The Zike, or Sinclair Zike, is a lightweight
electric bicycle
An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assis ...
invented by
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...
and marketed by his company
Sinclair Research Ltd
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then ...
in 1992. It was a commercial failure, selling only 2,000 units while originally intended to be produced at the rate of 10,000 a month. It was ended six months after introduction.
Design
The Sinclair Zike is a portable bicycle with a small electric motor driving the rear wheel and with batteries built into its frame.
It weighs 11kg.
The batteries fit inside the central shaft together with the motor.
It uses
nickel–cadmium batteries which have half the weight of the equivalent
lead–acid batteries typical of 20th-century electric vehicles, and which can withstand 2000 recharging cycles.
A three-position throttle placed under the right handlebar varies the electric power and thus the amount of pedaling required to keep going, although the Zike has only one gear.
Battery life is said to be between 30 minutes and three hours depending on which of the three running speeds are used.
The batteries can be fully recharged by plugging them into the mains for just one hour,
and they are also recharged regeneratively using the energy from pedalling, freewheeling, and braking.
The maximum speed of the bicycle operating under its own power was kept below 15 miles per hour to prevent it being classified as a motorcycle under UK law.
History
The Sinclair Zike was developed by Sir
Clive Sinclair
Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...
following the commercial failure of the
Sinclair C5
The Sinclair C5 is a small one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, technically an "electrically assisted pedal cycle". It was the culmination of Sir Clive Sinclair's long-running interest in electric vehicles. Although widely described ...
in 1985.
Electric vehicles were one of his long-term research ambitions.
The Zike was financed largely with his own money,
and the manufacture was subcontracted to Tudor Webasto, a
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
-based company.
The Zike was launched on 5 March 1992 at the Cyclex exhibition in
Olympia, London
Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international ...
, when a prototype was demonstrated to both press and public.
The price (mail order) was £499, comparable with a top of the range
tourer
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof).
"Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Th ...
or
mountain bike
A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...
at that time.
The initial production target was 10,000 Zikes a month.
In May 1993 press reports stated that Tudor Webasto had terminated production because of low sales and that Sinclair was seeking a new manufacturer.
In the end only around 2,000 units were sold.
Sinclair himself moved on to the development of the Sinclair ZETA (Zero Emission Transport Accessory)—a detachable powerpack intended to sit on the wheel of any bicycle to help power it along.
Sinclair put the failure of the Zike down to the business structure of the company manufacturing the bicycle. “We brought out the Zike and that had reasonable success but it hit a snag because the company that was making it for us, on a sub-contract basis, turned out to be a subsidiary of a German company and the German owners came in and closed the whole thing down. Very, very sad.”
Reviews
The reviews for the Zike in the British press were somewhat negative (possibly in part due to memories of the C5 which preceded it).
Susan Watts for ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' called it "an impressive feat of miniaturisation" but stated that "a quick test ride suggested the Zike is too unstable and lacking in power to make a cyclist feel secure on the nightmarish roads of London."
Similarly
Nik Berg
Nik is a unisex given name and a short form of most names starting with ''Nik'', derived from Ancient Greek νικη (nike) meaning "victory".
It may refer to:
People:
*Nik Bärtsch (born 1971), Swiss pianist, composer and producer
*Nik Bonitto (b ...
for ''
Auto Express
''Auto Express'' is a weekly motoring magazine sold in the United Kingdom published by Autovia Limited. The editor-in-chief is Steve Fowler.
History and profile
Launched in September 1988, its 1,000th issue was published on 20 February 2008. ...
'' noted that the Zike was lightweight and portable, but expressed concern about the lack of power and stated that "potholes should be avoided at all costs—the tiny wheels just get swallowed."
See also
*
A-bike
The A-bike is a folding bicycle released by Sir Clive Sinclair in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2006. It was designed by Hong Kong design agency Daka, in collaboration with Sinclair Research, over a 5-year period. It was announced to the public ...
- Sinclair's later development of folding bicycle technology
References
{{reflist
External links
Zike — Planet Sinclair
Vehicles introduced in 1992
Sinclair Research
Electric bicycles
Folding bicycles