YikeBike weighs less than 10kg with a full battery and air in the tyres" And how much does it weigh with a drained battery and flat tires? :)

Depends on the pressure when the tires are fully inflated.

Re: YikeBike

#29

Post by bigsassy » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 4:07 PM UTC

tel wrote: post #3

I would not want to go down a hill on that thing.

According to their FAQ: Speed limited so that it can never go faster than 20 km/h even down hill.

Re: YikeBike

#30

Post by bigsassy » Tue, Sep 08, 2009, 4:09 PM UTC

brandnewly wrote: post #17

I can't imagine trying to bail out if you got into trouble with the handlebars around your legs like that.

From the FAQ (I swear I'm not from YikeBike PR): It is likely that you will jump off the front of a YikeBike in an emergency braking situation - this is very easy as there are no handle bars in the way.