Isocycle develops a portable cycle that can be unfolded in 8 seconds

Isocycle develops a portable cycle that can be unfolded in 8 seconds

Yann Besnard, Dominique Bied and Paul Doublet want to make use of the travel schemes of companies or public agencies to promote the use of their cycle by employees as an innovative, environmentally-friendly means of transport. (© Isocycle)

The young Isocycle company is designing and developing a bike for urban use. The target market includes companies and local authorities that want to encourage their staff to replace car use over part of their commute with an innovative folding bike that is compact and comfortable with designer looks.

The bike is easy to fold up or unfold. It’s a simple, quick operation quite unlike the traditional trifold concept. The cycle takes up minimum space and is designed to be portable. All these advantages make it suitable for use with public and private transport and for storage in business premises or private homes. It has been designed as a multi-purpose, intermodal means of transport. After an intensive year of investment, the compay’s co-founders, Dominique Bied, Paul Doublet and Yann Besnard set up their company in Rennes last October. Dominique Bied, a production engineer with Safran and owner of the patent, is the CEO. Paul Doublet, a young engineering graduate from Insa-Rennes who has vast experience in the cycling milieu in France and other countries, is the company’s Managing Director. As to Yann Besnard, a former business manager and a graduate of the Business School in Bordeaux, he is responsible for sales management and marketing. The last two men, whose skills complement each other, are currently engaged in structuring Isocycle’s business in such a way as to give it a strong local footprint. With this in mind, the company wants to build the bike and manufacture its main components in France, with a view to creating and/or maintaining jobs.
Rennes Atalante assisted the company’s founders with legal and financial aspects, marketing and sales. Since March 2011, the group has been working from business incubator premises made available by Rennes Métropole within the Maison de la technopole.