vanhawks valor

Bicycles are a useful way to get around, but they’re not exactly what you call intelligent. Most advanced with the bicycle have largely centered around materials science or solving mildly annoying problems like the greasy chain. So Vanhawks is trying to rebuild the bike, to make it connected and that much safer.

The Connected Bike

The Valour is jammed full of sensors and electronics in order to get you to your destination safely and in one piece. For example, the bike has Bluetooth, and thus can link to your phone to feed you directions without having to mount your phone on your bike or look at it while cycling. Sensors on either side of your bike warn you about obstacles in your blind spot with haptic feedback.

And, of course, it tells you how far you’ve biked, how many calories you’ve burned, how long it took you and so on. It even tracks potholes and bumpiness and suggests alternate routes, and will alert other bikers if your Valour gets stolen.

The Advanced Bike

Of course, it’s also just a pretty good bike. The seat, pedals, and grips are all courtesy of Ergon, and the bike’s frame is built out of carbon fiber with internal walls. Depending on how the Kickstarter goes, it’ll have disc brakes and even a carbon belt drive. And, yes, you can get it in fixie or with internal gear hubs.

The Safer Bike


Credit where credit is due, the Valour is genuinely designed to solve a lot of problems commuters and others tend to have with bicycle ownership, and it appears built from the ground up to be easier and more fun to use than a “dumb” bicycle. Now all it needs is some airbags and you’ve pretty much got the ideal commuting machine for most of us.

Dan Seitz
