The humble world of the bicycle may not exactly fall under the purview of wearable technology but here at Crunchwear we like to think it’s ‘close enough.’ Besides, biking is getting more tech-heavy by the day and we have been there to report on all of it. Today’s bike friendly edition may yet be the strangest, and also cheapest, thing on two wheels. Put on your seat belts as it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Wait, bikes don’t have seat belts. You know what I mean.
An industrious designer named Giora Kariv has created a bike concept that’s, well, just about paper thin. Yep. You guessed it. He made an entire bicycle out of cardboard. Cardboard! Â The stuff that our packing boxes are made out of. He had this idea years ago and many engineers told him it could not be done. He just proved them wrong. Kariv managed to make a working bicycle that can hold a person of up to about 308 pounds. It also cost him just $9. Cardboard is cheap, after all.
The basic design premise is that the cardboard needed to be folded many times in order to create strength. This is sort of how origami artists ply their trade. Also, it needed an exterior coating to protect it from the elements. He thinks this is only the beginning. He’s already imagining up ways to attach an electric motor and other tech-heavy odds and ends. Kariv also suggests that the cardboard bike may one day be sold in stores. His ideal asking price? Just $60. That’s a lot of bike for just a little bit of dough. Check out a video detailing the creation of this paper prodigy below.
