Flexible and folding bicycle

A bicycle having a frame defining a longitudinal axis, front and rear wheels operably connected to and supporting said frame, and a pedal crankshaft journaled to said frame for manually propelling one of said wheels, said frame comprising:

• a rear frame member including a generally vertical center post positioned within an imaginary generally vertical plane extending along the longitudinal axis;
• a front frame member including a generally horizontal cross bar member positioned within said generally vertical longitudinal plane;
• means for interconnecting said front and rear frame members so as to allow vertical/rotational relative movement of said frame members within said generally longitudinal planes, but so as to minimize relative movement of said frame members out of said generally vertical longitudinal planes;
• and
• a shock-absorbing member including opposing ends pivotally connected to said front and rear frame members, said shock-absorbing member forming with said center post and said cross bar member a triangular arrangement, said shock-absorbing member being configured to prevent movement of said opposing ends toward each other and thus being configured to limit said vertical/rotational relative movement between said frame members in a first collapsing direction about said means for interconnecting said front and rear frame members, but being configured to permit movement of said opposing ends away from each other over a predetermined range to thus permit a predetermined amount of said vertical/rotational relative movement between said frame members in a second expanding direction opposite said first collapsing direction.

A bicycle frame comprising:

• a front frame including a cross bar;
• a rear frame including a center post;
• a leaf-spring-like flexible member interconnecting said cross bar to said center post;
• and
• a flex limiting member attached to said front frame and to said rear frame at locations spaced from said flexible member in an arrangement configured to limit the flexural movement of said flexible member, said flex limiting including opposing ends and being configured to curtail movement of said opposing ends toward each other, but being configured to permit extension of said opposing ends from each other over a predetermined range to thus effectively limit and control the amount of flex that can be given said flexible member.

A bicycle frame comprising:

• a front frame including a cross bar, means for operably supporting a front wheel, and a front wheel;
• a rear frame including a center post, means for operably supporting a rear wheel including rear-wheel supporting members, and a rear wheel;
• a flexible member interconnecting said cross bar to said center post;
• said rear frame including a fixed portion and a rotatable portion rotatably secured to said fixed portion so that said rotatable portion can be moved between a use position whereat said front and rear wheels of said bicycle are aligned longitudinally and a collapsed position whereat said front and rear wheels are collapsed to a non-aligned compact position that facilitates transporting and storing the bicycle;
• and
• means for securing said rotatable portion to said fixed portion in said use position.