Israeli entrepreneur Izhar Gafni creates cardboard bike

Kibbutz entrepreneur and bike enthusiast Izhar Gafni took on the personal project of building a bike out of recycled cardboard after engineers told him it wouldn't work.

He proved them wrong.

"I really love bicycles, and when I worked in the United States I inquired in California to see if anyone has already thought of the concept of a cardboard bicycle. To my delight, I only discovered similar concepts based on bamboo. But when I started asking engineers about the possibility of producing a cardboard bicycle, I was sent away and told that the realization of my idea is impossible. One day I was watching a documentary about the production of the first jumbo jet — and an engineer on the team had said that when everyone tells him that what he is doing is impossible — it makes it even clearer to him that he is progressing in the right direction. That saying motivated me to experiment with different materials on cardboard, to find what produces the desired strength and durability," Gafni said in an interview.

The "green" bikes cost just $9 to $12 each to make, and will retail between $60 and $90. They are waterproof and can carry riders weighing up to 140 kilograms, Green Prophet reports.

A removable engine can be added to make the bike electric.

Israeli innovation news site No Camels reports that in Tel Aviv, where bike theft is common, low-cost bikes "are all the more attractive and also weaken the sting of a steal. If the bicycle costs less than the lock required to keep it safe, the appeal and potential profit from stealing a bicycle are significantly reduced."

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association commented on the bike's potential:

"Izhar Gafni's clever design opens up fascinating possibilities — perhaps a future Olympic host city, rather than banning cyclists as has been the case with London, will flood their streets with thousands of cheap cardboard bicycles as a way of relieving the stress on public transport."

The Fiscal Times believes there's another promising market for Gafni's product:

"This might be the type of product that would appeal to the hospitality industry — a good choice perhaps for B&Bs, inns, and even resorts."

The cardboard bike is U.S. patent pending.