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Michelin E-Lectra Bike Boasts a Mindblowing Carbon Frame Design

As fancy as some bicycle frames may be, they all fail to impress us like E-Lectra did. The Michelin E-Lectra is a stunning design from the UK-based Lithuanian creative Tautvydas Bertasius.
Michelin E-Lectra 4 photos
Photo: Tautvydas Bertasius
Michelin E-LectraMichelin E-LectraMichelin E-Lectra
His idea is as simple as it gets, and frankly, we did not hesitate to label it under the "how come I never thought of this before" tag. The main thing that sets Betasius' design apart from pretty much anything we saw until now is his unibody approach to the bike frame design.

Unlike traditional bikes that rely on separate suspensions specifically designed for the purpose, Tautvydas Bertasius' E-Lectra is an entirely different species. The frame is conceived as a single-piece construction that serves as both chassis and suspension.

If we were to reduce everything to a minimalist concept, we'd say that E-Lectra's frame has a coil design. If you look closely, you'll observe how smart this approach is and how it retains both awesome looks and functionality. The seat is suspended in mid-air, with a carbon fiber leaf-like structure behind the headstock serving as suspension for it.

For symmetry purposes, the piece supporting the seat passes through the middle of the frame, but it would have looked equally sweet with a proper coil design. An electric motor is housed in the rear wheel hub, while the battery compartment is in the upper section of the frame.

Bertasius envisages a "graphene supercapacitor battery" to be used with the E-Lectra, while a bar-mounted magnetic holder should keep your smartphone in place, providing critical info about the ride and the bike via a dedicated app.

And because E-Lectra had to stand from the crowd beyond any shadow of a doubt, Bertasius also ditched the chain and replaced it with a motorcycle-like closed-box shaft drive. We have no idea if this bike exists only in the virtual environment or if it stands any chance of making it into production. Would someone please pick this up and crowdfund it?
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