Whike is a new company that introduces the Whike 1.0, a tricycle recumbent bike with a 1.6m2 sail. This recumbent bike can take advantage of the wind to propel itself, while still allowing cycling (if there’s no wind).
It’s a new concept combining 2 sports (cycling and sailing). Besides being a very green way of transport, Whiking is a new sport. You don’t need fuel or batteries to travel larger distances at relatively high speeds (50km/h without cycling is feasible!), just endurance and a bit of wind.
Why Bike? Just Whike!
Going for a Whike spin.
That’s the introduction on the Whike website. During Car-Free Sunday this Dutch company was part of the event programming and had a booth set up near a bicycle lane junction at Berlagebrug/Vrijheidslaan, allowing anyone to go for a ride.
Now, I’m not into ‘bicycle sports’ of sorts (I did however lose 14 kilo’s in 3 months by cycling ‘normally’) and I’m not particularly a fan of all the ‘green washing’ nowadays, but I have been intrigued by this little piece of ingenuity since its launch, so they didn’t have to tell me twice.
Here’s what happened. Once again brought to you by Amsterdamize Bicycle TV.
(Filmed with my Nokia N95)
Some of comments below illustrate what I already felt was missing from this post; a proper evaluation.
- Riding position: very comfortable, as are most recumbents.
- Instruments: very easy, given that you know how the concept of sails and wind work :-p. You can tighten the sail by hand (rope pull and let go), and instantly loosen it with the left handlebar lever. The lever on the right handlebar is for braking. The top switches are for gearing up and down (I didn’t count the nr of gears, I’m sure there are plenty).
- Riding comfort: even with my height I wasn’t too bothered with the sail flapping above my head. Besides that, the ride is as comfortable as you’d expect from a recumbent bicycle.
- Potential: despite the lack of wind during this ride, I can totally see how the Whike would be good fun, extremely good fun (be it that I’ve neglected windsurfing for far too long).
- Quality/price: If I had the money (3.000 Euro) and the storage space I would definitely buy one. It’s well built, it has good proportions and it’s very light. One thing I noticed during this short ride (and I mentioned it to the Whike rep), gearing up and down wasn’t really smooth, often skipping a few. I suspect the configuration of the long cables demands regular attention in maintenance.
- Why/when buy it: thrills, fun, to get out of town, hit the beach (shore line) or any other suitable place and feel like a 14 (or younger) year old again (at least try to force it on two wheels..).
Easy controls. Watch the pockets, though...
What do you guys and dolls think?
WHAT TO DO NOW?