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Rethinking the Bicycle-for-Two: Jared Loveless's Folding scooteRack

By Ray Hu - May 30, 2013

in Cars

The NYC DOT, Citibike, Transportation Alternatives et al could not have asked for better weather on Monday, when the much-anticipated bikeshare system finally launched with a fleet of 6,000 public bikes at 300+ stations in the bottom half of Manhattan and a sliver of Brooklyn (apparently Bloomberg kinda killed it during the press event on Monday). I saw at least a dozen happy patrons cruising around various parts of town, including a teenager who was helping an older stranger extract a bike from a docking station.

Of course, it's too early to determine the impact of the major municipal project (I got stuck behind a hapless Citibiker in a bike lane on my commute today), but as the bicycle becomes an increasingly popular means of transportation, innovators continue to explore new ways to augment the utility of the highly efficient conveyance. Case in point, Jared Loveless recently brought his "radical redesign of the bicycle-for-two" to our attention.

A woodworker by trade, the Long Island-based DIYer developed the scooteRack, with the help of his two sons, who served as test pilots and assistants, as seen in the video below:

Loveless notes that the patent-pending contraption is fairly similar to using a scooter, and that the passenger can actually provide a boost by using the scooter as he or she normally would.

Yea or Nay?

The prototype (in wood) at left

See also: Loveless's proposal for self-powered bicycle brake light on Quirky.

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Ken J

12 years ago

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Genius!

Perhaps allow the skate wheel to pivot (spring loaded centering trailing arm) instead of the whole skate. Also I'd like to see what installing a hand brake splitting control of the rear wheel brake would do. I'm not sure that foot brake would do much.
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George

12 years ago

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Bob, surely some of your kids could use the bicycle and tow the other one around! haha!
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Ct'd

12 years ago

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NY will find a way to make it illegal.
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bob

12 years ago

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You could also add a flat top to that rack and a third person could sit.

I have three kids...
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Monica - Rubber Track Dumpers

12 years ago

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This is awesome and totally marketable. I would think this same fold out structure could be combined with some brackets for extra storage. Almost like a trailer behind a bike for towing or a seated rig for small children. Very cool.
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