New 'Super Wheel' Prototypes Still Claim to Offer Power Assistance Without a Motor... And We're Still Skeptical

Nov 29, 2021
by Alicia Leggett  
photo
A recent prototype. More springs and more power... supposedly.

About a year ago, we wrote about the Super Wheel, which claims to revolutionize our understanding of cycling efficiency by providing pedal assistance without using a battery or motor. Now, the design has moved forward and Super Wheel has shown more prototypes online, but we remain thoroughly unconvinced.

Super Wheel has remained somewhat vague about the actual mechanisms that supposedly provide this boost, which certainly doesn't exactly help the project's credibility. Still, it seems Super Wheel is attempting some transparency, and recently posted on Facebook, "We will begin the technology disclosure of the SuperWheel - Weight-to-Energy Conversion Technology (WTECT). The 4 mm gap between the inner hub and external hub meant [sic] the weight causes the spring compression and decompression at 12 o'clock position +4 mm and 6 o'clock -4mm, total spring compression at 12 o'clock position 8mm, and the energy conversion continue [sic] throughout the rotation."

Is your head spinning yet? Good, because the Super Wheel isn't...

The WTECT purportedly works because it harnesses vertical movement, caused by a rider's weight, and turns it into forward motion. Somehow, apparently, the springs compress at the top of the cycle and decompress at the bottom, using the potential energy released as the springs decompress to spin the wheel. (Now, how is that energy not recaptured by the springs compressing at the top? If Super Wheel has figured that part out, it's unclear.) In some ways, the idea seems similar to the claims about Slingshot bikes back in the day, which some said could harness vertical movement with their spring-and-cable situation and use that energy to create forward propulsion. That claim of "sling power," to my knowledge, has never been substantiated.

photo
Super Wheel vs. the Herrenrad Victoria, a German bike built in 1905 and used by the German military during World War I. Many bicycles were fitted with spring wheels in the early 1900s and especially during and after WWI, as rubber was expensive and scarce. This comparison, found on Super Wheel's Facebook page, is interesting, though I'm not sure exactly what point is being made.

The latest prototype looks to have nine, rather than eight, springs, and claims to give more assistance than the last version. Super Wheel also plans to develop a version for cargo bikes, alongside its current effort to create more efficient wheelchair and recumbent bicycle wheels. There's also a front wheel in development, which is smaller and lighter than the rear wheel and makes the whole situation seem even more perplexing, and even a Super Cycle, which will supposedly be developed this winter and will be an entire bike based around the concept of Super Wheels. Super Wheel has certainly been busy.

photo
Two Super Wheels are, in some opinions, better than one.

Founder Simon Chan, who was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Ireland, said the original version made bicycles 30% more efficient, and he continues to set his sights even higher. It's very unclear where that 30% comes from, as there's no public documentation of any testing whatsoever and, given how efficient bicycles already are, it would be highly unlikely to make such a large gain from a simple wheel swap. A well-maintained bicycle is quite efficient, with the drivetrain efficiency as high as 98.5%, though of course there's significant energy loss to rolling and air resistance.

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like there's more definitive efficiency to be gained from raising that seat a couple of centimeters.

To give the technology a slight benefit of the doubt, we know that technology exists that uses springs to harness and release energy, generating motion - think of a trampoline. A trampoline, of course, relies on the input of a person jumping on it, just as this wheel, in the alternate but maybe slightly possible universe in which it works, relies on the energy input of a person pedaling a bike. A trampoline, however, works thanks to Newton's third law, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction combined with Hooke's Law, which states that the force needed to extend a spring is proportional to the length of spring extension. For that spring extension, there's an equal and opposite reaction: the trampoline effect. It would be cool, of course, if something similar could be harnessed in the Super Wheel, but if that's the case, it'll take some more convincing for me to believe it.

The Super Wheel has been granted patents in Australia, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, and with the World Intellectual Property Office. The European Union patent is set to be finalized in December. Remember that a patent doesn't validate technology's efficacy, only its originality.

