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Cycle champion Chris Boardman reveals 'intelligent' wheels of the future
Miranda Bryant11 Aug 2009
It plays music, counts calories used as you pedal and will never get stolen - welcome to the commuter bike of the future.
Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman today unveiled a design that he believes will be an everyday product within 20 years.
Boardman, 40, who won gold for the four-kilometre pursuit at the 1992 Olympics, said advances in technology could soon make bikes as "intelligent" as computers.
An inbuilt computer system incorporates an "unbreakable" locking device that allows only the owner to open it via fingerprint recognition. A mini computer on the handlebars counts the calories the cyclist is burning by monitoring each turn of the pedals.
The frame is made of carbon fibre, making the bike strong and lightweight. Boardman, who led a research team for British Cycling in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, said the bike would not be "financially feasible" for 20 years, but added: "It could be built now if there was a will. All the technologies are already there, it's just that nobody's put them all together before."
Tom Bogdanowicz, campaign manager at London Cycling Campaign, said: "Some of the ideas behind this bike are clearly things cyclists want. But it really needs to be affordable."
Reader views (2)
I'd settle for just the unbreakable lock! Calories you can get from a cycle computer anyway. The frame design lookslike the old gull-wing Triathlon bikes that were notoriously noisy and difficult to peddle (have to keep weight on peddles and off your bum).
- Mark, London, 11/08/2009 14:26
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"the bike, which is still being designed"
Not the key word "designed", not even in prototype, just designed. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it if I were you. I can say that I will have an interstellar spacecraft on the market in 50 years but it's currently still in the design stages, it means nothing.
- Bob, Cheam, 11/08/2009 10:49
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