Hasta La Gadget!

Der Bergmönch, or the Mountain Monk, is a piece of sporty downhill fun which folds into a 12 liter (3 gallon) backpack. At first sight, we thought this was actually a proper folding bike that zipped up for easy carrying, but instead it is more of a scooter-like toy for extreme descents.

In fact, toy might not be quite fair. The Mountain Monk is equipped with front and rear disk brakes and full suspension on both wheels. The only thing missing is a seat. The Monk is meant to be used as a way to descend the mountainside without the strenuous acentric strides which quickly tire knees when walking down a hill, but it looks like some pretty awesome fun just the same.

You can either stand on the pedals or kneel, which sounds very uncomfortable until you realize the bag itself forms a sling for the knees. And while it exists in the real world, the design has yet to be picked up for production. The designer, Thomas Kaiser, will be showing off his prototypes at the ISPO sport gear trade show in Munich this February.

Product page [Bergmoench via BBG]