The Cardboard Bicycle

So what is this about?

In my bid to look for ideas to start a business, I came across a website which provided readers with some articles with examples of successful innovative ideas by various inventors. One of which caught my eye - The Cardboard Bicycle.

This invention was by one man - Izhar Gafni, who started on his idea of building a bicycle purely out of cardboard. Purely. Meaning, only the chains, brake calipers, bolts and tires are not cardboard.

I would bravely bet that no one had ever thought of riding a bicycle made out of cardboard, which is something so flimsy that you can tear using your bare hands. Even thinking about it now that it has been made available, would you purchase and buy one? So how did this "Mission Impossible" be made possible by one man?

It all started off with Izhar hearing the news of a cardboard canoe, which then sparked off a thought in his head on how can he do something like that in relevance to his passion. After several discouraging comments by some of his trusted engineers that “it is not possible” and a conversation with his wife, who told him to go ahead with it if he wanted to, he took a step forward and after 7 running prototypes, he got the final model.

This bicycle is not only lightweight, it is also environmentally friendly. With many campaigns to raise the awareness of conserving our environment, reusing of cardboards in this way takes this to a whole new level.

This Cardboard Bicycle was featured in the media, such as CNet, CNN, NPR, Bloomberg and BBC. Cardboard Technologies, the company set up with Izhar Gafni as Inventor and CTO alongside with 3 other people, has started on mass producing the product, it’s set to be ready in Q2 of Year 2014.

This is an inspiration to everybody out there that literally, “nothing is impossible”. I hope my first article is entertaining and of some source of inspiration to you readers out there.

The Cardboard Bicycle by Izhar Gafni

Cardboard Technologies