Copenhagen wheel -what do you think ?

[mitty]

Hi, I was wondering what people thought about this project. how much it might cost ? performance guestimates etc. ?

cheers mitty

copenhagen wheel project

 

[GORDONAL]

Looks like a good idea ...any other e-bikes out there that store dissipated energy? used to have something similar in an industrial environment ..winding engines in mineshafts used regenerative braking. The presentation was quite glitzy and short of any technical detail i know its a project but seemed like "window dressing" .Anything that can address transport/pollution problems is to be applauded hopefully something like this could be produced for<£1000 in <2 years Alan

 

[flecc]

There have been many energy capture and regeneration attempts with bikes in the past, but they never last and often don't work well. A bike and rider simply doesn't have the mass and speed to make the added complexity worthwhile. Energy conversion always entails losses, so any kinetic energy is best used at the time whenever possible when it's present, rather than attempting to store it for later use.

Those of you who follow formula 1 racing will know of the KERS energy recovery system tried this last season and will know how that has failed to live up to expectations. That's with half ton cars repeatedly forcefully stopping from 200 mph, this containing energy that dwarfs what we could produce, but it's only after much effort that it's beginning to show some possibility of usefulness.
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[Alex728]

why don't they just make a "normal" "Danish-style" ebike? they could still put the GPS and other gadgets on it anyway..

 

[Beeping-Sleauty]

whaaa....

Hi, I was wondering what people thought about this project. how much it might cost ? performance guestimates etc. ?

cheers mitty

copenhagen wheel project

my first thought was about this statement:

"Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes
a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and
lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you."

.... let me get this right, you change gears thru your mobile phone.... whilst cycling.... some mistake surely...?

i must be missing something,

confused beeper.

 

[Straylight]

Quite clever really, to use the phone as a wireless computer/controler, means that there is no external wiring on the bike at all, as I'd guess the batteries are internal to the hub. True, that it might be a bit awkward changing gears on a handlebar mounted phone, but I suppose with practice one could get used to it, might not be so good with a capacitive touch screen and cycling gloves though ,even on a resistive screen the buttons would have to be BIG! I also wonder if it's suceptable to RF interference - could make life 'interesting', might even start a new urban craze - BikeJacking .

Like all such toys, if it gets more people thinking about using an e-bike to commute, then I'm for it!

 

[Beeping-Sleauty]

cycling carefully upstairs

Hi, I was wondering what people thought about this project. how much it might cost ? performance guestimates etc. ?

cheers mitty

copenhagen wheel project

made the evening news:

BBC News - Scientists unveil 'bicycle innovation' in Copenhagen

 

[GORDONAL]

There have been many energy capture and regeneration attempts with bikes in the past, but they never last and often don't work well. A bike and rider simply doesn't have the mass and speed to make the added complexity worthwhile. Energy conversion always entails losses, so any kinetic energy is best used at the time whenever possible when it's present, rather than attempting to store it for later use.

Those of you who follow formula 1 racing will know of the KERS energy recovery system tried this last season and will know how that has failed to live up to expectations. That's with half ton cars repeatedly forcefully stopping from 200 mph, this containing energy that dwarfs what we could produce, but it's only after much effort that it's beginning to show some possibility of usefulness.
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Tried this quoting for the first time .lets see if it works Iwonder if the Panasonic vivi rx-10s has proven to be a success in its chosen markets the bike features regenerative braking and ups the range well in excess of 60 miles weight seems about 3kg. more than the conventional type Al

 

[flecc]

Tried this quoting for the first time .lets see if it works Iwonder if the Panasonic vivi rx-10s has proven to be a success in its chosen markets the bike features regenerative braking and ups the range well in excess of 60 miles weight seems about 3kg. more than the conventional type Al

I know about this but have my doubts. Panasonic are just trying out a batch of 3000 in Japan only, not like their usual confidence. The hub motor version of it already sent out to other markets in very small quamtities had the regenerative braking left off. I take all e-bike range claims with a pinch of salt until properly tested, they often do miraculous things according to their makers.

The amount of power that can be regenerated is fixed by the available mass and speed, and that's not affected by who designs the product. Experienced cyclists avoid wasting the energy they put in with unnecessary braking anyway, and only a considerable degree of braking will produce any useful power. That's only likely to occur in hilly areas, and since extra power is used getting up the hills in the first place in order to go down, the overall gain will still be marginal.
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[Northern Irelander]

Is this a progression of the green wheel, due to be launched in sync with the 2010 world cup?

Green Wheel - 3 in 1 wireless electric bicycle hub motor

 

[Straylight]

Wow, impressive claims about the lifespan of the batteries (8 years!!), maybe there is something in the A123 cells...

 

[flecc]

Wow, impressive claims about the lifespan of the batteries (8 years!!), maybe there is something in the A123 cells...

In the intermittent use with power tools that these were designed for, these lithium iron phosphate cells could last that long, in theory at least.

In our type of continuous high drain use on e-bikes, I'd say no chance, three years if lucky and more likely to be two years with the more powerful motors.
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[Pedalo]

I struggle to see the benefits of including the battery within a hub motor.

* You'd need to park your bike near a charge point (or remove the wheel) to charge it up.
* More weight to have to turn.
* Difficult to remove batteries to replace.

Maybe I'm missing something...

 

[peerjay56]

I see these are due for release in spring 2014. $699 USD on pre-order. Less than 500 units left!
https://www.superpedestrian.com/

 

[Gdread]

Isn't this similar?

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=195569

 

[trex]

I see these are due for release in spring 2014. $699 USD on pre-order. Less than 500 units left!
https://www.superpedestrian.com/

this one looks much more plausible, the space seems sufficient to accommodate 36V 10AH battery.
It sould not be too difficult for someone to make a bluetooth brake sensor for it.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Copenhagen, Shadow and FlyKly all seem to work in much the same sort of way. The Shadow ebike the first wireless electric bicycle ebike. Made in Canada and listen to cheesy? theme song at end of their website video
Smartphone is an overcomplicated, vulnerable no-no, but RFID tag on keychain for keyless lock/unlocking of a smart, speed, torque, accelerometer, inclinometer sensored controller would impress. Agree can't see it lasting long with vibration and salty water in winter, oops! Or is it sealed? Phrase "putting all your eggs in one basket" comes to mind.

 

[Aushiker]

Andrew