This article is a bit unquestioningly gushing - although I love the creativity and concept. For starters, I can't see how it has any lateral grip. Nor is it explained how it negates the need for a hub or bearings. I assume disk brakes are used, but that's left to the imagination.

How I wish there was a news source which got down with the technicals. Thinking about it, that's the space that HN comments fill.

Other articles, like this one, make it sound much more like an art project than a serious attempt to redesign the bike wheel: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/wow-bi...

> For starters, I can't see how it has any lateral grip.

I thought that too. He rides the bike in the video but notice that he only goes straight and makes no turns, doesn't accelerate or decelerate very fast. There's no way there's any traction there. Now if it were covered with rubber it might work nicely.

Even covered in rubber you'd have basically no traction when turning. Bicycle wheels are rounded so they still have a decent contact patch when turning.

my immediate thought too. "Breaking on those things would be a real pain"

looks like I'm not alone

Another big question is going to be its tendency to injure people whose extremities get caught in it or are scraped by it. Bicycle wheels are relatively benign compared to this design which looks like a grater or cookie cutter. Sure, you could round things, choose less nasty materials, etc., but the price is going to go way up.

I don't quite see the difference between metal spokes rotating at moderate RPMs and metal loops rotating at moderate RPMs.

Spokes must have a much bigger cross-section than those loops, making them less likely to cut you. Otherwise the loop wheels would be WAY heavier.

Imagine a cyclist riding into someone's leg with one of these wheels vs. a spoked wheel.

I'm guessing there aren't any brakes. That's the trendy way of doing fixed gear bikes.

Lateral grip could be created by coating the outer surface of the wheel with some sort of rubber. Rather than replacing rubber tires, you could just re-spray the wheels. Just a rough idea.

> I assume disk brakes are used, but that's left to the imagination.

it looks like a fixie to me. So skid stops or low speed cruising might be your only options.

Not to mention what would happen if you were hit a pothole and catch an edge.

This looks like a variation of the Tweel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweel It's drawbacks are noise and heat, this one looks like it at least has the noise problem. At high speeds it probably has the heat problem as well.

I'm no engineer, but I imagine there would be substantial energy loss through the movement within the wheel. Not to mention lack of traction with the road.

Looks like another solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Bicycle wheels are light, cheap and can be adjusted easily by changing the air pressure.

Hello rolling resistance? Goodbye traction?

A better title: Industrial Designer Ron Arad Reinvents The Wheel For an Interesting look

If you want a really smooth ride, get a fat tired 29er, put smooth but fat commuting tires on it and pump them up to as low an air pressure as possible.

It'll still have less rolling resistance than this, be quieter and smoother. It'll be horrible for any real purpose (like, say, riding...), but it will absorb road bumps well.

Actually, they fail to demonstrate the smooth ride. The ride in the movie is on a clean road, with no bumps.

The author of this article doesn't appear to know anything about bikes.

I wonder if the metallic sounds during the ride were added after, or if they're the result of reducing other sounds from the video. If they're from just turning the volume down, I can't imagine these would be very widely used. Given the street sounds in the beginning of the ride, I'm thinking they might actually be that much louder than a car.

Did anyone else see those and think of the smartwheels that YT's board had in Snow Crash? Granted, the wheels pictured aren't actually "smart", in that they don't dynamically alter their rigidity to compensate for detected imperfections, but they're a damn good start towards a mechanism for building smartwheels.

chiseled spam... yes.

It goes to show how elegant and simple the humble bicycle is. I enjoy cycling because it's fast, efficient and peaceful. I'm not sure that this design meets that criteria at all. It might look pretty when viewed at certain angles but on the whole (particularly after hearing the sound it makes) I think its ugly.

Yet the traditional bicycle wheel with spokes works surprisingly well. It's light weight, rigid and overall quite simple. I'm averaging about one broken spoke a year at the moment but it's not too difficult to replace.

Though certainly there are incremental improvements that are useful, such as making frames/components lighter while maintaining the same strength through the use of various alloys. But I don't think I'll be changing to these new wheels anytime soon.

A mesmerizing design, but yea, doesn't seem practical when you think about traction. Still with some modifications, it's nice to know that we could still have bikes if rubber suddenly disappears!

I had to click around a bit to find the video. Here it is:

http://vimeo.com/30555070

I am surprised this design works: I would have thought that all those pieces of metal deforming would absorb a lot of energy and slow you down.

If it were an ideal spring, E would be conserved, but I am not sure for this structure. It is reminiscent of the old style automobile suspensions.

It DOES slow you down. can't you notice on the video? They guy is pedaling standing up and it barely moves.

btw, this is the same concept that forces racers to use slim tires. less cushioning, but less drag.

It's almost exactly like the tires are always flat.

What would the equivalent of a popped tire look like? I couldn't help picturing shrapnel..

It might look interesting for when you're riding at <10 mph to your local coffee shop, but I would not want to make a tight turn at 20 mph or rely on the lower coefficient of friction when making an emergency stop.

Is it louder? Is it heavier? Is it less able to stop and turn at a moments notice?

Certainly innovative, but does this make things better?

It sounds louder. It looks heavier. Quack.

wear a helmet, please

helmet? Pfft. How about attaching some brakes!

Ugh.

Maybe he doesn't live in the USA -- other countries (like china) seem to have less percentage of bike injuries compared to here in the USA. People are blind to anything but cars here.

It's art. not design.

design is the marriage of form and function.

See the video. it's the bumpest ride of all history.

utter crap. and i'm not even trying to figure out how to break!

if you want "A Smoother Ride" get a 29er