Copenhagen wheel

[Drunkskunk]

Ykick, no. 24 miles each way.

And it's what he wants. Why is it humorous that he has a front generator hub? I'm stupid, I guess I don't see why that's funny.
Because he generates electricity? Over my pea brain head, I guess.

You're not stupid, it's just a concept that flies right past most people. It's not the kind of thing people think about unless they're engineers.

There is no perpetual motion, any time you move energy from one thing to another, there is a loss. A generator makes electric power from mechanical power, in this case, your husband pedaling. But it makes it at a loss. If the light is 5 watts, your husband is probably putting an extra 10 watts of force into the pedals to make it work. For the power to reach the light bulb from a rear motor system, you would start with electric power in the battery, converted to mechanical power at the wheel at a loss, transferred to the front wheel by the bike's motion, and turned back to electricity at a loss by the generator. The battery might have had to give up 15 watts for 5 to reach the light bulb that way. And the motor had to work a little harder, and you lose some range.

It's funny because it's a very bad, very Rube Goldberg way of making the light work.

The alternative is to just plug the light into the battery, and forget the generator. that way, there is very little loss. If the voltage needed for the light isn't the same as the battery, a DC to DC converter can be used to match the voltage.

 

[imagesinthewind]

Oh.

Well, mousetrap or not, he's proud of it because he built it himself and it's his.

As for the wheel or a full ebike, he doesn't want to be able to not pedal. He owns 2 motorcycles and a scooter.
If he wanted to ride, he can. He wants a little extra help from a stop at the bottom of a rise so he's less likely
to hold up traffic. He doesn't, at all, want a motor that would allow him to sit back and ride. He cycles for the
health benefit and likes that it takes extra energy to power his light. For him that's the point and for him the
CW looked like a solution right up his alley.

Now, almost 3 years later, he's still hoping it will someday arrive.

 

[dogman dan]

The bike light generator wheel made a ton of sense not that long ago. Lights were either dim, or watt hogs. Rechargeable batteries were sucky nicads with pitiful capacity.

But that was then. Now a tiny lithium battery powers a powerful cree headlight.

But in any case, if the drag on his whole system is now 10 or 20w higher, wooop de doooo. It's just not like the drag of a big hub motor, which we think of.

It does however, bring my frequent comment out. "Don't ruin your favorite bike with a motor. Motorize a steel mtb, cruiser, etc."

 

[pacoso]

Sorry, post edited below.

 

[pacoso]

The Copenhagen wheel is, as someone else said earlier, a scam. Many years after paying for three wheels and three charges, I still have to receive anything from them other than stupid emails about their progress. I have emailed on several occasions asking for my money back to no response. If they have 2000+ pre-orders, someone should start a class-action lawsuit.

 

[Modbikemax]

Now a tiny lithium battery powers a powerful cree headlight.

Cree is just a brand like Coca Cola. There are many brands just as good if not better. The marketing department at Cree are just better at marketing their brand than the Pepsi version.

 

[dogman dan]

That true.

I just meant that a single led these days can put out 1000 lumens or more on a tiny amount of power, vs traditional incandescent flashlights or bike lights of old.

The led's in my bike lights do happen to be crees, 800 lumens each. Brighter than some cars headlights I had in the 80's. They shine an incredibly long time, on two sucky rechargable AA nimh batteries. That's a long run time of a lot of light, for like 800mha of 3v.

 

[Cephalotus]

The led's in my bike lights do happen to be crees, 800 lumens each. Brighter than some cars headlights I had in the 80's. They shine an incredibly long time, on two sucky rechargable AA nimh batteries. That's a long run time of a lot of light, for like 800mha of 3v.

2 AA NiMh provide ca. 2,5V.

2,5V * 0,8A = 2W

Using an efficiency of LED driver and reflector of 66% (which is quite good) your cree LED would have an efficiency of more than 600lm/W.

I say this is a scam.

Never ever does this light have real 800lm output at that electricity consumption, those are just "Chinese lumens".

(It may still be a bright light, I do not doubt that, even 100 real lumen is quite bright, I just doubt the advertising numbers)

 

[Avitt]

First post in this thread was January, 2009.

It's now 7.5 years later...Has anyone received their Copenhagen Wheel yet?

 

[Chalo]

First post in this thread was January, 2009.

It's now 7.5 years later...Has anyone received their Copenhagen Wheel yet?

