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Could this Kickstarter project from Copenhagen be a rival to the bicycle?

City is not built for being active and mobile" - says inventor based in a city rest of world aspires to for active travel...

A company based in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, is seeking Kickstarter funding for a product called the Me-Mover, which is described as similar to a “streamlined step machine,” and has received its worldwide launch today.

Its billed as “an entirely new way to ride the city under your own power,” has taken five years to design, and is now ready to move into production – which is where potential backers on Kickstarter come in.

Inventor Jonas Eliasson says the three wheeled vehicle should be thought of as “"a human-powered Segway" – although there’s perhaps a bit more of a resemblance between that machine and another Kickstarter project we featured last week, the Halfbike.

Here's Eliasson talking about it.

Eliasson says: "Since you ride standing, you can see further, and ride safer."

The rationale behind the vehicle is Eliasson’s belief that “the city is not built for being active and mobile, so we designed Me-Mover to solve that."

While he’s talking about urban environments in general, once prototypes were built five years ago, his team set themselves the challenge of trying to win over the locals in Copenhagen, where around a third of people ride a bike to their place of work or study each day.

"We knew if we could win over the global cycling capital, we could take on the world."

Back to that Segway comparison. It’s possible that the only time you’ll have seen one in the wild may be in a city on the continent, ferrying tourists around as part of a guided tour.

That’s one need the Me-Mover is already set to fill, with tour company tour company, BeCopenhagen having ordered 20 units.

Its CEO, Søren Herlev Jørgensen, explained: "Our tourists have tried other vehicles and they tell us Me-Mover is the best way to know the city.

“It can fly along with the cyclists, but it is the only vehicle that also lets them go as slow as pedestrians.

“For visitors who want choice – to stop, talk to people, smell the flowers, shop the farmer's market¬– Me-Mover is the way to go."

All of which you can of course do on a bicycle.

With a month left on the Kickstarter campaign, the Me-Mover is already over halfway towards its $100,000 target.

You’ll find full details of the product, the technology behind it, its potential applications and the claimed benefits on its Kickstarter page.

So what do you think – an idea whose time has come, or another product that is perhaps trying too hard to push open a gap in the market that isn’t there?

Let us know in the comments below.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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13 comments

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philtregear | 10 years ago
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Could this Kickstarter project from Copenhagen be a rival to the bicycle?
NO

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Wookie | 10 years ago
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Na I'll pass  35

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pmanc | 10 years ago
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Looks like an interesting addition to the bike for countries that have the infrastructure, but I can't see it taking over any time soon. Where do I put my panniers? Or the kids?

bikebot's comment raises an interesting question. This probably wouldn't be road legal in the UK as it would be deemed to be too risky, so how have we ended up with a situation where bikes and motor vehicles in close proximity is not only legal, but the default? (answer: the bikes were there first, and then driving became aspirational and we allowed cars to dominate without providing any other options for cyclists).

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farrell | 10 years ago
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I'm really starting to get very bored with the fuckwittery kickstarter has allowed to be unleashed in to the world.

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Sudor | 10 years ago
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Me-Mover crit races - yeaahhhhh!

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levermonkey | 10 years ago
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Solution looking for a problem?

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Pickypong | 10 years ago
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What's the difference between this and an elliptigo?

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jsabine replied to Pickypong | 10 years ago
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This is a step machine with little wheels, an Elliptigo's a cross-trainer with bigger wheels.

Two people completed London-Edinburgh-London on Elliptigos last year - not sure if this would make the same distance.

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Quince | 10 years ago
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I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it did go the way of the Segway; a novel, interesting piece of design, but hampered by its inability to practically fit into most everyday environments. I'm sure it's have its fans though, for the design concept alone.

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Quince | 10 years ago
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But standing up. Like, really; standing up though! I think people really like sitting down during self-transport, and the bicycle is such an elegant balance of comfort and speed - especially the Dutch type. Which is why I don't think it'll be replacing many bicycles in places already designed for them.

However, it does look like an interesting piece of design, and it may have growth-potential I'm unaware of; I've seen quite a few grown adults pushing themselves around on scooters recently, which has taken me by surprise.

Still, whether it revolutionises human transport or not, I'm happy to see designers working innovatively around the idea of simple, sensible forms of human transport. It'd be a bit sad if designers didn't really do much meaningful 'designing', after all.

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bikebot | 10 years ago
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I know that would be fun in Copenhagen, but it looks like yet another new device that wouldn't be legal on either road or pavement in the UK.

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paulfrank replied to bikebot | 10 years ago
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I can see it being illegal on pavements as are most wheeled vehicles except prams but it would be legal on road as it is human powered unlike electric scooters and pit bikes which have licencing problems; the only problem I can see is where to mount a rear light.

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sanderville | 10 years ago
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It's good because you could stay on it as you tour the farmers' market, instead of trying to find somewhere to park your bike and have your saddle knicked.

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