Startup CLIP are crowdfunding for a new take on the portable e-bike conversion kit, with a device that attaches to the front fork to provide the assist.
At just 1.7kg in weight it's easy to cart around and fits in most backpacks, and it clips onto almost any standard fork with ease. It will also work on city bikes such as London's Santander Cycles or Citi Bike of NYC.
You can recharge it at your desk via USB, and the motor is a powerful 450 watts powered by a Li-ion 36V battery. You can also control the drive via bluetooth, with CLIP's own app showing you the assistance level and also how much CO2 you've saved by biking instead of taking the car to your destination.
The Kickstarter has numerous tiers and rewards, and the minimum you can reserve a CLIP for is $599 with an estimated delivery of July 2019. The first 50 models won't have been optimised for the economy of scale CLIP eventually foresee they will need, but this is to ensure the first backers get their reward delivered successfully and CLIP can begin working towards making a mass-production version. An EU version is also in the pipeline according to CLIP's founder.
It's already passed the crowdfunding target, with over £10,000 raised so far. Check out the Kickstarter here and CLIP's website here.
