TR Fastenings develops ‘sidecar’ for city bicycles with SideBuddy
Cities around the globe are turning to bicycles to tackle congestion, air pollution and growing urban populations, but how do you transport goods, shopping or children on your bicycle if it’s not cargo specific?
Cargo bikes are one answer, for which Swedish firm SideBuddy has come up with its solution, developed with the assistance of TR Fastenings.
Swedish designer Jordi Hans took inspiration from the classic design of motorbike sidecars to create SideBuddy, which can be attached to standard bicycles or electric bikes (e-bikes). SideBuddy fits up to three children (0-7 years), or cargo up to 120kg and is pitched at all bicycle riders, from families to commuters, tourists and street sellers.
TR Fastenings Sweden was approached by the SideBuddy designers to be a possible sponsor.
Eugen Kühnl, Engineering and R&D Manager at TR Fastenings Sweden, said: “As a leading manufacturer and supplier of industrial components, environmental thinking is an area we are particularly interested in. In our opinion, the Sidebuddy is a unique project with huge commercial potential and one we are delighted to support.”
“The components that were selected – such as screws, nuts, washers, springs and rubber parts – were already approved and validated for use in the automotive sector and readily available for us to supply to the customer. This amounted to a huge saving in terms of time for the Sidebuddy team.”
Challenges in the development of SideBuddy included finding a way to connect the bike to the Sidebuddy, steering issues and combining design with function.
Jordi Hans added: “We are hugely grateful to TR Fastenings and our other sponsors for all their support.
We have just officially launched Sidebuddy and are delighted with the response so far!”
Trego Trolley (pictured right)
At Eurobike CyclingIndustry.News also got a sneak peak on the Trego Trolley – a similar concept that replaces a bike’s front wheel with a cargo hauling alternative.
Click here to read more on how this creation can transform a bike’s capability.
