Cool Stuff: Mando Footloose

Performance improvement professionals can often learn much from studying the attributes of great product design: simplicity and economy of detail. You won’t see this bike leading the peloton at the Tour de France, but such a cool design just might win the jersey for great design. The press release for the Mando Footloose (a partnership project of Mando Corp. and Meister Inc., South Korean automotive suppliers) said:

“The hybrid drive system brings the power directly to the drive wheel with its high performance dual winding motor, while at the same time also serving as a generator: When you pedal, mechanical energy transforms into electricity and feeds the e-bike battery – to a certain extent self-generating. By adding energy the standard range of 30 kilometers can be increased even more. Using a throttle, the motor drive can be controlled and you can ride the Mando Footloose even without pedaling.”

Other posts have looked at interesting bike designs (I still like the Origami bike), but this one is one I’d like to take for a ride to see how well it handles.

Bicycle Design has more information (and is also an interesting site).