The Shuttle Bike is an Italian conversion kit that turns an ordinary bicycle into a small pedal boat. Two inflatable floats hold the bike up, a roller pressed against the rear tyre picks up the power from your pedalling, and a propeller mounted at the front wheel pushes you across calm water at up to about 10 km/h. The whole kit folds into a backpack, so in principle you can ride to a lake, convert the bike on the shore and keep pedalling.
It is a clever idea with a long history behind it. Here is how the kit works, where it came from, what it can and cannot do, and what to think about before taking any bicycle onto open water.
How the kit turns a bike into a boat
The system is made by SBK Engineering, a firm based in Italy, and is sold as handmade in Italy. According to a 2004 report by New Atlas, the complete kit weighs around 11 kg and can be fitted in roughly ten minutes without tools. The main parts are:
- Clamps that attach to the round tubes of the frame. They can stay on the bike between trips without getting in the way on the road.
- Two inflatable floats that sit on either side of the bike, made of tough coated fabric. They are inflated by pedalling: with the rear wheel raised, the rider pedals in place and drives a small pump.
- A pivoting roller that presses against the rear tyre. When you pedal, the tyre spins the roller instead of rolling along the ground.
- A flexible drive shaft that carries this rotation forward to a combined propeller and rudder unit at the front wheel.
Because the rudder moves with the front wheel, you steer with the handlebars just as you would on land. Turning them sharply spins the bike almost on the spot. The bike's own gears still work, so you can choose an easy cadence for cruising or a harder one for a burst of speed.
Speed, load and practical limits
The published figures are modest, as you would expect from human power. Top speed on water is around 10 km/h, about the pace of a brisk jog, and the floats are rated to carry 125 kg safely, with more than 200 kg possible in rescue conditions. That covers most riders and their bikes, but not much extra luggage.
Prices have varied over the years and by version. Reports from 2018 put the starting price at roughly US$1,300; check the maker's site for current models and pricing, since the company now also sells kit variants with folding bikes and custom quotes for unusual frames.
Some limits are worth stating plainly:
- Calm water only. A pedal-powered craft at 10 km/h cannot outrun wind, waves or strong currents. Sheltered lakes, slow rivers and canals are the natural home for it.
- Not every bike fits easily. The clamps are designed for round frame tubes. Unusual frame shapes, carbon frames and some e-bikes may need special fittings or may not be suitable.
- Corrosion. Salt water is hard on chains, gears and bearings. Rinse and lubricate the bike after any sea use.
- Rules on the water. Depending on where you live, small human-powered craft may need to follow local boating rules, and some lakes and harbours restrict where you can launch.
A long line of water bicycles
Pedalling across water is not a new dream. Inventors were building “water velocipedes” by the 1870s, and by the late 1890s the word “hydrocycle” was in use for a pedal-driven craft adapted to the surface of water. Early designs typically perched a rider on a frame over two or more pontoons, or on a board, driving a paddle wheel or propeller through a crank.
Modern descendants include purpose-built water bikes with pontoon hulls sold for leisure, and high-performance experiments such as human-powered hydrofoils, which lift their floats out of the water to cut drag. MIT's Decavitator, a pedal-powered hydrofoil, set speed records in the early 1990s.
The Shuttle Bike belongs to a smaller branch of this family: kits that temporarily convert an existing bicycle rather than replacing it. The appeal is obvious. You do not need storage for a second vehicle or a trailer to carry it, and the same bike serves on the road and on the water. According to New Atlas, the project began in 1992 in Vigevano, near Milan. Some later reports credit the design to Roberto Siviero, but we could not confirm the names of the original designers.
Who actually uses kits like this
The 2018 video that brought the Shuttle Bike to wide attention presented it as a gadget for adventurous cyclists, and that is one real use: crossing a stretch of water on a cycling trip, or exploring a lake shore at your own pace. But the maker and the 2004 coverage point to several more practical roles:
- Resort rental, using a version with permanent foam-filled floats that cannot be punctured.
- A tender for getting between a moored boat and the shore.
- Search and rescue on flooded ground or calm water, where the higher load rating matters.
- Simple recreation and fitness, as a quieter, low-impact alternative to motorised watercraft.
Popular articles have suggested that kits like this could become an everyday way to cross rivers on a commute. That is unlikely. The setup time, the slow speed and the need for calm water make it a leisure and niche-utility device rather than transport for most people, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Staying safe on a floating bicycle
A bicycle on floats behaves differently from a bike on the road and from a kayak. If you try one, a few basics apply:
- Always wear a properly fitted buoyancy aid or life jacket. If you fall in, the bike may drift or tangle, and cycling clothes and shoes are heavy when wet.
- Start in shallow, calm water close to the shore, and practise turning and stopping before heading out.
- Check the floats for damage and correct pressure before each launch.
- Check the wind forecast and avoid offshore winds that could push you away from the bank faster than you can pedal back.
- Let someone know where you are going, as you would before any paddling trip.
A small idea that keeps resurfacing
Every few years a video of someone pedalling a bicycle across a canal or lake goes viral, and each time it surprises people. The Shuttle Bike shows that the idea has been refined for decades: a light, foldable kit, simple drive mechanics, and steering that feels natural to any cyclist. It will not replace boats or bridges, but for calm water and a sense of adventure, it does exactly what it promises.
Sources: New Atlas, 4 June 2004: Shuttle Bike – convert a bike to a pedal-power boat; Shuttle Bike (SBK Engineering) official site; Wikipedia: Hydrocycle; Truth Theory, 14 September 2018. Video: Cheddar Gadgets on Facebook.
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