Copenhagen Wheel

[Cab]

Interesting looking bit of gadgetry:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/dec/15/mit-copenhagen-wheel-green-bike

I don't think that I want one, but its a cool looking toy.

 

[Arch]

I've no interest in the iphone/facebook/training side of it, but an easy to retrofit system that actually does use regenerative braking, that's cool. Whenever I showed people an electric bike at roadshows, they asked if it charged as it went along, and always seemed to think it was a cop out when I said no, you charge the battery from the mains....

Although, when they say easy to retrofit, is that on horizontal or vertical dropouts, or either? I suppose it works with a derailleur, but what about hub gears? (which are hugely prevalent in Copenhagen, and much more suitable for the kind of ultility cycling which will benefit the planet...)

 

[BigSteev]

It appears to come with 3 speed hub gears and the braking seems to be a coaster brake.

 

[Arch]

Yes, belatedly, I went to the product webpage....

http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/wheel.html

So that does look useful, except it says you control the thing from your smartphone. So if I don't have a smart phone.... ?

Give me a wheel with the regenerative drive, a handlebar control, and none of the fancy electronic guff, and I'm interested.

 

[Cab]

Yep, the whole smart-phone thing is a bit over-engineered for my tastes too. And given the choice I'd like to have a simple connection on it to be able to, say, charge lights from it, or just charge batteries on it. I'm not likely to use the energy to give me a boost up-hill in Cambridge, but as a simple tool for producing a trickle of electricity, can't be a bad thing.

 

[Cab]

Of course, this ain't aimed at us, its aimed at the gadget freak and the motorist. Its aimed at making cycling a more appealing option for those who don't cycle. As such... I dunno, maybe this is the bees knees.

 

[Beardie]

I think that the amount of electricity coming from regenerative braking is going to be insignificant. Even if you have a massive downhill stretch one way, the power collected won't go anywhere near powering you up the massive uphill stretch going back.

As for collecting data on air pollution, what is that all about? Campaigners, transport planning officers and students on relevant research projects would find it useful, but who else would? And find a useful outlet for the result?

 

[snailracer]

To me, this sounds more like a publicity stunt than anything else.

 

[mickle]

To attain the holy grail of useful regenerative braking for bicycles we will have to suffer many years of such useless products being launched in spews of hype before they sink without trace. This is just one of many such 'solutions'. I find it obnoxious. It might as well have been launched by Clive Sinclair himself for all the impact it'll have.

 

[mr Mag00]

is it any different to a concept car? showing what technology could be available and it may spark an idea/thought process in an engineer

 

[mickle]

is it any different to a concept car? showing what technology could be available and it may spark an idea/thought process in an engineer

Yes.

 

[mickle]

Yes.

I mean no. It's totally valid as a thought provoking concept. It's the claims that it'll revolutionize cycling and that they've got regenerative braking to work that bugs me because that's utter bullsh!t.

 

[mr Mag00]

ok

 

[HJ]

I doubt the Copenhagen Wheel will have much of an impact on mainstream cycling, but it would be a great idea for Vélib style cycle hire schemes. The smart phone could be used as a means of paying for the hire of the bike. The bikes being used across the city would provide useful environmental data in real time, this could be really useful in managing pollution. You have got to look at a bigger picture.