We'd all be eager to see an independent test of the Super Wheel, and we here at Pinkbike humbly volunteer Mike Levy to put it to the test.

More information is available on Super Wheel's website, along with the option to shop, if you're feeling very, very lucky.

Author Info:
alicialeggett avatar

Member since Jun 19, 2015
738 articles

233 Comments
  • 579 9
 About as likely to buy this as an Outside+ membership
  • 66 0
 As successful as Outside+ will be…
  • 30 0
 Just $54 for 30% increased efficiency?
  • 45 0
 You’d think that now outside is sponsoring pinkbike they could at least buy one for a few hundred bucks to try it out and test it. I’d be well up for reading that article.
  • 10 6
 This is a good joke, but in reality Outside+ will be fine and Robin can already buy a new luxury something (don't know what is on top this days, assuming he owns a Tesla already). If there are customers for $10k bikes, $1k sports watches etc. there are certainly people willing to pay few bucks monthly for entertainment and guidance which $10k bike they should buy.
  • 23 0
 @lkubica: Especially when the Ben Cathro jump video comes out behind a paywall.
  • 4 2
 @lkubica: we’ve been here before. The value proposition for a 10k bike is completely different to the value proposition for something that albeit is a fraction of the price used to be for free.

When a paywall comes, outside+ work on the notion that not everyone will pay - and they don’t care - as long as enough pay to make the venture profitable.

People’s jokes, stances, whining etc matters not. There are a huge number of readers that will pay and that’s all that matters.
  • 2 2
 @enduroNZ: I just mean that there is enough people for whom Outside+ is practically free so it does not matter if it was really free before. Click buy and nothing changes. So jokes ans whining will not change anything.
  • 26 39
flag jmhills (Nov 30, 2021 at 6:59) (Below Threshold)
 Jeez, we get it. You do not like Outside+. It does not need to be a comment on every single article. It bothers you but obviously not enough to actually quit PB.
  • 17 1
 @enduroNZ:

Allow me to save you time and PB money.

Perpetual motion machines are fantasy, there’s no free lunch, and in the end thermodynamics always wins.
  • 9 5
 What features could we offer that would change your mind, TorW?

Be safe be well,
Incognito Robin
  • 6 2
 @notoutsideceo: don’t bother, some young and hungry mountain bikers will start their own mountain bike website…it’s what free markets do.
  • 15 2
 @unrooted: My hope is that Levy and Kaz break off and start their own website.
  • 4 3
 @enduroNZ: Some people forget that there are many reasons paywalls exist and not all are financial. Sometimes you want to keep a certain type of person out.
  • 13 1
 @ReformedRoadie: We've already had them sign their lives away in non-competes...winning!

Be safe be well,
Incognito Robin
  • 7 14
flag blackthorne (Nov 30, 2021 at 18:05) (Below Threshold)
 @notoutsideceo:
This be safe and be well bullshit is enough. Damn annoying to sit here and read your smirky anonymous cock stroking
  • 10 6
 @blackthorne: How about: Take unnecessary risks and contract COVID? Is that a better sign off in your opinion?

Be safe be well,
Incognito Robin
  • 4 3
 @blackthorne: "be safe" the meaningless platitude which promulgates the lie that actually endagers us.
  • 3 2
 @excavator666: exactly, this is the corpo way to say "f*ck you* or "I couldn't care less about you, peasants".
  • 1 0
 @lkubica: "Ride fast, take chances"
  • 1 0
 @enduroNZ: slo-mo huck to flat video too of course.
  • 213 0
 thermodynamics hates this one weird trick!
  • 18 0
 Yep no such thing as free energy
  • 76 0
 @mtbman1980: yeah their is. This one time this guy let me stay in his house and all I had to do was...... Oh you are right...
  • 37 0
 There's no quackery here, it clearly states it uses "Weight-to-energy conversion technology" which to my knowledge is a rebranding exercise to make nuclear fission more appealing to the public user.
That being the case, I'd be even more concerned about the proximity of genitals to back wheel.
  • 13 0
 @ROOTminus1: E=mc^2, so if you divide the right side by c^2 you can clearly see that mass is energy and "Weight-to-energy conversion technology" does its job.

