Some New Designs

Gorgeous, right? It's an ebike designed by Ford and unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Li-Ion powered to a motor in the front wheel, it also features a Carbon Belt Drive System for getting your human power to the rear wheel. It's adaptively powered:

In the Ford E-Bike, the first application of this technology in the bicycle industry, the sensors read the revolutions in the inner bearing and relay this information to the control unit within a hundredth of a second. The control unit then instantly activates or deactivates the electric motor, providing a seamless integration of the power of the legs with the power of the motor.

It utilizes a trapezoidal frame profile made from aluminum and carbon, looks crazy cool, and will not be available for purchase. Ever. It's a "concept bike", much like the "concept car".

But, on the other side of the coin,

the very popular Brompton Folding Bike (available at both North Park and Fairfield bike shops here in Victoria),announced today (21 September 2011) that it will be offering an electric version of its folder; the eBrompton. Rollout is scheduled to be first in the UK and German markets during 2012 with a worldwide launch in 2013.