Bike nerds and the physical activity-averse, rejoice! Ford Motors has released its latest smartbike — or eBike, or whatever you want to call it — the Mode: Flex. Unlike the company’s previous folding bike models, the Flex was built with the smartphone (and smartwatch) crowd in mind. While a motor and battery-backed bicycle might not appeal to bicycling traditionalists, it still sounds pretty damn neat. The Verge has the deets:
[T]he bigger device can interact with your smartphone, enabling a “no sweat” mode that will calculate how much effort you need to put on the pedals to get to your destination without any serious physical exertion. In addition to advancing human laziness, the MoDe:Link app also informs riders of real-time weather, road, and traffic conditions up ahead.
Ford says the app comes with an Apple Watch extension that can somehow detect potholes on the road. Riders will feel their handlebars vibrate when they come close to such hazards, but the car company doesn’t explain whether the software relies on existing data, is capable of scanning the road ahead, or is simply employing advanced magic to spot the holes.
Also cool: The Flex can be switched up for different terrains and can be converted from a road bike to a mountain bike. For more techie specs, check out the bicycle in action in the video above.
To the naysayers out there who may be weirded out that a car company is designing (motorized, lazy) bikes — come on, y’all! It’s a step in the right direction of getting commuters onto more sustainable modes of transportation.