q.e.d.
  • 9 0
 @endoplasmicreticulum: Not to nerd out too hard, but that's exactly the equation for how much energy you get out of Nuclear fission. As a heavy element splits into two smaller ones a sub-atomic particle is 'lost', the energy released being equal to its mass x speed of light ^2

Pretty sure that'd classify it as an e-bike, or some other sort of pedal assist.
  • 2 0
 @ROOTminus1: even weirder, particles aren't so much lost as transmuted while also lowering their mass vs if they weren't bound together.
  • 12 0
 Naaaw its all particle physics. It clearly runs on tachyons. Similar to Dr. Marshalls Tachyon Amplifier, it allows the wheel to travel simultaneously between not just two, but all dimensions of the 'Quilted Multiverse' harnessing power from each before returning to this dimension to expel said energy as needed, all in an instant. It appears to us that the wheel remains on the bike but in reality it is in all dimensions at once. Clearly.
  • 4 0
 Just show me an ebike with a "Mr Fusion" attachment and you have my attention.
  • 7 0
 @mtbman1980: Maybe it translates an intense up and down bobing motion from people who aren't sure how a bicycle works and think they're like railway hand carts.
  • 3 0
 @mtbman1980: There is if I use my neighbor's outlet!
  • 2 0
 @ReformedRoadie: and hook it up to a flux capacitor!
  • 1 0
 brilliant initiaves and brilliant minds dont get anywhere if they underestimate the intricacies of knowledge required to understand the domain they intend to be part of.. the video with the seat tube too low is a clear hint of this..
  • 2 0
 @mtbman1980: Yeah no free energy, except for you know, the sun. Don't nobody charge you for soaking up rays...
  • 2 2
 How does pumping work Smile ?
  • 1 0
 @brotherluke: oh man, you just blew my mind by predicting the future. You know those modern e-bikes that rotate your wheel instead of you? This is because the firmware is not advanced enough yet. Give it a decade and tech similar to Fox's predictive adjustment of everything but much more advanced, is going to pump, jump, wheelie and whatever button you press for you. So that the rider can concentrate on the important part - making the video for Facebook.
  • 104 1
 After watching that video, this is clearly legit.
  • 48 0
 Yah, check out those hills he climbed. If that doesn't impress you, nothing will.
  • 17 0
 oh man. I was ready to learn something. Lol that was hilarious, loved the song.
  • 15 0
 Tune was an absolute banger too
  • 4 0
 You mean that stolen footage from the Irish Cycle Tourism Commission?
  • 24 0
 @Lemmyschild: It does look like a drunk Irishman riding home from the pub
  • 6 0
 where I grew up there was a magnetic mountain, your car would seemingly roll uphill. Of course it was an illusion due to oddly angled trees and landscape. Just like this video, shooting downhill to flat at such an angle that it appears flat to uphill.
  • 2 0
 @pourquois-pas: Magnetic Hill! Must stop on a NB roadtrip
  • 1 0
 @mechatronicjf: my kids were so disappointed.... yet I had such fond memories. kids these days.
  • 1 0
 lol
  • 1 0
 as yo ucan see by watching the 8 pixels in the top left of your screen which represnets the bike and rider, this free energy device is clearly increasing his climb by 30% (of my balls)!
  • 1 0
 @SJP: Definitely not a Go Pro effect.
  • 1 0
 @SJP: Odd they don't show him smiling and not beat at the top of the hills.
  • 2 0
 Pretty sure the video is sped up on some of the clips too. The steering wobbles and cadence are a little too quick to be real-time.
  • 1 0
 @pourquois-pas: hahaha I think it's more exciting when you're in control of the car. I only appreciated that spot when I read up on it years after I've been. When I was there I thought the car was just crawling and my dad was trolling me a bit (I was young)
  • 4 0
 4.7k views, comments shut off, 3 likes. Very disappointed that youtube no longer shows dislikes.
  • 1 0
 @mechatronicjf: Nice. they had an ad for it on television growing up. Bit of a disappointment in person.
  • 1 0
 @pourquois-pas: I saw one of the same "magnetic mountains" down in Uruguay, the car would seem to roll uphill... It really looked like it, but of course it didn't.
  • 70 0
 Seems to be using WTF Technology.
  • 8 1
 I bet ENVE will still screw this up if they license it
  • 6 1
 Weight To Force tech?
  • 60 0
 Flat earthers will love these!
  • 34 0
 If you place three of these wheels on different spots on a hill and measure the shadows it will prove they are faster than conventional wheels.
  • 57 0
 This converts vertical motion to forward motion too:
www.walmart.com/ip/Radio-Flyer-Inchworm-Classic-Bounce-and-Go-Ride-on/9203279
  • 11 0
 Stop I literally just spit my coffee all over my desk at work
  • 2 0
 @DANKimball: thanks for the warning, bryh! Because of it I first put my coffee down before opening the link.
  • 51 3
 Unfortunately, the least stupid example of someone "doing their own research" these days involves a perpetual motion machine.
  • 37 0
 Put some CeramicSpeed bearings in those hubs and this thing will be unstoppable, for at least 1.8 million cycles.
  • 32 0
 @Alicia Leggett "We'd all be eager to see an independent test of the Super Wheel, and we here at Pinkbike humbly volunteer Mike Levy to put it to the test."

