the copenhagen wheel

I heard about this on the BBC World Service last night. It is a regenerative system which stores energy when braking and going downhill and delivers it for hill climbing. It is either the Holy Grail or snakeoil, but as it is being developed by MIT it could possibly be the former.

 

i believe this is what your talking about and it is a cool concept.
The Copenhagen Wheel

 

I'm new to cycling and heard about the copenhagen wheel for cycles . does any body know any more abour it

 

can you buy it yet

 

The Copenhagen wheel is not as good of an idea as the Bionx Kit. The Bionx kit has an electric motor on the back wheel that your free-wheel screws into. The battery is in an aluminum box that clamps onto your down tube or rack behind the seat. It has sophisticated servo mechanisms that allows assistance and regereration--too complicated for me to go into here. It is more adaptable than the Copenhagen wheel in many ways. One is that when you go home, or in a restaurant, or library, or many other places you can just unsnap the battery, and plug it into the wall socket where you are going to charge it. Or have two batteries, one at work and one at home, for instance. Another reason is that the Bionx kit is already developed and they have sold at least a million of them. There are a thousand dealers in Europe and America. They are made in Canada. Google the Bionx wheel kit or go to <www.itselectric.com> for example. These electric-assist bikes well become very popular for parents pulling a child, old people that want to keep up with the pack, commuters that do not want to peddle on a hot July day and get all sweatty, mountain bikers who want to climb steep hills, long distance tourist, and lazy people like me. A fun thing to do is to watch the youtube of Canadians commuting in the assist mode in the snow.