Written by Menswear Style in Reviews on the 28th November 2017

The world’s lightest folding bike has been launched by the British-based Hummingbird Bike Company. Engineered by Prodrive, Hummingbird is produced with the same precision as the pioneering motorsport and advanced technology group’s world championship-winning race and rally cars. As a result, each Hummingbird combines uncompromised functionality with eye-catching beauty.

Here at MenswearStyle we sent Lifestyle Editor Peter Brooker out onto the streets of London to experience the Hummingbird bike for a video review. Breaking new boundaries in the folding bike market, Hummingbird features a lightweight carbon fibre frame. Weighing a mere 6.9kg, three kilos lighter than its closest competitor, it also boasts a revolutionary three-step folding system that allows the bike to be folded in five seconds.

Hummingbird is the brainchild of designer Petre Craciun, who set out to design a beautiful yet lightweight folding bike, when other models proved too heavy for his girlfriend to carry around. With prices starting at £3,495, Hummingbird has spared no expense in designing the ultimate product for the urban cyclist. Featuring the same carbon fibre manufacturing process as Prodrive’s race cars, each frame is manufactured at the dedicated composites facility in Milton Keynes. Here, the bike’s frame went through stringent testing using the latest computer engineering software in its design phase. Prodrive rigorously stress-tested the bike under all applications, ensuring the whole bike passed ISO standards with flying colours at its first attempt.

Starting as stock prepreg carbon fibre, sheets of carbon are sliced into accurately measured strips before being perfectly aligned to make the frame. The layers are then fused together into one piece, under high pressure and heat. This highly meticulous process results in a perfectly compact, strong and beautiful frame, carefully handcrafted and finished to the highest standards. The frame is available in four colours (Hummingbird Yellow, Prestige Black, Freedom Blue or Burnt Orange), and individually numbered. The stunning Carbon Edition Hummingbird, the company’s top-of-the-range design, features a beautiful carbon weave frame, a natural connection of craftsmanship and machinery. Customers can also choose the versatility of a 4-speed version.

The bikes are assembled at Prodrive’s Banbury factory, alongside race and rally cars the company also makes for Aston Martin, Subaru and Volkswagen. Petre Craciun, Hummingbird designer, said, "Buying my first bicycle changed my life, opening up the world and giving me the freedom to explore. It’s this concept of freedom that has been the inspiration behind Hummingbird. I feel like cycling is the future of transportation but, until now, there has been one thing missing – a lightweight, portable bicycle that feels more like an accessory than a means of transportation. Enter Hummingbird, which I'm thrilled to see come to life today.”

Robert Campbell, Partner of Hummingbird Bike Company commented, “The Hummingbird truly is a thing of beauty, meaning you will never want to take your eyes off it, but it’s our uncompromising approach to producing the best possible folding bike we could that gives it such distinction. The high-performance nature of the precision engineering means the bike is suitable for daily riding, so people can fall in love with urban cycling.”

David Richards, Chairman of Prodrive, added, “Hummingbird combines all the key attributes of technical excellence that Prodrive stands for. But this is just the beginning. As with all the projects we work on with our clients in the motorsport, automotive, marine and aerospace sectors, we will be constantly striving to find new ways to innovate for the cycling industry.”

Founded by Petre Craciun and Engineered by Prodrive we take a look at the Hummingbird dubbed the World’s Lightest Folding Bike.