Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Video: FDJ pro and pals devise pivot-frame bike - it's not for the fainhearted

Watch Johan Le Bon and friends slalom on unique singlespeed bike

Three cyclists from France – one of them, FDJ pro racer Johan Le Bon – have designed an articulated singlespeed bike that can be steered with the rear wheel, and as the videos below show, it’s a rather arresting sight.

Le Bon teamed up with fellow Bretons Alban Haloche and Alexis Honoré to devise the bike, which they have dubbed the Trocadero, reports the website Golem13.

It apparently takes 10 minutes to master how to ride the bike – swinging the hips causes the frame to pivot and the rear wheel to swing out – while the pivoting action can be disabled simply by inserting a pin, turning the Trocadero into a ‘normal’ bike.

The bike was the idea of former junior world champion Le Bon’s uncle, and the friends have reportedly invested 6,000 euro to develop it.

 Besides turning the heads of passers-by – and the odd policeman, apparently – the bike is said to be pretty much thief proof simply because it’s not the kind of machine you can swing a leg over and ride away on.

 “It’s fun, you can do 360 degree turns on a very small surface,” said one of the trio. “For now, we want to create some buzz among extreme sports fans. We also see a customer base among fixed-wheel enthusiasts.”

This video, from the newspaper Ouest France, shows the bike being ridden in traffic; it’s not for the fainthearted.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

8 comments

Avatar
whobiggs | 8 years ago
0 likes

I want a go! They remind me of those first plastic bikes many years ago cool

Avatar
WolfieSmith | 8 years ago
1 like

be safer with disk brakes...

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 8 years ago
2 likes

The UCI are going to have kittens!

Avatar
MandaiMetric | 8 years ago
1 like

At first sight it looks like a death trap, but after a minute of watching I'm wondering if having steering and drive on the same wheel offers similar handling improvements that a front wheel drive car offers over a rear wheel drive car?

Avatar
Paul J | 8 years ago
1 like

That seems pointless...

Avatar
Fish_n_Chips | 8 years ago
1 like

Sweet and a great video. 

Avatar
The _Kaner | 8 years ago
0 likes

Drift Kings....

Avatar
StraelGuy | 8 years ago
4 likes

Bloody hipsters, riding around on their wobbly bikes...

Latest Comments