????最近，以色列發明家伊扎爾?加夫尼宣布，他的新產品，一種紙板自行車，將以20美元的價格面向消費者銷售。我們很難判斷到底哪個訊息更令人印象深刻，到底是一種完全是由回收的紙板和汽車輪胎制造的自行車，還是它超低的價格。然而，當這種全新兩輪車的制造商紙板科技公司（Cardboard Technologies）上周在集資平臺Indiegogo啟動眾籌活動，試圖籌集資金以實現批量生產時，捐助者們發現了一件有點讓人摸不著頭腦的事情：自行車的標價竟然高達290美元。這樣一個非常有前途、被全美刊物廣泛報道的創意碰到了意外的障礙。

????雖然這場眾籌活動目前只進行了一個星期，但紙板自行車項目僅籌集了2.4萬美元，與高達200萬美元的籌資目標相距甚遠。截止7月1日，5,000輛要價290美元的紙板自行車僅售出了24輛。周二，紙板科技公司將自行車的售價下調至135美元（95美元加40美元運費），以回應捐助者的質疑（又或許是希望能夠改變捐助者人數寥寥的局面）。紙板科技公司CEO尼姆羅德?艾爾米什表示，自行車的價格波動幅度最終取決于市場，舊金山等大城市的消費者需要花費更多資金，而在第三世界，這款自行車則是免費的。他補充說：“我們希望創造一種讓所有人都可以獲得這種紙板自行車的社會化商業模式。標簽上體現的不是價格，而是這款自行車的價值。”

????這家公司將向那些已經掏了290美元購買自行車的捐助者退還差價，或者再贈送給他們兩輛紙板自行車。

????艾爾米什聲稱，無論Indiegogo上的眾籌活動順利與否，一批投資者都將提供自行車大規模生產所需的資金，其中包括建造一家工廠和生產線的計劃。從本質上講，這意味著如果這場眾籌活動以失敗告終，領投的Timberland公司前CEO杰夫?斯沃茨以及其他幾位身份不明的投資者將提供必要的生產資金。如果說這個項目其實并不缺資金，那么為什么還要發動消費者捐贈呢？艾爾米什說：“我們希望給大家一個機會，讓大家能夠加入我們的行列，參與這個項目。”

????紙板自行車背后的技術遠遠不是這么簡單。質疑者對加夫尼說，這種自行車根本就造不出來，這種態度反而激勵了他。這款自行車的大多數部件完全是由回收的紙板制造而成——據艾爾米什透露，這個比例高達95%。它意味著，紙板自行車非常輕盈（不到27磅，約12公斤）。但通過折疊和粘合紙板以增加其強度，加夫尼創造出了一款能夠承受一位體重275磅（約125公斤）的乘客的產品。Indiegogo網站上的眾籌活動頁面顯示，紙板自行車的輪胎是用回收的汽車輪胎做的，“絕對不會被刺破。”這種自行車還能夠防水，防火——對于一種基本上是用紙制造的產品來說，這種功能是必須具備的必不可少。

????When Israeli inventor Izhar Gafni announced that his new product, a cardboard bicycle, would be available for $20 to consumers, it was hard to determine which was more impressive—a bike made completely of recycled cardboard and car tires, or the rock bottom price. But when Cardboard Technologies, the company behind the new two-wheeler, launched their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign last week to raise money for the bike's mass production, donors were met with a bit of a head scratcher: the bike was listed at $290. The promising idea, which has been featured in national publications across the United States, hit a snag.

????The campaign is only one week old, but the cardboard bike has raised a mere $24,000 out of a $2 million funding goal. Of the 5,000 cardboard bikes up for sale at the $290 asking price, only 24 had been purchased by July 1. On Tuesday, Cardboard Technologies responded to the donors (or lack thereof) by lowering the bike's cost to $135 ($95 plus a $40 shipping charge). Cardboard Technologies CEO Nimrod Elmish says the price of the bike will eventually fluctuate depending on the market, costing more for consumers in cities like San Francisco and costing nothing in third world countries. "We want to bring a social business model that will make [the cardboard bike] available to all," he added. "We don't have a price tag, we have a value tag."

????The company is offering to refund the price difference to donors who already purchased a bike at the $290 price tag, or provide them with two additional cardboard bikes.

????Regardless of how the Indiegogo campaign shapes out, Elmish says he has investors lined up to finance the mass production of the bikes which includes plans for a factory and production line. Essentially this means that lead investor and former Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz, along with a handful of other unidentified investors, will provide the necessary funding should the Indiegogo campaign fail. So why would anyone donate if their funds are not actually needed? "We wanted to give people the chance to join us and be part of [the project]," says Elmish.

????The technology behind a bike made of cardboard is far from simple, and Gafni was motivated by doubters who told him it couldn't be done. The majority of the bike's features—95% of them according to Elmish—are made entirely of recycled cardboard, meaning the bike is light (less than 27 pounds). But by folding and gluing the cardboard to increase its strength, Gafni created a product capable of holding a 275-pound passenger. The bike tires are made of recycled car tires and "will never get a puncture," according to the bike's Indiegogo campaign page. The device is also waterproof and fireproof, a necessity when your product is essentially made of paper.