Somerset Folding Bike has been designed to amplify the convenience and comfort of transportation into our daily life, using industrial design point of view. In recent years, Taiwan’s government has been promoting the use of mass transportation as alternative to automobiles and motorcycles, public transportation will become the trend of the future yet there are still many people choose private high-fuel consumption transportation. One of the goals for this project aside from reducing carbon footprint, is to encourage people to use public transportation even though they carry a bike.

The innovative mechanism to fold makes this bike turning into a compact cart that can be easily carried in folded mode. Starting with many sketches, the designer thought about how to put a business bag on the bike, that’s why he used elements such as semicircle or circle to develop a series of concept folding bikes.

Designer : Kaiser Chang

Somerset folding bike comes in 2 versions: conventional folding bike and electric folding bike with target market on young professionals to symbolize their status and lifestyle. This bike breaks the rules of horizontal tube welding that used in many conventional bikes. The main frame features oval-shaped tube as a slide rail, making the fork slide down to combine two wheels and finally become a handcart. The unique design gives this bike a new form and value.

More images of Somerset Folding Bike:

Folding Process:
1. Push the button on the folding box.
2. Fold the front part 90-degrees to the left along the middle axis.
3. Pus the button on the folding box again to fix the part.
4. Rotate the fork 180-degrees.
5. Hold the head of the main frame, so that the folding box along with the fork can slide down until the two wheels can be fixed together.
6. Open the fixing lock of the seat tube, and push the seat tube down to the end and lock it with the frame.
7. Pull down both of the handle, and the folding process is completed.