The Bike Umbrella
The Problem
Cycling always gets complicated when it is raining. Using rainwear has the issue of sweating, even after a short period of cycling. Same with rain capes, also with the risk of tangling up the fabric with the handlebar. And what to do with the wet cloth when you finally arrive at your destination? To summarize: There is no satisfying solution for cycling on rainy days.
Solution
Being a passionate and everyday cyclist myself, I was also always effected by those problems . So I started thinking: What do pedestrians do when it starts raining? Most of them use an umbrella; a transportable, foldable roof with a proven reliability to protect against rain. From time to time you see cyclists using an umbrella too. But with only one free hand left for steering the bike, it becomes a dangerous adventure. Also because of the bike's speed, the rain comes more from the front and the umbrella above your head becomes inefficient. This makes a regular umbrella with a handle not suitable for a bike. But what about this: A tilted umbrella starting from the front of the bike, extended over the cyclist's shoulders and until the back. An opening for your head, combined with a hood and a holder connected to the bike's frame for easy and quick stabilization of the umbrella? This is the basic idea of our new under-cover system. The device is foldable in similar fashion to a regular umbrella and comes with a telescopic mechanism, so the closed umbrella can be stored nicely on your bike's frame.
Advantages
- Cycling in the rain in everyday clothes
- Attachable to nearly every bike frame thanks to the universal holding device
- Space between the umbrella and the body ensures freedom of movement and prevents excessive sweating, unlike standard rainwear
- Unobstructed vision due to the head being above the umbrella
- Quick and easy handling - takes less than a minute to put up
- Folding mechanism and telescoping frame enable compact storage in a sleeve
- Sleeve can be attached to the bike's frame with Velcro tapes, so the umbrella is always at hand