Totally Awesome Bike Folds Into Wheel Circumference

The Contortionist is a bike that folds into an oreo of sorts, with the entire mechanism somehow tucking between both 26-inch wheels, and part of the assembly sticking out for easy pulling.

The inventor? A 24-year-old student from Battersea, London. Dominic Hargreaves was apparently unsatisfied with his folding bike—which collapsed on him—so he set out to design his own, with an emphasis on hardiness. The mechanical reality that makes this gadget work? The front whell, engineered to rotate and reposition to make compactness achievable. I guess the only way you can make it any more compact is if you use smaller wheels or actually engineer folding wheels.

Future prospects? Well, Hargreaves is looking for a manufacturer now, and The Contortionist is in the running for the £10,000 James Dyson award. Hopefully Hargreaves was able to patent this invention, because I’d probably want to buy this bike when it hits a reasonable price, and reward him for such creativity.