Superwheel: Battery-Free Pedal Assistance for Bicycles
This page is translated from the original post "Superwheel : l’assistance au pédalage sans batterie pour vélo" in French.
- 09/01/2023 9:00
There’s more to life than electricity. Proof of this is with this very special wheel that provides an additional 30% assistance to your leg strength while cycling.
If you regularly use your bike for long distances or on rough terrain, some assistance can be quite welcome. But if you don’t have the means to switch to an electric bicycle (despite the subsidies, it remains a significant investment), two options are available. The first involves converting a standard bike into an electric bicycle. This transformation requires considerable labor and is also fairly costly. And this without guaranteed reliability for a retrofit assistance system.
Another solution exists, with the addition of a wheel called Superwheel that has no battery. This new system, patented and developed by a certain Simon Chan, is inspired by the power steering system of his father’s truck. “I began more active R&D work when my project, a high-efficiency pedal, received an innovation voucher—development funding of 5,000 euros—from Enterprise Ireland and I worked with Ulster University in 2010.”
The Superwheel uses weight-to-energy conversion technology, transforming the rider’s mass into rotational power. The assistance reaches up to 30%, which is still much lower than a powerful e-bike providing up to 300% of your effort.
Advantages, rather than disadvantages
On paper, the benefits are numerous, starting with the lighter weight of this technology compared to an electric bicycle’s assistance. Also, the lack of a battery frees the bike from the need for regular charging, not to mention the reliability constraints over the long term. It remains to be seen whether repeated impacts on ruts or sidewalks could affect the Superwheel.
In terms of installation, this type of system is compatible with the vast majority of bikes in circulation. They can be old or modern, as long as they are 28 inches in size. And according to the manufacturer, the operation takes only a few minutes.
In France, the Superwheel system is currently only available at CicloCaffè, a bike shop located in Andernos-les-Bains, or by mail order. The price is still quite high, as it costs about 475 €, and it’s not clear if any subsidies will be available for this technology.
See you soon on Mobiwisy for a test?
Read also: Reevo, the electric bike with spoke-less, air-free wheels
We also suggestthese articles:
Also read
