Lexus has launched its innovative Hybrid Bicycle Concept in the UK.
The bike, first seen at last year's Tokyo motor show, is being used to promote the firm's sponsorship of the four-day Great British Bike Ride charity event from Land's End to Twickenham.
See pictures of the Lexus Hybrid Bicycle Concept
The firm's 'L-finesse' design language has inspired the design of the frame, which is made from carbonfibre. The rider powers the rear wheel, while the 240w electric motor and 25.9V lithium-ion battery power the front wheel.
The electric motor can be switched between Eco and Power modes; an energy recuperation system helps recover energy lost under braking. The bike also uses an eight-speed Shimano internal gear system, which references the eight-speed shift-by-wire system found in the LS600h.
Just two of the concept bicycles have been made - there are currently no plans to put it into production.
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Re: Lexus reveals hybrid bicycle
Rover P6 - the expert on bikes that he's never ridden as well as cars that he's never driven. Frame on the Lexus bike looks pretty whacky, but the seating position looks pretty standard compared to other road bikes to me - you need a high seating position to get efficiency and power from your legs.
Re: Lexus reveals hybrid bicycle
Unfortunately I must now explain light-weight. The average carbon-fibre bike weighs in at around 7Kg (UCI regulates a minimum is 6.8Kg for pro-competition) thus manufacturers don't often go below 7Kg, however some bikes are produced with a weight of just 5.5kg including running gear not just the frame but they sell for around £6,000. From this it's easy to see that a small battery pack added to any Carbon-fibre bike will still keep it under 10Kg.
There are already many electric bikes in production which means this type of bike does have a future. With many people already willing to spend 1-2000 pounds on a bicycle then it's feasible to think that they would spend the same on something like this.
Re: Lexus reveals hybrid bicycle
Ok we haven't just stumbled upon some freak link to Cycling magazine and this news hit Auto express' RSS 2 days ago.
This bike is a design piece however; the seat and handle bars are fine for a normal road bike. It's purpose would be for commuting and my guess would be that an average rider would still be able to average 30mph over a 15-20min journey without breaking into sweat. The demographic buying Lexus have the money to spend £2000 on a carbon-fibre push bike this just saves them having to take a shower once they get to work.
This actually makes more sense that trying to stick the same size battery in a car and call it a hybrid, yet all manufacturers are hell bent on putting slabs of lithium-ion in a car and brain washing everyone into thinking it's ecologically responsible.
This bike and others like it would easy congestion in heavily built up areas, be less polluting, have a fantastic weight-power ratio and when to battery has reached it's end of life, it can be easily replaced. Unlike a car which far outweighs the power of an electric motor and lets not dwell on how stupid the thought is of lugging a dead, non-rechargeable, non-replaceable battery around.