FlyKly Smart Wheel

[ebubar]

Anybody else seen this kickstarter?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flykly/flykly-smart-wheel

A motor assisted rear wheel to go on your current bike. $595 gets you a wheel
that’s advertised to help you reach 20 mph on your commuting rig for up to 30 miles.
My wife pointed it out and though it could make my commutes more relaxing and get
me home faster to help around the house.

So far, its either this or a PS4 under the tree this year. Assembled gear experts,…your
thoughts?

Topic

[hozn]

Does it support cassettes? The pictures make it look like it is only configured for single-speed use.

Personally, I relish the exercise component of my commute, but I am wearing bike clothes (and sweating) and I could see that if you were commuting in work clothes something like this could be helpful.

As to how much time it would save, that would obviously depend on your route, etc. A high percentage of my commute is actually “fixed” costs like lights & intersections that would not benefit much from pedal assist. The long straight sections would, but I am typically going above 20mph there (again, road bike etc.). So I suspect that for my commute this wouldn’t save me much time. (This is confirmed for me by my coworker that does the same route periodically on an e-bike but takes same amount of time.)

Obviously this is about *your* commute, but just want to note that the assist may be less about saving time and more about sweating less.

[vvill]

It’s single speed only – you have to remove your cassette. Also doesn’t work with disc brakes or anything requiring a specific hub (coaster brakes, internal gears, etc). Despite that, I think it’s a really cool idea since it’s so easily swapped out for an existing wheel.

It’s rated for 250W so it would certainly help on hills, etc. but yeah it’s not like a 30 min commute would be reduced that much, it’s more about less effort. It would certainly make longer distance transportation rides easier.

@ebubar 68853 wrote:

get me home faster to help around the house.

Each to their own, but not what I’d want for x’mas. I’d prefer a PS4!

[dasgeh]

I believe this is similar to the Copenhagen wheel – here’s an article.

It sounds good to me, but there have been some nay-sayers on the cargo bike facebook group. FWIW.

[Author]

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