The Shycog Company

An Israeli inventor has come up with a way to make a bicycle almost entirely out of cardboard — and so inexpensively that he thinks retailers would only need to charge about $20 for one.

The inventor, Izhar Gafni, believes the bike could be a boon to the world’s most traffic-congested cities and help people in remote parts of the Third World get from place to place. He’s reached a deal to start mass production in a few months, Gafni tells Reuters.

How did he do it? As Reuters says, “once the shape has been formed and cut, the cardboard is treated with a secret concoction made of organic materials to give it its waterproof and fireproof qualities. In the final stage, it is coated with lacquer paint for appearance.”