The Corridor Bike Will Never Get In Your Way, Even In The Tiniest Apartment

If you take the pedals off your bike and twist the handlebar to line up with the front wheel, you can squeeze it into the tiniest of hallways and it’ll never get in the way. Loosening and tightening bolts over and over is impractical, though, not to mention the extra wear and tear it would add to your ride.

Which is where David Roman Lieshout’s Corridor Bicycle comes in. It’s a small-wheeled, city-friendly bike with a handlebar that unlocks and twists ninety degrees, flattening it for storage. The pedals fold, too, so they won’t catch your ankle as you walk past. “Corridor tries to be the most comfortable urban bicycle,” Roman tells Co.Exist.

A folding bike would do as much, but Roman says that he wanted to make a bike that was as easy to use as possible. “Every aspect is focused on the experience of getting the bicycle out your apartment and taking it for a cycle,” he says. “This is why I only chose to make the handle bar and pedals foldable. Small enough so it isn’t an obstruction, yet simple enough so you can use it effortlessly.” The idea is that you shouldn’t be put off taking the bike because it’s a pain to get the thing ready.

There are more nice design touches. A clean belt-drive takes the place of a dirty chain, there are no brake cables to snag the twisting handlebar, and the frame’s top tube has a nice curve that fits both the matching wall bracket and your shoulder, making it easy to carry up stairs. It looks like the perfect bike for city dwellers with small apartments. There’s even a little luggage carrier down low over the front wheel, for schlepping shopping.

What about safety? On the outside, the handlebar mechanism uses the familiar quick-release lever you find on many bike seat tubes, and Roman designed a custom twist/lock inside. “The combination of the system inside with the placement of the quick release can’t be opened accidentally while riding,” he says.

One of the biggest headaches of owning a bike in the city is worrying about it getting stolen. The other is heading down to the street and unlocking everything just to nip down the block to pick up some groceries. Roman’s Corridor bike has limited use (you won’t be taking it on a bike tour), but that makes it very good at what it is designed to do: getting you around town without a lot of hassle.