Flykly smart wheel on kickstarter

[patpatbut]

All in one wheel, not a bad idea

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flykly/flykly-smart-wheel

Pat

 

[tillson]

I don't liker the idea of all the motor and battery mass all being in the wheel. Also, come battery replacement time, I can foresee tears.

Sorry, I don't like it and think that it should accompany Stephen Beard's electric pedals in the dustbin.

 

[trex]

$700 for a motor wheel with 20 x 2A cells? it's too expensive for what is does.

Also, it's not very clever to put fragile electronics into a wheel where it can be so easily knocked about - especially when the wheel hits the kerb.

 

[jackhandy]

Great idea for someone who wants to power more than one bike on various occasions:

Assuming it uses bluetooth, I hope the firmware is better sorted than Speedict.

I have a feeling the smarts will be its nemesis.

 

[trex]

if I were to use same motor wheel on two different bikes, I would fit a new bottle battery mount or rear rack to both bikes, I get to choose from a wide range of motors and batteries, the additional cost for a rack or a bottle mount is minimal.
The idea of using bluetooth is good - I reckon worth about £50.

 

[Tredegar]

In the Daily mail yesterday !

The FlyKly Smart Wheel revs bicycle to 20mph and Bitlock opens with tap of touchscreen | Mail Online

 

[StuntmanBob]

I don't like that the pedal assist is a sensor of some sort on the sprocket - when it starts turning (after x amount of revolutions I presume) the motor engages so there is no way to select the power you want other than through the phone app - not very conducive to adjusting on the fly. How do you slowly pedal up to an intersection for example, without the motor kicking in and trying to propel you to the set 25kmh? Unless you leave your phone unlocked and the screen active, there's a few seconds involved in turning it down.

And no ebrake or emergency cut-off would make me nervous.

Aside from that, how can they possibly make all that in 4kg of weight? Motor, battery, controller, rim, spokes and tyre is included in this weight, someone posted over on Whirlpool

 

[103Alex1]

The Bike+ system has battery integrated into hub motor too ... but is likely more realistic in terms of Wh. What I don't buy for a minute is the notion that you'll get enough regen to give meaningful assist on a continuous basis.

Bike+ light hybrid system unplugs the e-bike for a Prius-like ride

 

[Aushiker]

Andrew

 

[Deleted member 4366]

30v 6aH battery is a bit disappointing, but at least it'll be light. A lot of other nice features. I can see it being popular on city bikes. The big question now is how much?

 

[trex]

This product is dead. They have already moved to develop the next product - an e-bike that never needs a charger, because it gets its energy from the rider. More fool their supporters.
flyky is already absorbed into ZeHus. The way the team at ZeHus go about this, I reckon they are not producing any more than just ideas and prototypes. The first thing about introducing a new product into an already crowded market place is to offer more features than the competition for the same cost. They are not going to achieve that, are they?

 

[Aushiker]

Another "first impressions" review. This time from Turbo Bob.

All in all it worked just as promised. They have really put it though its paces during development so it should be a trouble-free E-wheel that performs like many will like. With the delivery at the Italian factory of a new casting machine for the hub, production will ramp up quickly (till now each hub has been CNC machined, nice, but time consuming). The wheels are assembled and shipped from both a New York facility and one in Italy. Some Asian parts are used, but on the whole they are making and assembling each wheel in house.

Andrew

 

[halfer]

Hope it works out. Not sure why their 'hacker edition' is more expensive, though - if they want a software/hardware eco-system to develop around it, the tools need to be given away cheaply or for free.

I wonder too whether it would be more cost effective to drop the 'charges itself' thing - many members here have expressed doubts about the feasibility of this, just because the amount of energy that can be reclaimed is minimal.