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A Smart Electric Bike: Taking the Copenhagen Wheel Out For a Spin

Posted by timothy on from the would-like-one-of-these-immediately dept.

New submitter mlamonica writes Bikes are a great way to get around the city. But what if it's just too hilly or far to commute by bike? That's where Superpedestrian wants to come in. With a license from MIT's Senseable City Lab, they're commercializing the Copenhagen Wheel, a bike wheel replacement that gives riders electric assist, and through 12 embedded sensors, lots of information on a smart phone app. I took the bike for a ride at the Cambridge office and offer this review.

9 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. what's the point? by silfen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't see the point of all this electronics or intelligence in a bicycle. If anything, the location tracking means that bicycles now also are starting to invade my privacy.

    For regular distances, a purely mechanical bike is simple, robust, and inexpensive. For longer distances, vehicles designed from the ground up for motor assist seem a better choice than this, and the additional design freedom from designing bike and assist together likely results in a better and cheaper bike.

    1. Re:what's the point? by evilad · · Score: 4, Informative

      A pedal-assist system (one that only helps, but will never do all the work), can be just the boost that some people need to start exercising.

      The gentleman that I bought my used electric-assist bike from was so weak that he was unable to cycle any reasonable distance without assistance. After using the assisted bike (with a custom rack for his oxygen tank!) for a year and a half, he decided to switch to a regular bicycle.

    2. Re:what's the point? by silfen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Electric bikes are not just for long distances, but also for hilly areas or strong winds.

      Which part of "For longer distances, vehicles designed from the ground up for motor assist seem a better choice than this" did you not understand?

      Electric bikes are useful (I have one). Retrofits of mechanical bikes by stuffing tons of electronics into the rear wheel seem like a lousy compromise.

  2. rotating mass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not sure the wheel is the best place for the battery! TFA says the wheel weighs 13 lbs, which is a ton, and it's rotating mass. I'd rather have a hub motor but have a small battery pack affixed elsewhere, maybe in a bottle cage, where it doesn't have to rotate.

    Also the topping out at 20 MPH is a little low. It would surely be useful in conditions of headwinds or uphills, where you cannot ride very fast, so that's nice. But for normal cruising, 20 MPH can be sustained by a fit rider who isn't elderly. I can just do it on flat ground with no winds, and I'm 52. Younger riders have no problems at all. I understand it's a regulatory issue but it would be nice if the top speed could be upped just a little, maybe to 25 mph. It's far harder to ride 25 mph on a bike - I cannot do it for more than a minute unless assisted by hills or wind. Power demand is not linear with speed. It would be nice to have that power difference made up by a motor.

    1. Re:rotating mass by dfghjk · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "I'd rather have a hub motor but have a small battery pack affixed elsewhere, maybe in a bottle cage, where it doesn't have to rotate."

      It's not as big a penalty as you think. The weight is nearer the center of the wheel. This design has real packaging advantages over what you describe. It's also not new.

      "20 MPH can be sustained by a fit rider who isn't elderly."

      20 MPH can be sustained by a fit rider who is elderly.

      Electric assist isn't needed for fit riders and bumping the speed to 25 MPH wouldn't make it better for its purpose. Bike commuters are not well served by devices designed to increase their riding speeds, they are well served by devices that expand the range for which cycling is practical. When commuting the goal isn't to ride as fast as you can, it is to arrive safely while interacting appropriately with traffic and hopefully not flat constantly while doing so.

      I am also 52 years old and I have no problem sustaining 20 MPH in the flats. On my 9 mile one way commute, it is simply not possible for me to complete the ride in less than 30 minutes without a big tailwind. I do not need electric assist at my distances but others might. I could consider longer distances with assist, though, and my average speeds would improve even with the 20 MPH limitation. I have no desire to ride at high speeds on the shoulders with cars coming at me oblivious to my existence. I am forced to take emergency measures once every couple hundred miles typically. Safety is a far bigger issue than top speed.

  3. The Real Problem by cinnamon+colbert · · Score: 5, Interesting

    here in Boston, where I live
    Narrow twisty roads, and when the snowbank gets high, narrower roads
    non highway routes are often circuitous
    Dark at 5PM much of the year (and add in the snowy, narrow twisty roads...)
    Potholes
    Did I mention potholes ?
    Rain snow sleet
    weather down to teens to single digits many days of the year
    lack of decent bike racks (some day, some smart person will write a n y times op ed about how bad bike racks are)
    no showers, or cruddy showers
    not so good when you have to go pick up your kid at school, or dance recital, or...

    maybe inside Cambridge or Boston itself, a bike might work
    For much of MA, no so good

    the problem is NOT that we need easier to use bikes
    the problem is that we have a car suburban orientation; change tax laws and zoning so people are packed into citys, and bikes will take care of themselves

  4. Located in the wheel by Firethorn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    First, don't think of the copenhagen wheel as an electric bike. Think of it as a wheel - that can be used to retrofit nearly any compatible bike. It's wireless capabilities means that you don't even need a controller on the bike wired to it.

    As for the weight, it's at least around the axle, not the rim, so that reduces the effects. One can certainly argue about the max speed, but keep in mind that the non-linear power increases would also rapidly increase the cost and weight of the batteries and motor.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  5. What about thieves? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been there and indeed you do see bikes everywhere. I did not see a single electric bike though. When I asked around, I've heard that bikes get stolen all the time so it is not worth putting too much money into them.

  6. Re:Doesn't solve the problem by svirre · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ice is handled by studded tires
    Darkness is handled by lights
    If you can dress up to do any outdoors activity in winter you can also dress to ride a bike.

    Really, weather is not a problem.