Not interested unless there is a Huck to Flat test too
  • 52 0
 With this tech, a Huck to Flat test would result in forward motion of 140 km/h.
  • 33 0
 Road bike with flat pedals and a slammed seat... must be one of them "freeroad" bikes all the kids are talking about
  • 11 0
 You misspelled "downcountry".
  • 1 0
 @Barkit: Nah mate... separate more niche group here. Pavement only models here.
  • 30 0
 I feel like adding Magnets and Crystals could really improve this design...
  • 28 0
 M.C. Escher wants his wheels back.
  • 18 0
 Did he study the laws of thermodynamics before designing this?
  • 2 1
 Obviously not
  • 12 0
 Of course he did - you‘ve got to know the rules, if you‘re gonna bend them…
  • 17 3
 Wow, look at pinkbike gatekeeping bike tech and holding us back. The springs clearly create a shake and bake sling shot motion propelling to speeds you can only dream of. BUT I guess that wordings to technical for you
  • 18 2
 OH COME ON AGAIN. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE ENERGY. If there was free energy, it would be used already.
  • 18 0
 I think Gibbs already used up all the free energy...none left.
  • 1 0
 Us parents have been trying to tell our kids that for years.
  • 17 0
 "In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics" - Homer J Simpson
  • 15 0
 I'd buy it on looks alone.
  • 11 0
 God I love this stupid wheel. If you showed me that video with no context I'd assume it was some kind of surreal comedy sketch. The timing is just too perfect, the way it hangs on to the distant shot of him slowly pedaling up the hill, the goofy music...
  • 14 0
 that dude was at his vo2 max half way up the climb 100%
  • 14 0
 Video seems to provide sufficient scientifical evidence.
  • 12 0
 LOL, that wheel is so heavy that it becomes an effective flywheel. Nothing new here. The springs are just a gimmick.
  • 11 0
 Could you use these wheels on ebikes to charge them while you climb?
  • 18 0
 Absolutely, but only if you suspend the battery with springs.
  • 1 0
 This way you can climb forever!
  • 4 0
 @Caiokv: I think we're gonna need another video demonstration.
  • 11 0
 How about a bike that goes biking by itself while I stay home and chill ?
  • 10 0
 Pretty sure John Tomac ran one of these on the back of his Raleigh Technium hardtail
  • 7 0
 I'm still mortified at my early bike choices. When my Giant Iguana was stolen, I bought a Raleigh Technium with a Biopace chainring for $900. I'm embarassed about it to this day
  • 55 0
 @Upundu: I maintain that the Giant Iguana is still the best bike name of all time.
  • 3 0
 @Upundu: i had a Raleigh Activator soft tail elastomer with Biopace triple rings, such a beast!
  • 2 0
 @brianpark: Giant Lust takes the prize for me.
  • 8 0
 @brianpark: No. Giant Butte.
  • 1 0
 @Upundu: What was wrong with it? And that crankset looks like a grandad of oval chainrings. C'mon.. teach me something
  • 4 0
 Cove Handjob wins it for me…or is a Handjob outside our current discussion spectrum.

