Pocket Bicycles was the name of a manufacturer of

portable bicycle A portable bicycle is a bicycle that has been designed to be small and light enough for easy carrying. It is usually dismantled to make a convenient bundle and the frame often has a folding action to facilitate this. The design of a portable bicy ...

s located in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in the 1970s.

Design innovations

While resembling many of the small-wheel

folding bicycle A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mode commuting and bicyc ...

designs of the time, the bicycle was distinctive in reducing the

flexion Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relativ ...

of the

down tube A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangl ...

and hinge by use of cables kept under

tension Tension may refer to: Science * Psychological stress * Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression) * Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions * Voltage or el ...

by the weight of the rider, saving weight and space compared to use of rigid tubing braces. Use of cables provided reduction of excessive vertical flex in the frame while still allowing easy adjustment of the degree of flexion retained, to act as a tunable

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...

system absorbing much of the bumpiness of the ride normally associated with

small wheel bicycle Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

References

{{American bicycle manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of the United States Folding bicycles

Design innovations

See also

References