Practical and stylish, Cheryn Tan discovers a bicycle gearing up to meet the challenges of urban cycling.

Winner of the 2009 Euro Bike Best Urban Bicycle in the World and the DME Award 2009, the Vanmoof bike was designed to provide comfort for the urban peddler to move around the city freely and fashionably.

“We stripped the bike from whims that can only break or cause frustration, and added innovation and style,” says 28-year-old Dutch designer Sjoerd Smit, who drew inspiration from “good old-fashioned Dutch bikes”.

Aiming to be ‘the car of the future’, the Vanmoof rises up to the challenges of city cycling.

Built on a striking aluminium rust-free frame, the Vanmoof is refreshingly light and easy to carry and comes with three gear speeds, allowing cyclists to cruise comfortably through metropolitan landscapes.

The back-pedal coaster brake does away with loose hanging cables, enabling a safe and powerful stop.

The bicycle’s environmentally friendly, solar-powered LED light system switches on automatically when dark. These durable lights, which are the same as the ones in airport landing strips, can be charged with a telephone adapter.

Completing function with form are the sleek, broad handlebars and classic leather seat, giving the bicycle a simplistic yet attractive design.

The Vanmoof bicycle comes at the starting price of $898.

Vanmoof
vanmoof.com.au