The first impression:
Pretty heavy - and somehow weird.
When unfolded, the transformation wheel looks like a grasshopper with outstretched hind legs.
What the manufacturer says:
When inventor David Maurer-Laube talks about the convertible, he emphasizes the middle E, like in the English word convertible.
That fits, because the vehicle can be folded out thanks to a joint mechanism.
Users therefore always have a trailer with them, so to speak.
The company from Frankfurt am Main, founded in 2019, advertises the bike as a 2-in-1 cargo bike.
In "Compact Mode" the bike is only slightly longer than a city bike: 2.06 meters.
If you swing the rear wheel backwards, you see a stretch vehicle that has been stretched by almost 70 centimeters and releases a load lattice basket between the saddle and the rear wheel.
After work, an unplanned bulk purchase could be done.
This spontaneity would also be offered by a standard cargo bike with a transport box.
When compressed, the cover cycle is small enough to travel on the train.
"We took the Convercycle to the Velo Berlin [bicycle festival] with the ICE," says Maurer.
The model can also be transported on an e-bike carrier for the trailer hitch of a car - unthinkable with a normal cargo bike.
When parking, you need less space, at least in compact mode.
We noticed that
with small folding bikes it can get fiddly, so that you initially end up unnerved in front of a YouTube explanatory video.
With the Convercycle, a look at the illustration in the booklet is enough to understand the folding mechanism.
Loosen two metal safety pins, apply counter-pressure with your foot on a bracket near the axle, pull the basket up on the linkage – and the rear wheel swings out backwards.
Fasten the locking bolts again, turn the mudguard backwards with the quick release, and off you go with the »long vehicle«.
When maneuvering for the first time, it demonstrates its huge turning circle;
in shape, the bike is just a small semitrailer.
The lattice basket can take quite a lot: the transport surface measures 60 by 40 centimeters and is approved for a payload of 80 kilograms.
This means that exactly two beverage crates fit on board, and it also mastered the transport of a heavy propane gas bottle in the test.
The test bike is an e-bike.
The manufacturer also offers the model without a motor, which means it weighs eight kilograms less.
But 38 kilos of dead weight, in extreme cases 80 kilos of luggage, plus the pounds of the person in the saddle - the approved total weight of 180 kilos is quickly reached.
Moving all that up a hill should only be easy for very fit people.
All the more reassuring how unpretentious the Bafang front hub motor pulls.
No spinning, no potentially dangerous slip like some other e-bikes with a motor in the front wheel.
The engine was specially tuned for the two wheelbases, says company co-founder Maurer-Laube.
The fact that there is no torque sensor on the test bike (it will soon be installed as standard in sales models) conveys an unnatural riding experience on the mountain.
The little electric motor literally pulls the bike up the slope without requiring a lot of muscle power.
However, this is less of a problem when transporting loads than on a sportier bike.
What you need to know:
Convercycle sees itself as a young company that learns from mistakes – as the inventor put it.
To put it negatively: The company threw the unusual bike onto the market in an immature state.
There are a few annoying details on the test bike that have already been defused on the bikes for sale.
So there is a lack of heel clearance when pedaling.
From a certain shoe size, the heel collides with the wide steel frame construction.
According to the manufacturer, the frame tubes now run closer together.
The Convercycle does not overcome obstacles such as curbs well, especially when folded out - a shortcoming of many cargo bikes.
And if you drive down curbs carelessly, the linkage at the rear sometimes crunches.
The manufacturer has made improvements with additional rollers on the rear triangle: they absorb such impacts, says Maurer-Laube.
But it sounds like a workaround.
After all, the rollers should also allow the bike to maneuver better when parked vertically.
This is possible with a set of feet and wall lock (65 euros).
If you want to use the full transport talents of the Convercycle, you also have to plan for additional costs.
Because where the wheel sits in compact mode, there is a wide gap in fold-out mode - stupidly right in the load basket.
To ensure that small loads do not fall through, an aid such as a grating, cardboard box or crate is required, which is placed on the transport surface.
In three months, Convercycle wants to offer a foldable inlay for 80 to 100 euros, which also serves as spoke protection when the bike is folded up.
In this way, safe storage spaces were created on the right and left, for which suitable pockets are also being developed.
»The accessory topics are just emerging«, admits Maurer-Laube.
There are also plans for a bench on which two children can sit one behind the other.
A practical folding box made of plastic that fits exactly into the transport basket is already available.
It also costs 65 euros.
Two of these can be stacked on top of each other, with a total of 192 liters of storage space.
That's not quite as much as with the Smart or VW Up car city runabouts, but according to the manufacturer it makes mobility in the city easier without a car.
We will remember that:
The unique folding mechanism, of course.
It gives the model flexibility – but also a few problems.