From a review: ‘ Thin tube walls and a noticeably resilient rear end put a spring in the Handjob’s step that burlier frames simply can’t match, taking the edge off everything from high-frequency vibration to square-edged stutter bumps in a way that has to be experienced to be believed’

Sounds like a Handjob was the way to go back in the day…I certainly felt so.
  • 1 0
 @brianpark: UK department store bike brand Apollo made the Creed in the early 2000's. The Apollo Creed. That's got to be the top for me.
  • 2 0
 @Upundu: You had a Giant Iguana? What'd you feed it?
  • 1 0
 @Almostredbike: Cove names were crazy! Nice bikes, but how could you possibly have one - I mean, imagine having some cash to spend and saying to your other half, I'm off to get a Hooker, a Handjob and a STD...!

I had a Kona Sex Too way back in the day. I call false advertising - I got the bike but not the sex too. Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @bmbracing: I think my mrs would be pretty happy if i said i was off to ride my Hooker. But she’s quite open minded that way.

I guess times have changed though, too many people in certain parts of world would take offense. Also, the tongue in check slapstick hunor has evolved/gone out of fashion a bit too.
  • 1 0
 @brianpark: you’re probably right, but it was a terrible bike
  • 1 0
 @pakleni: I think it was. It felt fine but looked funny so my friends made fun of me for it. Not only the biopace, but the whole bike.
  • 5 0
 This guy showed us his concept at work, fairly impressive prototyping but just a joke of a concept. So heavy even compared to a hub/motor combo, i don't think he had any awareness of what a power meter was to verify any claims, obviously he'd spent a lot of money on it - but I am happy to be a detractor....
  • 1 0
 I don’t think he’s spent any of his own money on it. He got a grant from a couple of Irish government business development funds to start up the company and operates it from a Dundalk college from what I can see. And all the while people can give him money through his website for a product that probably doesn’t even exist outside of a handful of prototypes.
  • 10 1
 Reminds me of the Simpsons monorail episode so much lol.
  • 5 0
 Heck, you don't need a superwheel to provide free energy for the bike to move. Just put a shotgun in the opposite direction of how it was placed on that 1905 Herrenrad Victoria. Fire a shot every time you need to get some speed going on the bike Wink That's how you ride shotgun!
  • 1 0
 xmcd make the actual calculations. If you stand atop a lightweight platform which had on the underside 300 AK-47s modified to have 180 round magazines, and adult male could accelerate upwards for whole 3 seconds!
  • 4 0
 Bit like arguing a pogo stick makes you a more efficient jumper. Sure you can move fast and jump easily but you need to put extra energy in to reap the benefit out. Try just using 'weight' to make a pogo stick work see what happens.
  • 4 0
 Is PB bodypositivityphobic?

From the site: "Weight (mass) to energy conversion technology’". In other words, the more body positive the riders is - the faster it will ride.

