For his degree thesis at the FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Austria, the industrial design student Bernhard Sobotta he started with a seemingly simple question. And the question was: “Is it possible to organize an overnight stay by bicycle?”. The resulting creation is the Cercle bike. A simply incredible camper bike concept, which I fell madly in love with. From today I cheer for him!
More Hippies than this you die
Cercle is a concept bicycle that offers a professional response to the needs of daily nomadism. It does this through a modified frame, which integrates a structure with bed, chair and table. With this bike you can travel, eat and sleep. A camper bike! By simply opening the bed frame, any suitable location can become a campsite, regardless of ground conditions. The height-adjustable table and chair-turned bed frame provide a portable workplace. The traveler "merges" with his vehicle: a bike man, or rather: a bike tourist, from the Grand Canyon to the Viserbella campsite.
I am amazed at how a "simple" design like that of a bicycle can still be innovated, centuries later. This camper bike could be an extraordinary evolution.
Sobotta, who is (needless to say) an avid cyclist, brought Cercle with his friend William Cornwell on a long-range test drive. It covered almost 1000 kilometers. For the stretches of the journey where they had to carry the bike on a train or bus, they always found a free space somewhere, despite the length of the camper bike being slightly oversized.
What will the “touring” bikes of the future look like?
Do you want some questions that the concept of a camper bike can answer very well? Here are a few. “When I travel, I don't want to just move forward. At the end of the race, at the end of the day, where can I sit, relax and have a snack? And where do I put the stove so it doesn't fall? Where can I find a place for the tent that is fairly level, clean and maybe even dry? Do I leave my panniers outside or do I prefer to carry them into my tent so they are safe?”
Cercle already answers some of these questions very well, online and offline. For others, new developments are needed, but Sobotta is working on it: his project is almost an Open Source project now.
The next challenges of the camper bike
During the long test trip, Sobotta found that “The user experience in camping mode is really good. The multifunctional bed-chair-cot-table frame, which we call CampingCompanion, can be opened quickly. You sit well, the table is quite stable, you can sleep relaxed and it weighs only 3,5 kilograms.”
Sobotta and Cornwell are planning to embark on a world bike camper tour in 2022. This fall, before they set out, the two are trying to solve one of the remaining design problems and could use a little help. “It's still early to talk about sales, to open a shop. Even to price these new bikes. We are focusing on the design and customization of the tent that will go into the concept bicycle,” says Sobotta. “Until now we have used an old tarpaulin as an emergency solution. The ideal would be to find someone interested in the project and with experience in building tents."