That's a nice idea.

 

[LockH]

In the meantime competitors are coming along and cleaning up the market. Here's another one to add to the list:
http://www.omni.evelo.com/about/

Evelo Omni Wheel in the newz again:
"The Omni Wheel turns any bicycle into an e-bike"
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/evelo-omni-wheel-e-bike-attachment/

(Filed on that site under "cool" tech. 8) )

Last paragraph:

The biggest benefit of the Omni Wheel is that you can attach it to an existing bike, which is ideal for pedal pushers who are attached to their rides. If you love your bike but want to add some more oomph to it, this is one way to do it. And don’t worry if you have fancy disc brakes up front — the Omni Wheel can be adapted to incorporate them as well.

`Been suggesting all along that the "real" ebike market is in conversion kits for the millions of antique, old style, vintage... etc. pedal-only "poop-mobile" bikes already out there.

 

[Chalo]

`Been suggesting all along that the "real" ebike market is in conversion kits for the millions of antique, old style, vintage... etc. pedal-only "poop-mobile" bikes already out there.

Don't you mean efficient, proven bikes that work so well they don't even need electric assist to make them entirely satisfactory? :wink:

 

[LockH]

Hehe... Yah. As long as you never get "of a certain age", or have any "disability". And don't need to travel up any hills... or need to go longer distances. And when you get to work not need a shower and a change of clothes. And a snack. And a nap. And ya don't mind food content that includes hydrocarbons used to grow and process and distribute and cook. `Round here, over six million all poop in our drinking waters (and that's just including the humans).

 

[Kin]

So I bumped to an engineer on the team during my bike ride to work today (cambridge, ma to lexington, ma.) He was hard to catch up to and didn't seem to be exerting himself, so after berating myself for being out of shape I noticed the shiny red wheel.

In my exercise-confused mindset I talked possibly negatively about the copenhagen "woah! They finally started shipping those things?" but not really intending to be negative about it. He said yes they started shipping, but I don't know if his was actually a shipped one. Apparently he gets paid to test them right now so they are still doing some qualifications.

 

[Kin]

So I bumped to an engineer on the team during my bike ride to work today (cambridge, ma to lexington, ma.) He was hard to catch up to and didn't seem to be exerting himself, so after berating myself for being out of shape I noticed the shiny red wheel.

In my exercise-confused mindset I talked possibly negatively about the copenhagen "woah! They finally started shipping those things?" but not really intending to be negative about it. He said yes they started shipping, but I don't know if his was actually a shipped one. Apparently he gets paid to test them right now so they are still doing some qualifications.

 

[The Stig]

Well thats great that ebiker motivated you to pedal harder! Its kind of a funny thing to say, but mostly true i think.

Did you get the name of the rider or remember what bike frame they're on?

 

[d8veh]

Here's another one. I quite like this one because it uses a standard battery. I don't know whether the rollers will outlast the battery though.

https://www.geoo.com/

 

[Kin]

sadly only no to both of those questions. Don't remember, but the bike/wheel was nice and motivated me to look back into the commuter booster rig and other compact e systems. Apologizes I too realized later in the day I should have been more attentive to details, but I was just frazzled and biking to work.

 

[LockH]

Just received an email from "superpedestrian.com"...

"The time has come"

Following three and a half years of product development and engineering, we are ramping up production of the Copenhagen Wheel. Our new manufacturing line in Massachusetts is complete, expanding production and shipments to our customers and supporters.

Many in the US have already received their Wheels. Some of them had shared their impressions, and the feedback is quite remarkable. We wanted to share it with you.

“I took a magic ride this AM from Brooklyn over the bridge up the west side to the George Washington Bridge to the Jersey side. I got stopped 10 times by people who knew what it was and want it. Amazing ride unlike any I've taken. I do think the Wheel is transformative and changes how you get around cities. I’ve been riding for 30 years in NYC and it’s never felt more accessible than with the Wheel.”
~ John Maloney, Brooklyn

“It’s amazing, I've had friends try it who are confused at first. I tell them to just get on and pedal, and they’re blown away immediately! Riding it has been the best part - it’s really done everything you said it would do. Now the hills aren’t a problem at all - since my bike shop installed it 10 days ago I’ve gone 75 miles on it. It really changes how I get around, I don’t show up sweaty anymore!”
~ Greg E. from Maine

