The Copenhagen Wheel: Electric pedal-assist motor in the hub of a bicycle wheel
citylab.com
citylab.com
There hasn't been anything fundamentally wrong with the product there just isn't meaningful demand. It is not as if people see the bike, want one but cannot afford it. It is not as if people want the electric bike but find the product falls short of expectations. Only a few brands actually have electric bikes, e.g. Giant, and the general idea is pedal assist up to 15 mph because of legal reasons.
The detachable battery pack of such 'conventional' electric bikes is practical for the typical customer as you can take the battery out and recharge it without running some power cord to the bike shed/street. This all-in-one wheel lacks that practical aspect so it will be another far-too-clever-idea that goes nowhere. Also, the iphone hookup is great in principle but, as per the Giant e-bikes, all you need is a simple switch between eco and power modes on the handlebar. Your legs can do all the other aspects of power management far more effectively than some bluetooth gizmo.
I think that the key to winning people over to electric bikes is for cities like London and Paris to upgrade their fleets of hire bikes to be electric. People would have a go, see what fun electric bikes are, experience how safe they are due to the manoeuvrability that comes with that helpful bit of extra power, go home and think about getting one for their commute or leisure needs.
I could easily go up very steep hills without a lot of effort and I weigh 270lb. I could even vary the help it was giving me and choose to have more of a workout.
What I would suggest is that if you are on the heavy side or intend to carry heavy loads, direct drive is the best for you.
One negative side to the e-bike legislation is that in the UK, it's speed limited to assist up to 15MPH and on 250W motors. To a certain extent I have no issue with the assist cutting out at 15MPH (20 would be nicer), however the 250W limit reduces torque and if you had a load of shopping with you, this could be an issue.
The issue I find with the Copenhagen wheel is that it is trying to think for you and you control the wheel through your phone. When riding, I prefer not to remove my hands from the handle bar. Most if not all ebike configurations place the motor control near a thumb as if you were holding on to the handle bar. My criticism may be unfounded, but you need control sometimes at a moments notice.
The other issue is one of battery charging. Most people that I know that have an ebike, have bought two chargers, one for work and one for home, and charge their batteries at both ends by removing the battery from the bike and leaving the bike locked up in the parking lot. The copenhagen wheel doesn't seem to support that idea.
Direct drive is just a regular hub type that sits in the center of the wheel. They're not so good since they do not use the bike's gears, you end up with cogging when pedaling, it distributes the bike's weight unevenly and low power restrictions make it fairly useless for hills. There's also geared hubs these days which look similar but work a little better.
Course, any of these types are better than the copenhagen wheel.
Personally my dream ebike would be a Bosch mid drive connected to a nuvinci internal shifting hub via a gates carbon drive, all mounted on a full suspension carbon fiber frame with the battery mounted in the center triangle.
I hope by carbon drive you mean a belt instead of chain.
And don't forget brakes in hub, a la Gazelle style. Utility frame, obviously.
Forget the carbon as for this to be remotely successfully, the prices must be as low as possible. Currently the majority of the price is the battery. Add carbon frame and it will cost as much as a reasonably new car.
As for the controls - I believe there shouldn't be any so it feels as natural as possible. Forget the smartphone control bullshit. You could pair it once via BLE so you'd get some statistics at most. Tech shouldn't be intrusive!
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=...
Select the largest battery and fastest speed option, pop that onto a hardtail MTB from craigslist and you've got a fast ebike with the same range for about $1700. Plus this is a geared motor so you don't have any drag from cogging, it just freewheels which makes pedaling and coasting much more fun.
I don't see any reason to change that basic design.
May be add a cruise control button to fix the accelerator at some speed, but that's it.
It is more puzzling he could not pull off the idea. Now that I know it is real, I definitely want one fo these.
I must add. E-bikes are selling like hotcakes in The Netherlands. The first people to buy them were 50+ years old. Now 30+ year old people are buying e-bikes like this one. They are a serious alternative for a small car. These bikes are not cheap. Like $ 4000,-. But, there is certainly a market for them. I like to think they are the Tesla version of an e-bike.
Yours seems to have advantage (?) of having battery in the middle, but steering wheel is too far to the front. I hate cycling with my back bent. Both bikes are missing hub brakes.
I see no reason why this one in particular should catch on better than the others, though. Consumers are buying bikes, not individual wheels.
Also, the competition is very stiff out there. It has had time to mature. This is a new, and unproven and expensive entry.
And as we should all know, superior tech is not a guaranteed win:
>"The Superpedestrian wheel is so far in the lead in terms of the engineering and coming to market that they are probably going to define the market entirely,"
>A big way to open the market will be to make them more affordable
Well this wheel is not more affordable, it has more tech features.
http://www.yodobashi.com/ec/category/index.html?word=panason...
At $800 for the wheel, you save about half compared to a complete electric bike, and you can use your current or favorite frame.
I agree, if they were cheaper, they'd sell faster, but this appears to be competitively priced, compared to the rest of the market.
Until battery prices fall, there will definitely be a high bottom limit for electric vehicles. The lower that limit gets the more adoption will happen, for sure. Still, an $800 wheel on a $300-$500 bike is competitive with most POS electric scooters.
Used electric scooters with 30km range and 45km/h top speed can be had for $250.
For two years, my bike was my only mode of transit. My commute to work was about five miles. I spent about $800 on my bike. I've ridden cheaper bikes, and cheaper bikes can definitely work, but nothing ever broke on my bike, I had a good guarantee on the frame, the parts were under warranty and everything worked really well. Fwiw I took a different bike and circled Ireland on it. Similar idea. Spent about $900 total on that bike plus the touring gear (which is more sensible because it was a really specialized use)
The tires I had were something like $80 each as well.
If I were still commuting by bike everywhere, I'd really quickly consider spending $800 on something like this if I could get a guarantee on the lifetime of the unit. I love biking, but having a bike with an assist would just mean I'd have biked more, and been okay going farther out without thinking "Crap. I so don't want to bike there"
I think you're right, in that they'd sell more if they were cheaper, but if you're bike is your primary form of transit, and you have no car, $800 to make that more realistic isn't really that much, if you ask me.
ymmv of course
Every so often I think about a Segway or an electric bicycle or Acme rocket-skates or what-have-you. But nothing is ever cheap enough to let me try it out and not be extremely unhappy at wasting money if it doesn't work out. If they came with a 30 day no-questions return, or could be rented for a month, I might find something I like enough to buy.
http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com//product_info.php?cPath=...
Also, has anyone tested this thing out on steep hills?
you could ask them about hills.
> What is the required dropout spacing to fit the Copenhagen Wheel?
> For a single-speed, you need a 120mm dropout spacing and for a multi-speed a 135mm dropout is required. If you are unsure about your dropout spacing, please contact us and we will help you determine if the Wheel will work with your bike.
> Can the Copenhagen Wheel be used with a multi-speed bike?
> Yes, the Copenhagen Wheel is fully compatible with multi-speed bikes. You will be able to use it with 7 speed, 8 speed, 9 speed, and 10 speed cassettes. If your current wheel is a free-wheel (not cassette), then you may require minor derailleur adjustment.