The urban commuter’s dilemma: you want to ride a bike to work, but storing a bike easily and safely can feel like a job unto itself. Benjamin Hubert’s creative agency LAYER designed the Pendler urban e-bike concept with the entire experience and needs of riders from a holistic perspective, not just while in motion. The result is an e-bike that looks different because it was conceived differently.

The Pendler’s U-shaped frame is the bike’s most dramatic detail. Looking somewhat like an enormous smile (or a slack piece of pasta, as one friend noted), the open design allows easy and direct step-while mounting/dismounting, regardless of outfit worn. It’s a thoughtful recognition of the purpose-built ethos serving commuters, one echoed by the e-bike’s name itself: “pendler” is the Danish word for “commuting.” A compact wheelbase paired with detachable front and rear 20-inch wheels, alongside folding pedals and handles to simplify storage once the rider has reached their destination reveals a holistic approach to designing a bike.

The e-bike’s 45Nm rear hub motor and a removable 250Wh battery is more than sufficient to aid commuters to and fro for 70 kilometers/43 miles on a single charge at up to 25 kilometer per hour (in keeping with UK/EU speed guidelines). Don’t expect to win the Tour de France riding the Pendler, but expect to arrive without breaking a sweat, a much appreciated aspect of traveling by e-bike versus a traditional pedal pusher.

We believe easy, everyday travel should be for everybody – and our aim with Pendler was to envisage a safer, more convenient and effortless mode of personal transport to enable independence for commuting in the city. The result is an intelligently designed e-bike that is inclusive, easy to store in compact urban spaces, and balances high performance with a desirable, crafted aesthetic.

Currently the modular urban Pendler e-bike exists only as a concept, but with fuel prices and traffic only expected to continue to worsen, mobility solutions that think out of the box (or bike lane) certainly will have more and more possibility of adoption within urban environments.

Gregory Han is Tech Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

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