So it is clear that PB hates the fact that body positive person can be faster then them!
  • 7 0
 It doesn't help that they always have the prototypes bolted up to the crappiest 20yr old hybrids.
  • 9 0
 I know - must correlate with the "I know better than the rest of the world" types.
The amount of money and effort he's put into this thing he could have a decent road bike with the saddle at the correct height.
  • 6 0
 Energy in = energy out negating friction in a closed system. Holy crap I thought we as a world had moved beyond snake oils but apparently there's still a market.
  • 14 1
 Churches are still in business aren't they?
  • 4 0
 Why stop at some springs? If you're gonna break the laws of physics go all in and make a self-charging ebike with a wheel dynamo. I bet @notoutsideceo would invest big bucks in a gravel version.

Or someone could find a way to connect a buttered cat to a bike? Unlimited range!
  • 5 0
 We're already looking into it and looking to get a gravel version in for @mikelevy to review!

Be safe be well,
Incognito Robin
  • 1 0
 You are forgetting the hydrogen generator from water. This could power (with free energy) the next generation of mountain bikes.

Imagine if we removed the clunky and non-environmental batteries with a nice internal combustion engine. Revolutionary, I tell you!
  • 6 0
 Can't see whether the M1 Garand and bike compatible rifle rack are included with purchase
  • 9 2
 Apparently you also can't see that it's not an M1. It's probably a Gewehr 98 seeing as its a German bike.
  • 2 0
 I happen to have one at the minute, know a guy who know's a guy and cos I like bikes the wheel made it's way to me to try. Which I haven't done yet. It weighs plenty though, so I'm not optimistic. At some point I'll take it on what's normally a 1 hour loop. Should have a fair idea if it holds up or not.
  • 2 0
 From a legit anonymous investigative report effort- "This technology is at the forefront of the Kazakh Ministry of Information technology development. Азамат Багатов, an undercover agent of Kazakh Ministry of Information posing as an American documentary film maker, infiltrated Area 51 to execute an espionage plot to translate alien technology to leading-edge bike propulsion advancements." - As reported by BORДT Маргарет Сагдиев
  • 6 0
 I wonder if this idea will spring forward?
  • 3 0
 I recoil at the thought.
  • 3 0
 @littleskull99: The inventor sure is winding us up.
  • 2 0
 @barp: I think the idea might bottom out
  • 6 0
 Future Sam Pilgrim free bike challenge bike
  • 4 0
 Apt that they fitted these wheels to a Giant Expression. I think this idea is complete BS. I guess you could class that as a Giant Expression of disbelief.
  • 2 0
 Alright Pinkbike, that's enough! Just spend the 500 bucks Levy would've wasted at Tim Horton's in a month and give us a full video review! C'mon, they've even got a 14 day return policy!!
  • 1 0
 This wheel does not need to violate any laws of physics. It appears it is taking the vertical forces usually dissipated by suspension and storing them in springs and a flywheel. Quite clever. Hopefully I can put one on my cargo bike or touring rig someday.
  • 5 0
 Are you seriously gonna give such charlatans more exposure?
  • 4 2
 This is the bottom the barrel, paywall coming... edit didnt read or watch article and if i did would say it would be devaluing my time by clicking.... telling you all how i feel....priceless
  • 4 0
 Let me guess, they're gonna be doing crowd funding? This is a scam if every I've seen one
  • 1 0
 These guys at least put some effort into hiding their quackery:
infinitysav.com/magneticgenerator
  • 4 0
 VIDEO INTERVIEW!
Get Mike Levy an online session with that dude. I will watch every second of that Smile
  • 1 0
 Why is he only doing Podcasts?
  • 1 0
 I was tempted to click on the video but I realized that there is a chance that these quacks could get some money from YouTube if enough people watch the video. Science can change when new evidence is verified but this is not going to be the thing that shakes the foundation of Thermodynamics. I'm sure that the 1st Law of Thermodynamics is still in force. Unless there is some sort of atomic processes going on where aluminum is decaying to another element and freeing energy you can't get something for nothing.
  • 2 1
 This article did not mention that PB has purchased one - If they have not.... it should be done immediately. If they have and they are keeping it quiet..... I hope for a "review tomorrow" scenario!

