By John Parnell
Reinventing the wheel is a derogatory expression for those inventions that don’t quite yield progress.
The Fliz may or may not fall into that category. It is essentially an updating of the velocipede concept, the fore father of the bicycle, which enjoyed their hey day around 200 years ago.
Once you are strapped in and hanging down from the middle of the Fliz’ n-shaped frame, you use your legs to propel yourself forward, with steering and brakes borrowed from a conventional bike.
The Fliz modern velocipede in action. (Source: Fliz)
The carbon fibre frame is low enough that you can put your feet down easily. Combined with the disc brakes, the Fliz is designed to glide through crowds of pedestrians more safely than a cyclist can.
The result is the same downhill bias as a micro scooter or a skateboard, only the Fliz offers better handling and will bear your weight, allowing gravity to provide some suspension along the way.
Whether this preferable to a more traditional bike, the bus, or just walking is up to you. The velocipede is back, but whether its new incarnation will last longer, remains to be seen.
I’ll be checking out some of the world’s coolest low carbon gadgets on a weekly basis. If you spot something we should review email me on jp (at) climatechangenews.com
VIDEO: The Fliz roadtest