Airbike
Airbike was a German bicycle brand that manufactured articulated recumbent bicycles .
history
The basic construction, a recumbent bike with articulated steering, was devised in 1993 in Karlsruhe by the industrial designer Uwe Schmidt and his brother. On the one hand, emphasis was placed on a completely independent construction, which is not based on other recumbent bicycles, and on the other hand, on the design. The vehicle is a front-wheel drive two-wheeler .
The first airbikes were all black, unsprung and at first of rather poor quality.
Uwe Schmidt moved to Munich, where he and partners opened the bike island shop, which initially only sold airbikes.
Production was improved and suspension and powder coating were introduced. The frames were made in Italy.
Staiger was won over for more efficient sales, and the Airbike and Airbike pickup were added to their catalog and delivered to Staiger authorized dealers. Through the cooperation about 100 bikes were sold in 3 years. In 1996 Staiger took the Airbike out of the range and also withdrew from the areas of product liability, warranty and spare parts supply.
Schmidt later parted ways with bike island .
material
frame
“Structural steel”, square profile iron, seam-welded, powder-coated, wall thickness typically 1.5 mm
- Middle part: external dimensions 35 × 35 mm
- Rear structure and front part: 35 × 15 mm (upright)
mute
Runs under the names: Schwingmetall, MU-Metall. Appearance: A round plastic block with molded metal plates. A hole with an 8 mm thread in the metal plate. Hardness 80kp (or less)
Steering damper
Similar to the main damper, much weaker. Boge-Joint from the windsurfing sector.
The Airbike as a folding bike
Due to the central damper, the Airbike can be easily folded. To do this, a screw on the damper must be unscrewed and the rear wheel removed. When folded, the bike is not much larger than the two 26-inch wheels stacked on top of each other.