Wannabe spies and eight-year-olds will be queueing up at next week's Cycle Show in Earl's Court, for a glimpse of this 'Bond bike' (clumsily, it stands for Built of Notorious Deterrents).
Some insurance firm (whose name we'll obscure in the fine tradition of spies and cyphers) surveyed 800 cyclists to discover their top gripes. They then designed a prototype bike to counter the top challenges of city cycling. The enhanced velocipede (which isn't for sale) boasts a side-mounted flame thrower to dispatch errant vehicles, caterpillar tracks and ski mount for coping with snow, and an ejector seat to deter would-be thieves.
Judging by the promotional video, the 'flame thrower' might be better employed as a cigarette lighter, and the ejector seat would struggle to jettison an infant hamster.
A fine piece of marketing, but we doubt the creatives behind it will be getting a phone call from Q-branch any time soon.
