Tears of the Kingdom’s highly useful air bike captures the hearts of players  

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players have created a wide array of inventions, but one of the most popular is the air bike. In fact, this vehicle has proven so popular that it even has its own fan art.  

Please note that this article contains spoilers regarding certain Zonai Devices and abilities in the game. 

The air bike has an exceedingly simple design consisting of only three Zonai Devices: two Fans and one Steering Stick. All one needs to do is attach a Fan to the front and rear of the Steering Stick, similar to the shape of a bike, and it’s complete. This very simple vehicle became widely used by players all over the world shortly after the game was released. The bike is also called the hover bike on places like Reddit, where it has been praised as “the best vehicle in the entire game.”  

Such is the popularity of the air bike that some have even created fan art of it. One Reddit thread, titled, “I drew the best character in the game!” features an illustration of the fierce bike. The image also includes a small indicator showing 9 Zonaite, the cost to build the air bike from an Autobuild Schematic, further emphasizing its excellence. Another piece of fanart pays homage to the iconic poster for the anime film Akira. Air bike lovers have flocked to the posts, and each one has received over 8,000 upvotes. 

I drew the best character in the game!
byu/Pompmaker1 intearsofthekingdom

Had to do this
byu/ryzbl inHyruleEngineering

But why has the air bike achieved such wide acclaim? The biggest reason may be the supreme convenience of the vehicle. The bike is constructed using simple parts that are easy to obtain, and even when building it via a Schematic, the cost is relatively low. While riding it, the air bike maintains altitude and can travel at great speeds without  requiring any precise maneuvering. When you want to gain more height, you can pull back on the Steering Stick and rise at an almost vertical angle. Left and right steering is also great, and as long as you can maintain enough battery power, you will be able to travel nimbly through all kinds of areas, whether it be on land, underground, or in the sky. 

When you look at the air bikes that players have created, you’ll notice a slightly peculiar aspect to the design that improves its performance. It’s important that the Fans are attached to the front and rear of the Steering Stick at a slight angle. If you attach the Fans perfectly horizontally,  there will be too much upward force while the bike is in a neutral position. In order to move forward, you would need to constantly have the front of the bike tilting downward, and controlling it that way demands more effort from the player. Trying to attach the Fans to the left and right sides of the Steering Stick is not as efficient either, as it tends to decrease the steering efficiency. Also, if you take off or land suddenly, it’s easy to flip the bike over, creating a greater risk of being thrown off.  

However, the above problems can be avoided provided you attach the Fans at a slight angle. The angle allows the bike to strike a balance between upward lift and forward propulsion without any action from the player. Steering and altitude adjustment become easier, and the risk of being thrown off the bike is low. The energy efficiency is also better thanks to the small number of moving parts. The air bike has an incredibly simple yet brilliant design that can negate the shortcomings that we listed above. 

It’s unlikely that one particular player came up with the air bike design before anyone else, and it’s thought that several different players would have created it at around the same time. One example of someone who helped popularize the air bike design shortly after Tears of the Kingdom was released is YouTuber Uncle Dane. In a video (https://youtu.be/apZCDNpeTnM) posted to his channel 2uncle2dane, he analyzes the benefits of the air bike, saying that it has great balance even when carrying extra weight, and that you can use it to easily traverse The Depths by attaching a Giant Brightbloom Seed to the front to light your way.  

Furthermore, some players have put their own spin on the air bike design, like one that adds an extra fan by incorporating a certain “president” into its build, and another that makes it heavily armed. There are surely many other players who have customized their air bikes to their liking.  

As an aside, some players in Japan refer to the air bike as the “エアロバイク (Aerobike).” Amusingly, エアロバイク is actually the name of a fitness bike sold by Konami Sports, who have a registered trademark on the name.  

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-06-12 20:08 JST)