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Reinventing the Wheel on Kickstarter — Parallax Forums

Reinventing the Wheel on Kickstarter

ercoerco Posts: 20,259
edited 2013-05-02 13:46 in General Discussion
Those Brits are at it again. Loopwheels have integral suspension. Interesting, but I'll pass since I'm a crusty old codger and "we didn't have those back when I was bangin' out 700 miles a week"! Ironically, one of the bikes in my garage is a folding Dahon Mu, exactly the same bike mentioned in the article. Spokey dokey!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1205277475/loopwheels-for-a-smoother-more-comfortable-bicycle

loopwheel.jpg
loopwheel.jpg
700 x 706 - 101K

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2013-05-02 09:05
    It's unnatural, I tell ya!!! All those spokes give you all the suspension you need!! You'd lose your "road feel" with something like this!! OK, I only used to ride about 250 miles a week but heck, if the road gets that bumpy, just stand for a bit, knees bend!!


    Darn kids!! "Get off the grass!!!"
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2013-05-02 09:38
    mindrobots wrote: »
    It's unnatural, I tell ya!!! All those spokes give you all the suspension you need!! You'd lose your "road feel" with something like this!!

    I suspect this will add some springiness in the driveline, too. When you mash on the pedals, the hub will rotate relative to the rim like a torsion spring, so you lose sprint power and you're constantly fighting that windup. This is a classic example of something dangerous on kickstarter. It looks great and sounds good, but you can't be sure if it's a real improvement without riding it yourself.

    The 20" wheels common on folders (AKA folding bikes) are very inefficient compared to 700C road bike wheels, so every little bit hurts in this case. But maybe mixed-mode commuters who just ride their folder a mile or two to the bus stop will find it worthwhile.

    BTW, my most interesting (attention-getting) but least efficient folding bike is this Strida clone:
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2013-05-02 10:13
    The loop wheels are not a new idea. I saw something similar several years ago. They would be great here in pothole city for the smaller ones. The big ones would just swallow the bike and rider without a trace.

    That little folding bike is neat. Great for commuting in warm dry climates.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2013-05-02 10:13
    The loop wheels are not a new idea. I saw something similar several years ago. They would be great here in pothole city for the smaller ones. The big ones would just swallow the bike and rider without a trace.

    That little folding bike is neat. Great for commuting in warm dry climates.


    It's baaack. The duplicate post and error message that is. Strange how an edited post is quick posting and not duplicated
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2013-05-02 13:46
    kwinn wrote: »
    The loop wheels are not a new idea.

    +1, this is almost an exact copy of one of the many wheel proposals for the 1970's lunar rover. NASA needed an airless (!) substitute for a fat pneumatic buggy tire.

    http://www.unusuallocomotion.com/pages/locomotion/the-wheel-reinvented.html
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