According to the BBC, E-bikes outsold cars in most
European countries in 2012 and an article on Quartz
states that there were 200 million E-bikes in China in
2013. Given their SciFi-esque qualities, this doesn’t
come as a surprise. You can cruise up rising land
with an effortless demeanour, bypass rush-hour traffic
without getting into a sweat and you don’t even need
a driver’s licence – it almost seems a pity they can’t
fly. What’s more, environmentalists dig them because –
although electricity generation, power distribution and
the manufacturing of limited life batteries needs to be
taken into account – riding them is a zero-emission
venture. Some even argue that E-bikes are better for
the environment than non-motorized bicycles because
the latter consume human energy, which requires the
sometimes emission-heavy production of food.
Yet, just like with all good things, there’s a catch. Due
to the speeds that can be reached with some E-bikes
they’re causing accidents on lanes used by slower
traffic (pedestrians and traditional bicycles) but, more
importantly, they are expensive. $1000 - $4000 or
more is what you have to splash out for a relatively
decent battery-powered self-pedalling machine. Prices
for E-bikes can, however, go up to a couple of tens of
thousands of dollars.
Going for $590, Niko Klansek and his New York
company’s ‘Smart Wheel’ – an affordable ‘pedal assist’
that supposedly turns any bicycle into an E-bike – might
offer a solution. They presented it to the US market for
the first time in 2011 and with ‘people, not cars, come
first’ as a philosophy, they had a running prototype
going by 2013. Yet to get the Smart Wheel onto the
road they needed funds. Initially wanting to reach $100
000 on kickstarter.com, the project reached a pleasantly
surprising $701 239 by 25 November 2013 and can
now be pre-ordered at flykly.com.
How does it work? Quite simply, it seems. In short,
your back wheel can be exchanged with a motorized
Smart Wheel. Once it’s attached you can use the motor
at speeds up to 25 km/h for up to 50 kilometres at a
time – all operated by your smart phone. The FlyKly App
connects via Bluetooth 4.0. – you set the top speed
and once you’re done you can even lock your bike by
simply pressing a button on your phone. Better still, to
avoid theft the app tracks your bike if it moves without
your permission. The wheel comes in different sizes
of 20”, 26” or 28”; nine different colours; is made as
light as possible; and is powered by a rechargeable
36V lithium battery.
A very similar product that
developed around the same time is the Copenhagen
Wheel by Superpedestrian. For more info click here .