Hummingbird Bike: The lightest folding bike in the world

 

Hummingbird’s goal is simple: To use better design and innovation to allow people to enjoy more freedom. They were inspired by a problem of their own that had not had an existing solution. A lightweight, beautiful, high-performance bicycle they wanted to own was not being built by anyone. Teaming up with Prodrive, Hummingbird was able to combine the key attributes of innovation, technical precision, and style to create just such a product – the Hummingbird Bike.

Hummingbird Bike’s Simplicity and Effectiveness

The result of their efforts was the lightest folding bike in the world. The bikes are made in England and are formulated from an advanced composite material called carbon fiber, which is used in aerospace and racing thanks to its stiffness, light density, and vibration dampening. Each lightweight carbon frame is hand-built and sprayed by Prodrive engineers, with the final assembly taking place at Prodrive headquarters in Banbury. The same facility also assembles race and rally cars for mega-brands like Subaru, Aston Martin, and Renault.

TheThe wheels on the Hummingbird bike permit faster movement with significantly less effort. They are faster to accelerate, stronger, and more durable than typical wheels on a larger bicycle. These have a smaller 16-inch diameter in order to help reduce the bike’s overall length. This makes it more compact while retaining the comfort of a full-sized bike, though much easier to transport. The frame is powerful and designed to be simultaneously comfortable to ride and robust. Hummingbird’s safety pin, the hummlock, makes the bike’s folded form easily portable and keeps all of the pieces locked together.

To fold the bike takes under five seconds, thanks to its expertly designed pivotal system. It requires simply releasing the wheel under the frame, clipping the handlebars under the swingarm, and dropping the seat. Simple, and yet, genius