This Bicycle Travels As Fast As A Car, So You Can Ride On Highways
J Thoendell stashed this in Cars
Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043490/world...
Step inside the Raht Racer, a three-wheeled vehicle that looks a little like a simplified version of the Batmobile, and you'll start to pedal like you're riding a bicycle. But as you feed power to the electric motor inside, the bike also senses how hard you're pushing. Pedal hard—or flip on an automatic mode, if you don't want a workout—and the bike will travel up to 100 miles an hour on the highway.
"Like on a bike, your pedals are your accelerator," says Rich Kronfeld, CEO of Rahtmobile. "You pedal and you go faster. Except the computer is sensing and multiplying the torque, much like a guitar amplifier might do for a guitar. It increases the volume, basically."
The result, says Kronfeld, is a bike that goes as fast as a sports car, that gives you the sensation of superstrength.
Stashed in: Faster!, Kickstarter, Cycling!, Cycling
That's not a bicycle in any sense that I'm used to. And oof, expensive!
It won't be a cheap thing, however. The first model will cost around $35,000 to $40,000. "Because it's going to be expensive to begin with, I see it as a new kind of powersport product—a new recreational thing," he says. "What I'm hoping is that I can get my foot in the door with that, and then we can get to the point where we can bring the price down. And then regular people like me can afford to get one and use it for bike commuting."
The startup is raising funds for a next-generation prototype on Kickstarter.
Having "the sensation of superstrength" sounds like fun!
Having the sensation of any super power sounds like fun!
9:57 AM Apr 01 2015