Kooky, 'Green' Japanese Electric Bikes Were Ahead of Their Time
These days, everybody's looking for "greener" ways to get around town. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise us to discover that our mom had ditched her SUV for a bicycle. This wasn't the case until fairly recently in the U.S., but the Japanese, ever the technology mavericks, were green when green wasn't cool. Need evidence? Just check out these bike models from Shukuno Rintendo that Today and Tomorrow found. Yes, it's awesome that one, the Fire Trick Bob (pictured above), is powered by a tiny turbine that'll produce 4.4 horsepower of raw cycling energy. Another, the Aqua Trick Bob, uses a series of tanks filled with water and air that'll propel the bike 50 meters -- also awesome in our books. But it's even more awesome that this series of bikes was manufactured between 1996 and 1998. Back then, our bicycles were still gathering dust in the garage.
With the whole world going green, we're seeing less Hummers and more hybrids than ever before--but did you know that there's zero-emissions way to get around using nothing but the power of your legs? Be the envy of your hipster friends with the stylish "Moof" bicycle from industrial design aggregators Areaware, which we recently caught on video. The top tube of this European-style ride has recessed solar-powered front and tail lights. With vintage-inspired bikes fetching prices in the thousands, the Moof might be a steal at $500. Use it to hit the streets for some Stroopwafels and find your way home at night after a couple glasses of Genever. That's Dutch, yah!
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