Toyota comissions a Prius bike

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Toyota Prius is coming up on its 10-year anniversary and in order to celebrate the company has chosen an unusual route; they have commissioned the creation of a bicycle. The bike, which is being created by the Parlee Cycles company, is designed to work with the Prius design principles of environmentally sustainability. This is a solid match, since both of the companies are known for working on sustainable design and transportation technology.

The commissioned bicycle is designed to be state-of the art and ultra efficient. While the basics of bicycle design have not changed much over the years, the team has gone to great lengths to examine the types of places that the bike may be used, including both jam packed cities and long touring runs, in order to create what the company called the "Areo Road Bike".

The bike frame is made with lightweight and seamless carbon fiber tubing that is designed to be aerodynamic. While carbon fiber is not recyclable the company has been able to make it wasteless by using all of the raw materials in the bikes construction. The materials are then covered in a resin layer to enhance its strength, and make it visually appealing.

The bike is currently still in development, and the rest of the potential enhancements are not know at this time, since the design team is keeping most of the details a secret. Parties that are interested in finding out more about the construction of the bike can check out John Watson’s blog, Prolly is Not Probably, for future updates.

© 2010 PhysOrg.com