Page 41 - Bespoke Issue

Rover and Bentley, so how did a cute super light folding bicycle end up being housed and built in a state of the art facility surrounded by iconic racing machines?
The Hummingbird story began when designer Petre Craciun wanted to solve a problem for his girlfriend, the solution was an ultra-light folding bike so he set about designing and making the carbon bre prototype. It needed to be small and light, there are many folding bikes on the market the most famous of which is probably the Brompton, but although compact this go to commuter cycle is still a hefty bit of kit. Petre’s carbon machine was a fraction of the weight and its simple design made folding and assembly very easy. His very pleased girlfriend used the bike for work, her boss saw it and loved it, then he told his friend and before Petre could think about the next move he found himself riding the Hummingbird around the kitchen of a certain David Richards, who those of you in the motorsports fraternity will know as the founder and driving force behind Prodrive. Petre and his Hummingbird had found themselves a new home amongst the race cars at Prodrive.
This new environment allowed the full development of the bike using techniques and materials that are employed more commonly on racing cars and high-end supercars. The result is a magni cently designed and engineered folding bike that goes way beyond the standards of even the world’s best bicycle manufacturers. The frame uses the latest carbon bre techniques; synthetic polymers that are heated to high temperatures until they carbonize, resulting in an extremely light structure with a tensile strength four time higher that the best steel alloys would provide at a quarter of the weight. Not to mention the sheer beauty of the raw carbon pattern.
The wheels are small which obviously reduces the folded size of the machine, but also increases acceleration and manoeuvrability as this is an urban cycle. The slick high pressure tyres reduce drag and the small diameter increases strength for those potholes on urban roads. There is a four speed Sturmey Archer geared rear hub option or standard single speed. The road wheels are made from ultra-light aluminium with double butted spokes and sealed bearing hubs front and rear. The frameset design is the perfect balance of form and function, robust but comfortable to ride. They were able to use simulation testing to see exactly how the structure would respond to different riding styles.
Folded proportions were a massive consideration, but having a joint in the frame, as many of these bike do, would have meant a hefty compromise in weight, strength and aesthetics. The monocoque frame construction combined with the unique folding swing arm mechanism give the bike extra strength and a fantastic ride. The swing arm is just one of the design features that the relationship with Prodrive made possible. Thousands of computer simulations were run throughout the design phases to determine the ultimate design for performance and weight. Every swing arm takes over 24 hours to produce as it is machined from a solid billet of aluminium and then black anodised, so not only is it functional, but you could place it on the mantel piece as a work of art. The swinglock system allows the entire swing arm to pivot around the bottom bracket, so the chain tension never changes which prevents the chain from falling off and removes the need for chain tensioners.
The entire bike folds in ve seconds; the swing
41