Gizmodo Australia » foldable

Foldable Kitchens, Offices and Bedrooms Optimise Tiny Living Spaces

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:15:00 +0000

In case you’re one of those poor souls residing in a room the size of someone’s walk-in closet, here’s a sweet innovation from the Land of Lack-of-Space, Japan. The Kenchikukagu, designed by Toshihiko Suzuki for Atelier OPA, is a series of “rooms” that can be folded and wheeled away for easy storage. The line features a kitchen, a bedroom and an office, and costs about $7,500 per unit on Amazon Japan. Granted, I don’t live in Tokyo, but if my apartment is too small to fit my bed and kitchen in it at the same time, I’d probably just move somewhere else. [Kenchikukagu via Complex]

Lightning Review: Strida 5.0 Foldable Bike

Nick Broughall — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:15:55 +0000

The Gadget: Strida’s 5.0 Foldable Bike. The Price: From $799 for the standard colours (white, red, brushed silver, matte black, yellow, pink, orange and dark blue). A limited edition cream model is available for $899. You can also add a whole heap of optional extras, like a kickstand ($30), LED headlight ($40), saddle bag ($35), water bottle bag ($30), rear top bag ($50) and a bike bag ($100).

The Verdict: Folding bikes are only going to get more and more common as fuel prices continue to increase and people from the outer suburbs try and find alternative ways to get to the city. At the moment in Sydney, if you want to take a full-sized bike on the train with you during peak hour, you need to buy it a child’s ticket. The Strida 5.0 folds up nicely so you can cram it between your legs and not have it take up too much room on public transport.

The first thing you notice is that it’s built extremely well. It weighs about 9kg, which can get a bit heavy after a while, but at least you can still wheel it around like a stroller when it’s folded up to take a lot of the weight off. Folding and unfolding it is incredibly simple, but does take a little bit of practice to be able to do it efficiently – Strida claims it can be done in six seconds, but it generally took me between 10 and 15, even after two weeks practice.

One of the great aspects of the Strida 5.0 is that when you want to take it on a train, you can easily sit on it, which takes up even less space and gives you a place to sit on crowded trains. It can get a bit uncomfortable after a while though, be careful if your hemorrhoids are flaring up.

Riding the bike itself is a mixed bag. For one, there’s no gear system, so you won’t want to be using this for gruelling hills or difficult rides unless you like the fact that your legs feel like jelly and your business shirt is soaked with sweat. But the biggest problem is the weight distribution – the design of the bike means that when you’re riding, most of the weight sits entirely over the rear wheel. This causes big problems when you need to put in that extra effort on hills – every time I tried to exert myself by standing up to pedal, the front wheel actually came off the ground and I almost had a very intimate date with the pavement. you can counteract this by leaning (occasionally obscenely) further forward than you would on a normal bike, but it takes a lot of getting used to.

You would never use this as a recreational bike. But that’s not what it’s for, really. It’s an urban transport vehicle, meant to help you navigate through the city or supplement public transport. With that in mind it does a really good job, so long as you can a) afford it and b) get used to its quirks.

[Strida Australia]

Folding Colander Is Perfect for Flat Noodles

Mark Wilson — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:20:00 +0000

It took 100 prototypes to figure it out, but someone engineered the folding colander. The colander uses a 12-hinge design to retain its shape for straining and then folds flat to store easily in the always precious real estate of kitchen cabinetry. It’s US$29 and comes in green or white—which are specifically not the baby blue you see in this photo. But that’s probably a good thing*.

* Inevitably, at least someone reading this post will not only like baby blue but be wearing a baby blue jumper at this very moment that matches their baby blue kitchen built to resemble their baby blue car/house/dog/cat/baby boy’s room. And we’re sure said person has pulled it off quite tastefully. We also know that a colour snob will explain the colour is not baby blue and offer an alternative like “periwinkle”—even though we know that “periwinkle” is the wrong colour in this instance. All this has been anticipated, even welcomed, by the story’s author.
[Generate via bltd]

Folding Bike Makes Walking Obsolete

Nick Broughall — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:47:54 +0000

Folding bikes aren’t new. Hell, even this folding bike isn’t new. It’s been around for a couple of years, easy.

What is new is the fact that you can now get one in Australia – Tesora is selling the Fold-A-Bike for just $149.

The Fold-A-Bike weighs just 5.5kg and folds down to just 66 x 30 x 15cm. Even better is the fact that you can unfold it in under 10 seconds, making it the near perfect city commuter vehicle. Just imagine the wind flowing through your hair and your suit jacket flapping out behind you while you run over those pesky “walkers” on your way to the train station after a hard day’s work. Makes you want one, doesn’t it?

[Tesora]

Folding Sunglasses Make You Look Cooler Than You Are

Nick Broughall — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:13:39 +0000

The quality of your sunglasses can make or break your social status these days. Just look at Corey Worthington – His bright yellow glasses are now a trademark for being an irresponsible little tool.

If you think that your social positioning could use a little pick me up, these limited edition Ray-ban Wayfarers will do the trick. Not only are they they same design that Tom Cruise made famous in Risky Business (that was before he became a nutjob), but they fold up into a neat little package that you can carry with you in your pocket.

They’ll set you back US$149, but if that’s the cost of social acceptance these days, then it’s an absolute bargain…

[Saks via Manolo]

Crossbreed Bike Wheels Fold Automagically

Gizmodo US Edition — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:00:59 +0000

A UK Designer has come up with a full-sized wheel that can be completely folded. Duncan Fitzsimmons’ Crossbreed wheel doesn’t have the poor-performance delivered by the tiny wheels on folding bikes and despite sounding pretty dangerous it actually works, as you can see in the video.

While the design is innovative, and avoids all the bumpy ride and gyroscopic effects of traditional small wheels, to get it to be as light and strong as possible it needs a carbon-fibre structure. This, says Fitzsimmons, is one of the difficulties ahead as he tries to find a manufacturing partner. His ultimate goal is to make a really “high end city bike or courier bike that can fold up into a package like a golf bag, which could go into an overhead rack on a train or go into a plane locker.” With folding carbon-fibre wheels, don’t expect it to be cheap, though. [Bike Radar via OhGizmo]

Poker Night Goes Avant Garde with Nils-Frederking’s Folding Table and Chair

Seamus Byrne — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:45:00 +0000

A total rethinking of the traditional fold-up table and chair with, it appears, whole new ways to pinch your fingers in the process. Note: Failure to operate with black turtleneck and air of superiority could result in accident, injury or death. – Wilson Rothman

Table Page [Nils-Frederking]
Chair Page [Nils-Frederking]