Press
Release
JYROBIKE
BRINGS THE WORLD’S
FIRST AUTO BALANCE BICYCLE TO KICKSTARTER
The
new Jyrobike will use gyroscopic technology to teach children to ride a bicycle
in a single afternoon
June 3, 2014
(Philadelphia, PA) –
The biggest innovation to bike riding in the 21st Century is launching on
Kickstarter, and it was initially designed by a group of students at Dartmouth
University. Fear and frustration while learning to ride a bike will be a thing
of the past thanks to the world’s first and
only Auto Balance Bicycle from Jyrobike, which launched its crowd funding
campaign on Kickstarter today (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/529668138/jyrobike-auto-balance-bicycle),
June 3, 2014. Balance whilst pedaling is the most important skill a child needs
to master when learning to ride a bicycle.
However, they can become easily discouraged after a few spills and
parents have aching backs from trying to balance the bike for them.
Jyrobike
designs and manufactures Auto Balance Bicycles with a unique Control Hub built
into the front wheel. Inside the Control Hub is a motor driven gyroscope, which
when turned on, keeps the rider balanced and upright while they are pedaling,
even when they tip or wobble. The first Jyrobikes are aimed at 3-8 year olds
and will be available in 12” and 16” wheel sizes.
For
most observers Jyrobike has a magical, almost impossible quality, however the
technology is actually based upon the basic and well-known scientific laws
found in all gyroscopes or flywheels. When turned on, it acts like a
gyroscope or gyro and provides a stabilizing force, working just as gyros do to
keep helicopters stable in the air, boats stable at sea and spaceships stable
in orbit.
“For the past two years, we’ve been perfecting the innovation which
we discovered from an incredible group of students and we’ve been working on a
new bicycle aimed at helping children learn to ride in a single afternoon - by
any measure, our goal is no mean feat,” said Jyrobike CEO and founder, Robert
Bodill. “On behalf of the team at Jyrobike, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of
our first products through Kickstarter.”
The Kickstarter campaign hopes to raise an
initial funding goal of $100,000 USD and will offer several stretch goals after
the initial funding goal is met. During the 30-day campaign, pledgers will have
the opportunity to fund and pre-order items like the complete Jyrobike, the
magic Control Hub (without the bike), a limited edition Jyrobike, and more. Following the Kickstarter campaign, the first
Jyrobikes for direct consumer sales are expected to hit the US market by Q1
2015.
Jyrobike was initially created by students at
Dartmouth University and has been developed in a joint effort by cycling and
technology experts in the UK, the Netherlands and the United States, led by CEO
and founder, Robert Bodill.
Jyrobike is built on the core principle that
bikes become inherently stable at higher speeds because the faster a wheel
spins, the more balanced it becomes. Working on this assumption, the research
and development team experimented by putting a gyroscope - a faster, spinning
wheel - inside a slower wheel - e.g. the front wheel of the bicycle. As part of
the process, Jyrobike invented a patented Control Hub that is able to
intelligently generate an intrinsic stabilizing force that resists the toppling
force of gravity on the bicycle.
The Control Hub behaves according to standard
gyroscope rules and resists any angular force acting about its transverse axis.
That is why it is able to resist toppling caused by gravity. The principle of
gyroscope precession dictates that counteracting the handlebar movement that
follows any lean action will in turn generate a counter force to that of
gravity and correct the lean to restore the bike upright.
The Control Hub will feature three stabilization
settings which can be adjusted accordingly as the rider builds their skills and
confidence. Parents can also use an optional wireless controller to
increase/decrease the balance settings while their child is in motion –
providing additional stability or easing them into balancing themselves. Once a
child has mastered riding the Jyrobike without the use of the Control Hub, the
gyro can be removed to transform the Jyrobike into a light-weight kids’ bicycle
or the Control Hub can be substituted with a standard bike wheel from Jyrobike.
“Learning to ride a bicycle can be tough, but
learning is one of life’s greatest moments… That exact moment when a person
realizes that they just went from ‘can’t ride’ to ‘can ride’. It is nothing
less than life inspiring,” added Bodill. “Our inspiration comes from that
perfect, wonderful moment of joy and freedom. Our passion is designing a
bicycle that transports as many people as possible directly to that moment of
delight, in the quickest and easiest way possible”.
To learn more about Jyrobike and
it’s Kickstarter campaign, please visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/529668138/jyrobike-auto-balance-bicycle
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