PLEASE READ THIS - published in 28th November 2018.

Thanks for your support and interest in the SideBike. I have had loads of positive feedback on social media but that isn't converting to Kickstarter pledges. And maybe Kickstarter isn't the best way to go with this type of project. But in any case I would still love to go ahead with the project in future and I am making plans to do so. So if you are interested in the SideBike,

PLEASE EMAIL ME.. thesidebike@gmail.com

....and I will contact you if and when they go on general sale, so you can see exactly what you are getting, and there is no risk to you. You might even be able to try one out first to make sure you are happy.

Thanks again for your support. Hope to hear from you soon,

Bob Walton

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_0VECwOzWc

The 'SideBike' is a sidecar for a bicycle. It balances exactly like a normal bike and leans around corners. Uneven ground is no problem. You stay upright, even if the ground slopes to one side. But the best thing is being able to chat easily to the kids as you cycle, and you can keep an eye on them to make sure they're OK. The SideBike is more than just a great way to get around, it's much more about spending quality time with your kids.

Of course this isn't the first bicycle sidecar ever made. But as well as providing transport, I wanted to create something with a certain distinctive, visual appeal. It had to look fun, as well as work well. And nothing else I've seen looks anything like this. It's the aesthetics that set it apart from other sidecars that perform the same function.

I made and sold ten SideBikes twenty years ago. Everyone that saw one in person after answering my ad in the paper bought one, so I knew there was a market. But 20 years ago I had the same problem that every entrepreneur has - I just couldn't get established manufacturers or distributors to invest their time in something out of the ordinary. Most bikes were made in the far east by then anyway. But making ten bikes at a time in a local workshop just wasn't enough to get my costs down, so I just went back to the day job and took it no further.

More recently I posted a video of the SideBike on YouTube. An online cycling magazine, called Global Cycling Network, saw the video and republished it. It got 100k hits and every comment that the readers made was really enthusiastic. One guy was saying "Here's the money, just tell me where to send it" - that sort of thing. So a big thank you to GCN for for the helping hand!

Things are different now from 20 years ago. The internet exists. Kickstarter, and Amazon are well established, and anyone can sell online. So I got to thinking, maybe I should try again, but this time in numbers that make commercial sense.

There's been quite a lot of work done on the design since the first ten were made. The production SideBikes will be made to attach either to the left or the right of your bike to suit any country, and you can replace one or both saddles with child seats. Hamax make a child seat called a 'Caress Observer' that fits onto the handlebar stem. They are good for kids from about 9 months to 15kg. So you can use them in place of the saddles provided if you have little fellas, and swap them back when they are old enough, which should last until they are about seven years old I would say.