Two Romanians in London start Kickstarter campaign for world’s lightest foldable bike
Ligia Stan and Petre Craciun, two Romanians living in London, have launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise GBP 50,000 for their project to make the world’s lightest folding bicycle. Their bike is called The Hummingbird, and weighs only 6.5 kilos, as it is made of carbon fiber.
“Our mission is to make the folding bike experience the best it can possibly be. Even the lightest folding bike on the market is 3 kg heavier than the Hummingbird Bike,” reads the project’s presentation on Kickstarter.
“The Hummingbird started from our passion for optimizing products and solving problems. We realized that there was no folding bike out there that was both a pleasure to ride and to carry around. Most of them are heavy and take a while to fold, which doesn’t fit in with the idea of an urban commuter who’s always on the go. We wanted to make a lightweight, carbon fiber folding bike that stands out as the best solution for the modern commuter,” the two Romanian entrepreneurs wrote.
Petre Craciun is the bike’s designer and Ligia Stan takes care of the project’s marketing. They have been working on the project for some time. “It took a lot of work, many arguments and also meetings with accountants, lawyers, and mentors. Setting up a company is way harder than we thought!”
Their company is registered in the UK and has two more investors: Robert Campbell, the owner of British advertising agency Outsider.tv, and Piero Frescobaldi, the founder of UNIT9, a Creative and Technology innovation studio.
The first Hummingbird bikes should come on the market in August 2016, with estimated retail prices starting at GBP 1,550. The bike will be available in four configurations: with the possibility to choose between single-speed and five-speed, as well as between 16-inch and 20-inch rims.
The project has already raised GBP 3,440 from 10 backers in the first hours after the campaign started.
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