Also - Why isn't it being used on the Donut in a 29"/26" mullet configuration to fix all of the "pedal like dogshit" that was a mandatory design requirement? Seems like a no-brainer.
  • 4 0
 C'mon Pinkbike, whats the point of all that Outside money if you can't shell out for wacky shit like this for a review?
  • 4 0
 Hey PB, looks like they are available for purchase on their website. Let's see you buy and test one of these guys.
  • 1 0
 So much tension in the comments, I wonder if the circular conversation will spring back to something beyond Outside and the angst surrounding the sponsor or is it nothing but wasted energy and the occasional "I wonder what WAKI would say" about this snake oil and general slow news day submission ... Personally I'd rate this wheel set right up there with any RonCo product from the 70's, my favorite being GLH-9 ~ Great Looking Hair Formula hair in a spray can.... WAKI, where are you when we need you most!
  • 1 0
 If it works on the same principle as a trampoline then any extra "power" at the rear hub is the result of the rider bouncing up and down. Still energy from the rider and does not break the rules of physics just the rules of advertising.
If Pinkbike doesn't already have one on order to test on the Grim Donut, i will be disappointed.
  • 1 0
 The only question for me here is what the guy's motivation is? Is he lying to scam people out of a few hundred bucks at a time or is he mentally ill and actually believes it works?

What is surprising here is that the US patent office granted a patent. They don't give patents to perpetual motion machines...which is what this claims to be.
  • 1 0
 I think this is genuine - but here's the catch. It's done by compressing something which is shortening the wheelbase. You can see that clearly by looking at the rim on the company's own website. In short, you bounce up and down and that propels the bike. Stop bouncing and it won't work. There's zero voodoo here.
  • 6 1
 It's wheel efficient
  • 4 0
 Forget bottle holders - Gun holders will be the 2022 hot ticket item.
  • 4 1
 It can be purchased on their website. Someone just buy it already and report back.
  • 4 0
 "Is your head spinning yet? Good, because the Super Wheel isn't" LOL
  • 4 0
 Will this BS be outside my screen for good if I subscribe to Outside+
  • 4 0
 This is absolutely ridiculous and I love it, don't ever stop.
  • 4 0
 Laws are meant to be broken. Goes for the laws of physics too.
  • 3 0
 I like how he bolted the wheel to the shittiest bike one could find... just to make it look somewhat fancy.
  • 3 0
 Why do you support obvious fake BS???
  • 7 0
 I'm not sure I'd call the article supportive
  • 2 0
 @Bobadeebob: click supportive
  • 3 0
 Flat-earthers be all like 'rad! but we got no hills'
  • 1 2
 as an engineer...blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah
  • 1 0
 As an engineer with a BMX background.....blablablah
  • 1 0
 It probably provides almost enough boost to cover what would be needed to pedal what looks like an extra 20 pounds of rotational weight.
  • 1 2
 «There’s no such thing as free energy» plays on the notion that energy is created and wasted away. This simply is not true, energy is never produced, it simply changes form.

