Just when we thought that urban cycling had reached its zenith, Israeli designer Udi Rimon essentially rendered Tel Aviv’s cars redundant with his design of Tel-O-Porter – a genius bike trailer that connects to the city’s shared Tel-O-Fun bicycles. Made of aluminum tubes and stainless steel mesh, the trailer doubles as a hand held cart and holds up to 45kg of cargo.
Urban cycling in Tel Aviv is on the rise with 14 percent of residents polled opting for two wheels to get to work. It’s not hard to get from one side of the city to the next within about 20 minutes, and the new shared program, whilst not without its quirks, makes it even easier.
One issue that blocks widespread cycling as a greener alternative to cars, however, is the lack of trunk space.
How will I get all those bags home, one might ask. It’s not safe to dangle potatoes, Arak and lemons off the handlebars. My friend tried this and landed herself in hospital.
While completing his training at the Holon Institute of Technology in Israel, the young industrial designer conceived an urban trailer that could be easily attached to virtually any shared bicycle system in the world, thereby universalizing the design.
It has a deep basket, wheels for mobility, and hooks for shopping bags; it is easily mounted on to the rear of the bicycle with a latch. So when residents or tourists hire a Tel-O-Fun bike for a day or an hour, they simply need to order the trailer as an add-on.
And since there’s a history of slippery fingers in Tel Aviv, the trailer comes with a nifty lock that can wrap around a pole or bench if it has to be unattended for a short while.
We won’t be at all surprised to see Tel-O-Porters incorporated into other shared urban biking systems around the world in time.
:: Udi Rimon
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Onde se pode comprar a bike Tel-O-Porter (a bike com o reboque) ?
Brilliant idea! Loved the design!