“I bought a bike I loved, but I wasn’t riding it because I purchased an ebike. But now that I’ve switched to Copenhagen Wheel I got to go back to this bike I love and a frame that fits me perfectly! My Copenhagen Wheel performed much better than my old electric bike. It had plenty of power to get up my steep hill, and I like having the ability to change the mode to fit the situation I’m riding in. I tweet one little thing and everyone’s saying ‘oh my god how it is!’ and I'm thinking calm down people, but actually it’s completely worth the wait!”
~ Joan C. from Mass

“It’s almost frightening how well it works. It seems to really want to keep you going. It was much better than expected, very surprising how responsive and assistive it was. Even my bike mechanic was impressed with the installation kit - they were so excited to see one they insisted on doing it themselves for free.”
~ Dave from New York

(Ed: All the best responses "cherry picked"?)

We’ve got a lot planned for the coming months. We’ll fulfill existing orders in the US, and we’ll be shipping within Europe toward the second quarter of 2017, as we set up service and support infrastructure there.

Superpedestrian is a small company with limited resources. We’ve poured the vast majority of these resources into product engineering, with the goal of introducing a product which will show the world that there is a compelling alternative to driving a car. We believe the experience of the Copenhagen Wheel speaks for itself.

... and: Job - Chief Financial Officer

The Superpedestrian CFO will be a versatile leader, and manager focused on making a company-wide contribution. The CFO will have the ability to operate strategically with the senior team, providing financial and operational input to help make critical choices as our company evolves. The CFO will need to structure and implement the tools and processes needed to prepare timely, informative and accurate financial reports and financial projections. The CFO should have experience operating in a start up environment. The CFO should have experience successfully leading fundraising initiatives and working closely with the CEO and the investors.

8)

 

[amberwolf]

"Superpedestrian" is a pretty stupid name to use for a company about bike stuff--teh whole "ped" thing implies walking, and the definition of pedestrian itself is someone walking somewhere, or on foot.

So the name Superpedestrian implies someone that is really good at walking around...which itself implies the product doesn't work and will force you to walk everywhere because you won't be able to ride the bike once it's attached to it.


People looking for something for their bikes certainly aren't going to remember a website name like that one, and associate it with their bikes.


So not only are they terrible at delivering stuff on time, they are also horrible at marketing.

 

[PRW]

"Superpedestrian" is a pretty stupid name to use for a company about bike stuff--teh whole "ped" thing implies walking, and the definition of pedestrian itself is someone walking somewhere, or on foot.

So the name Superpedestrian implies someone that is really good at walking around...which itself implies the product doesn't work and will force you to walk everywhere because you won't be able to ride the bike once it's attached to it.


People looking for something for their bikes certainly aren't going to remember a website name like that one, and associate it with their bikes.


So not only are they terrible at delivering stuff on time, they are also horrible at marketing.

"pedestrian" also means dull - so Super Dull bikes?

 

[d8veh]

If they're shipping them, who's actually got one then?

 

[LockH]

If they're shipping them, who's actually got one then?

Folks that don't exist on Alt. Reality planet ES?
:lol:

The name "superpedestrian"? Throws riders in the pedestrian camp... versus those operating those automatic mobile horseless carriage thingees. (Silly name.)

 

[LockH]

ANOTHER email just received from "Superpedestrian"... Somebuddy's excited...

We’re super excited to tell you that CNBC has named Superpedestrian one of the top 25 most promising startups for its Upstart 25 competition. The exclusive list celebrates startups the world may soon not be able to live without.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/the-inaugural-cnbc-upstart-25-promising-young-start-ups.html

In their coverage, CNBC called Superpedestrian a “pedal-powered, urban Uber rival” and declared the Copenhagen Wheel a “hip urban vehicle for the masses.” Read the full article here:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/how-...is-trying-to-reinvent-cycling-in-america.html

We were also featured on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street as part of the award. You can watch the segment here.
[youtube]H8qYHyDii7M[/youtube]

(Ed. Hehe... "robotic bike wheel"...)

We’re incredibly excited about this award and believe it’s due in no small measure to your continued passion and support.

Thank you for joining us for the ride!

— Your friends at Superpedestrian

Okay... INCREDIBLY excited...

 

[100volts+]

Does anyone here know someone personally that has received a Copenhagen wheel? They have been advertising for at least 5 years that I know of.