The sort of device described above could be possible with some sort of heavy internal flywheel connected to an external shell via activating a sprag clutch mechanism, and external blade and coil springs between the hub and the rim to smooth out the sudden rise in angular momentum when connected.
Such a contraption would require good bearings, solid materials, and a lead flywheel and weigh a ton. Efficiency would quickly deteriorate on any extended climb as the angular momentum of the flywheel was converted into linear motion
  • 5 0
 And whenever there's a conversion of form energy is dissipated to sorroundings as nothing is 100% efficient - that's the price, and why it's perfectly feasible to say that there's no such thing as free energy
  • 3 0
 Perpetual motion. This creates as much power as my rested case.
  • 3 0
 just needs a 12 speed freehub body
  • 3 0
 Education, this is what you do without it...
  • 1 0
 Now if Jason hucks-it-to-flat, will he gain so much energy that he will be launched to the moon? Or will it just explode like a small nuke?
  • 2 0
 the first bounce bikes without pedals coming in 2024.... no pump track will be safe lol
  • 4 1
 26 or 27.5 ?
  • 2 0
 Customer testimonials appear to be authentic...and not written by a donkey
  • 2 0
 Wouldn't buy it if it worked... look at it!!!!
  • 1 0
 Man, never realised Ireland had a spice problem, the guy in the video was hardly pedalling up that hill...so strong.
  • 1 0
 This should be tested as part of a podcast episode about crazy MTB contraptions.
  • 2 0
 Word is this was James Randi's last investment....
  • 2 0
 it beautiful. it looks like data from the goonies made it
  • 1 0
 I'd bet that the weight would negate any gains of power that would be achieved.
  • 3 0
 The earth is flat
  • 1 0
 30% improved efficiency!? I don't even care if their claims are out by 5% or so, where do I sign up?
  • 2 1
 Releasing a 26" wheel in 2021 is worse than going against thermodynamics laws
  • 1 0
 Imagine that you fall and that your foot or hand ends up in the "spokes" of that wheel Big Grin
  • 1 0
 I have a feeling these articles are going for quantity vs quality now. Definitely Outside the norm lately
  • 1 0
 Waiting for someone to complain about Pinkbike posting videos of people riding crazy stuff without a helmet.....
  • 1 2
 I was out for a quick lunchtime shred in the cold and wet, I think I had this wheel on going into a corner flat out!!!!! She wasnae for slowing down but I held onto the wild beast.
  • 1 0
 I've figured it out! It's nuclear! e=mc^2. That's how heavy stuff makes energy.
  • 1 0
 Not that weight is everything but I’m holding out for the air sprung version
  • 1 0
 What happens if you go OTB, does it just keep going OTB in perpetual motion forever.
  • 1 0
 The really sad thing about this article is that no one is paying attention to the badass 100 year old cushcore design.
  • 1 0
 If being a part of the outdoor family doesn't give PB the resources to do a field test of the wheel, what's the point?
  • 1 0
 how about we stop being lazy and just pedal our bikes so we actually get a work out and get in better shape
  • 2 0
 No batteries? I'm in!
  • 10 0
 Keith Scott, we recognized you...
  • 1 0
 Had to double check the calendar and make sure it’s not April 1st
  • 1 0
 Product review coming soon...
  • 3 1
 2nd law
  • 1 1
 The whole thing could work if vertical motion is converted into momentum by ground unevenness. But not as a permanent drive.
  • 1 0
 Super Wheels as conceived by Max Power, great name choice...
  • 1 0
 "I saw it on a hair-dryer."
  • 1 0
 I enjoyed the soundtrack xD
  • 1 0
 Looks like a dual mass flywheel.
  • 1 0
 Video needs to show a sideview angle and a closeup.
  • 1 0
 Still trying to get something for nothing.
  • 1 0
 Thermodynamic is crying...
  • 1 1
 Man, while in enduro, my mcdemo will carry that weapon to looks like a badass.
  • 1 0
 If it worked Jerry might have won.
  • 1 0
 They set out to reinvent the wheel
  • 1 0
 Sold! As long as it comes in boost.
  • 2 1
 Looks better than most ebikes..and his saddle height is perfect actually
  • 1 0
 Eat a Snickers you will get more "energy" from that.
  • 1 0
 We need a dirt jump version of this.
  • 1 0
 Is it available for 36” wheels?
  • 1 0
 lol the thing weighs as much as a whole bike
  • 1 0
 Will it come in super boost?
  • 1 0
 Perpetual motion machine has entered the chat.
  • 1 0
 Sam Pilgrim must test this for his next 'FREE BIKE CHALLENGE #31" !!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Why not 10 springs then? "Until someone releases 5 minute abs"..
  • 1 0
 HUCK TO FLAT ! NOW !
  • 1 0
 lol
  • 1 0
 test pilot is balding
  • 1 1
 e bike comparison?
  • 1 1
 KILL IT WITH FIRE
  • 1 1
 Why bother PB? fake af
  • 1 3
 i took a look... it checks out
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