Bergmönch: the Bicycle That Sends You Packing

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The rumors are true: the bicycle industry is folding.

As much as I love being out and about on my mountain bike, there’s one experience above all that affirms my love for it…and that’s when I arrive anywhere. I step off – padlock – I’m done. But even this hassle-free process is becoming obsolete. Every year designers are squeezing and folding bicycles into ever more compact, portable shapes – take Brompton’s range, this beauty by Mercedes Benz, or Thomas Jowen’s “One” (below).

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But you still have to lug these miniaturized marvels around by hand: portable, but still pretty hefty. And that’s why Bergmönch’s bicycle (top) is such a breakthrough. When the wheels have stopped turning, you fold it into a backpack and sling it around your shoulders.

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The “crossbar” is actually a sturdy backpack in itself, with over 12 litres of storage – and when this is empty, the whole bike weighs less than 10 kilos.

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Those wheels are designed for the roughest terrain. And of course, when you reach the other side of the hill…

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Sign me up. That is, after I’ve finished paying off my glow in the dark bike.

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And the grow-your-own bamboo bike

More on Cycling:

PhotobucketBiking to Work

PhotobucketWhere Facebook and Bicycles Collide

PhotobucketOld Bicycles Become New Art

Photobucketand furniture

PhotobucketA Guide for the Bike Curious

Images: Bergmönch and Thomas Jowen

Mike Sowden

Mike Sowden is a freelance writer based in the north of England, obsessed with travel, storytelling and terrifyingly strong coffee. He has written for online & offline publications including Mashable, Matador Network and the San Francisco Chronicle, and his work has been linked to by Lonely Planet, World Hum and Lifehacker. If all the world is a stage, he keeps tripping over scenery & getting tangled in the curtain - but he's just fine with that.