This Bicycle Allows You to Glide Across Water
You can now bike on water as well as land. Introducing the Manta5, an aquatic bike that lets you cycle across lakes, rivers, and harbors. The Manta5 designers had a mission to recreate the feeling of cycling which led them to create this hydrofoil bike. New Zealand Entrepreneur Guy Howard-Willis conceived the idea and seven years later the bike is available for pre-order.
The aquabike is created from an aluminum frame and two carbon fiber hydrofoils. an almost silent 400-watt electric motor provides extra propulsion. The bike has buoyancy modules which means if you do take a tumble in open water you are able to climb back on.
One great feature of the Manta5 is its ability to be able to partially packed away so that it can be transported in the back of a regular car. It weighs just 20 kg and can hold the weight of riders ranging from 70 to 100 kg. It can handle both salt and freshwater, and it can reach a top speed of 20km/h.
Its inventor has big plans for the vehicle, "I want these bikes to go well beyond just being a leisure product – I want it to be a sports product so it's competitive. If it's competitive it's a whole different market it fits into, and who knows, one day it might be in the Olympic games. I can see that, it may take a while to get there, maybe I'm too ambitious, but like I say, I've always been a dreamer.” says Howard-Willis.