Mando Footloose Self-Charging e-Bike Has the Looks, But No Chain – Video

Thinking of the sort of technology humans have to their disposal today, you’d imagine things like this bike should have been long available to interested buyers.

Take the EV industry. Even though we all feel the immediate results of massive pollution through climate change, natural disasters and so on, we still move rather slowly towards protecting the one thing we depend on, which is our planet. It’s like they say, you only appreciate something when it’s gone. But that’s a different discussion.

As we said, we stumbled upon this rather clever city commuter about three years ago. We were then saying that the Mando Footloose is most likely part of the class of innovations that fit amazingly well together. We still think that and here’s why.

Instead of rotating the rear wheel, pedaling this bike turns the built-in alternator. The converter then turns the mechanical energy into electrical energy, providing supplemental power to the rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The 2 ½- inch (6.35 cm) color LCD on the handlebars helps the rider chose the pedal resistance, acceleration and speeds of up to 16 mph (25 km/h).

In terms of specs, the Mando Footloose has a chainless hybrid drive system with an automatic dual winding motor, an aluminum frame with a carbon fiber single fork, 20’’ (50.8 cm)-diameter tires and dual hand brakes. Get this, changing gears is done automatically according to what the electronic control unit’s sensors monitor. Things like the bike’s speed and slope of terrain will make it shift gears to enable a smooth ride for both up steep inclines or down declines.

The battery takes 2 ½ hours to charge fully and offers an up to 18-mile range without any pedaling or up to 28-mile with it. The bike is priced at $3,800 at Hammacher Schlemmer.