Project Overview

The kkdu plum™ bike buggy and rack is a simple, stylish and innovative solution designed to expand the possibilities of bike travel.
By making it as easy as possible to transition between cycling and walking, kkdu plum™ are enticing more people to incorporate cycling into their daily lives. Their ultimate aim is to entice people to live differently, by contributing to the reduction in car use, and by increasing their levels of exercise.

The kkdu plum™ bike buggy simply and very quickly attaches to a unique hitch point on the included, adjustable bike rack. By rotating the fold-away 3rd wheel it can transition from 2-wheeled bike trailer to 3-wheeled cart, and back again, in a matter of seconds.

Unattached to a bike, and using the ergonomically adjustable handle, it can be pushed or pulled around markets and shops, along outdoor tracks, through parks and along beaches. It includes two plastic storage tubs that snap easily and securely into place, perfectly sized for daily use.

For compact storage, the rear wheels can be easily removed and the frame can be folded or hung on the back of a door or wall by a hook.

Organisation

kkdu plum

Team

Dr Haydn Sharratt (kkdu plum)
Mrs Astrid Sharratt (kkdu plum)
Designer and Design studio:
Matt Blythman, Charlwood Design; Melbourne

Project Brief

Outback inspiration:
Named after the Indigenous Australian fruit called the Kakadu Plum, kkdu plum™ with Charlwood Design, set themselves the task of developing a stand-out stylish, classically beautiful, yet simple-to-use bike trailer that doubled as a cart. Their aim was to revolutionize the way people travelled around cities by bike, by providing a convenient alternative to the car.

Built for the country, designed for the city:
The kkdu plum bike buggy had to be foldable for easy storage and had to be simple to transition from bike trailer to cart and back again. It had to be tough enough to handle the rough terrain of a coastal path, yet maneuverable in an urban street. It had to be big enough to carry people’s day to day ‘stuff’, but small enough to glide around a shopping aisle.

It also needed to differentiate itself aesthetically from a sea of bland silver extrusions and pram-like aesthetics. Stainless steel handles and inserts complement the beautiful powder coated, tubular finish. Inspired by Australia’s flora, the kkdu plum is presented in a colour palette of six custom colours.

Project Innovation/Need

Based on a personal desire to reduce their reliance on their car’s, kkdu plum's founders identified a large number of their daily car journeys that could potentially be replaced by bicycle journeys.

But the question remained – how could their daily ‘stuff’ be easily carried by bike?

Bicycle pannier bags were a solution, but had limited capacity. Cargo bikes could carry more, but were large, cumbersome and difficult to store. Kids bike trailers were a solution, but were aesthetically bland, generally too large and were difficult to detach, to easily use as anything other than a bike trailer.

The kkdu plum™ bike buggy is perfectly designed to address all of these problems in a very simple and user-friendly way. Its innovation lies in its beauty, yet everyday practicality and simplicity – transitioning from being compactly stored to bike trailer, to cart and back again takes a matter of seconds.

Simply drop the adjustable handle into the hitch mechanism on the rack, close and lock the latch, tighten the handle, fold away the 3rd wheel and ride off. The hitch allows for rotation in every degree for a maneuverable, smooth, safe and stable ride.

Design Challenge

In order to be successful, kkdu plum identified a number of design challenges that needed to be addressed:

1. The kkdu plum™ had to function as a bike trailer and a cart. It had to be very simple to use, with the transition from storage, to bike trailer, to cart and back again needing to occur in a matter of seconds, and with as few movements as possible.

2. It had to be stand-out stylish with classical aesthetics, yet robust, durable and practical.

3. It had to be large enough to carry people’s day-to-day ‘stuff’, but small enough to maneuver around narrow spaces, lifts and through doorways.

4. It had to cycle safely and smoothly, yet had to remain stable around corners and over bumps of any city road. As a cart, it had to be able to be comfortably pushed or pulled, and it had to be maneuverable with a small turning circle.

5. After use, it had to be able to be stored in a small space.

Sustainability

Cities worldwide face massive urbanization, congestion and associated environmental challenges.

Many are addressing these challenges by encouraging cycling, and are developing bike friendly cities, as well as other transport solutions with one simple aim – to reduce the environmental impact of vehicle use by burgeoning populations.

Public Health policy makers are also faced with an increasingly sedentary population with associated healthcare costs.

kkdu plum's goals are simple. We believe we can entice more people to live differently and to become more active and healthier by cycling more. By providing a simple alternative to the car for many of the worldwide journeys’ made every day, we believe we can make an immediate and positive environmental impact through reduced vehicle congestion and emissions.