“The bike needed to be suited to my wife (1.60m, 5’3″), she needed a stable bike while riding. I imagined the battery low down and the kids sitting as low as possible.

She wanted the bike stable for loading and unloading, I designed a double leg kickstand to keep the bike vertical.

She wanted to be able to manoeuvre the bike easily and store it in our staircase, then the idea of the Footbox System came up to keep the length of the bike to the minimum.

Next, I used all my experience acquired in car racing to package those ideas in a bike, and make it such that I would enjoy riding it too!

The nicest surprise was to find out that riding with our two kids on this neat little well made machine is such a joy, day after day. It is the least powerful vehicle I engineered, and it’s the one we enjoy the most.

Then I wondered why not make more of them for other people to enjoy too? This is how it started.

[…]

Today, after a busy week in the city, I’m riding fast in silence through the forest with my two kids, under tender light green leaves backlighted by the sun. The three of us on this machine which is pure engineering and grace down to the bone reminds me how engineering and nature are so tightly connected.

An engineer is humbly playing with the laws of nature, there are 1000 ways to put the blocks together, but sometimes one comes with inspiration to produce such a balanced vehicle that it can be called art. Don’t bother trying to figure out how it’s made, just enjoy it.”

Matt  – Designer of the Bike43 – Former Le Mans and F3000 race engineer