Maxwell von Stein’s bike has a great big flywheel in the middle of its frame. It stores energy when the bike slows down and then feeds it back to the wheels when you need a boost. It’s like the regenerative braking used in a hybrid car, only the motion is stored as motion instead of being converted to electricity, stored in a battery and then converted back to movement again.
The 15-pound wheel sits in the middle of the frame and is engaged by the rider. It is “charged” by the movement of the bike, slowing it down without brakes. Then, when you hit a hill, or are just feeling tired or lazy, you can fed the power back into the wheel.
As concepts go, it’s an interesting one, but lugging a wheel that almost doubles the weight of the bike might make it somewhat impractical in actual use. According to an NPR spot featuring the invention, von Stein has ideas to put flywheels in cars, where they may be more practical.
Flywheels in cars? That actually sounds pretty awesome. Maybe you could pull them back and then let them go, just like those little flywheel-powered toy cars.
Video Pick: Flywheel Bicycle [NPR via Oh Gizmo!]
See Also:
- Video: Bike Powered Welding Machine
- Cycleops: Indoor Training on Your Own Bike
- GyroBike Teaches Kids How To Kill a Spill
- Plantronics Tries to Patent Nod Powered Headset
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