The bike itself looks quite neat but this kind of website grinds my gears.

Is it possible to buy one? I could not tell from the website. I'm no customer expert but I guess that many visitors want to know two things 1. is it possible to buy this now? and 2. how much does it/is it going to, cost?

I understand there are several models, but still someone just wants a rough costing. Does such a bike cost the roughly the same as a traditional bike of the same quality or is it currently much more expensive? So, can one such bike be had for somewhere between $500-1000 or is more like $5000?

The lack of any price makes me assume the latter, and I just get out of there before I find out any more information about the actual bike.

These bikes are in production and two credible companies are behind it: the US Schwinn and the Hungarian Csepel. http://www.wired.com/2012/02/stringbike/ The starting price is around 1400-2000 USD, but the company is quite flexible, so if you want modding it, it is very likely possible.

I didn't find it on their site, but it turns out that Amazon sells these bikes. Price there is $1400-$1500, with "list price" just under double that.

I also found a decent review at http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/10/20/2502100/a-bike-with-str...

This video shows some clips of a human riding a bike with the string drive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAvWD23nHBU

It does not allay my skepticism about maintaining a comfortable cadence.

The name stringbike immediately made me think of a toy. The word string sounds flimsy and weak. Maybe wooshbike? (I'm obviously not good at naming).

Why not even one of the models sports wheel guards?