Spokeless wheels like that are almost always a hint that the vehicle is a novelty product and that the manufacturer cares more about adding gimmicks (and by that many expensive and proprietary parts) instead of making a reliable and high quality ride. I don know about this one ofc, so I wont judge it but generally when I see something like this I think. "Why reinvent the wheel (literary in this case lol) when you can instead improve an existing concept that has proven itself as the optimal, state of the art solution for hundreds of years"? Oh and good luck finding a workshop that is equipped with the proprietary spare parts when you have technical problems while somewhere on the road.
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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I thought you wanted to reduce the unsprung mass on a motorcycle; that rear wheel looks really heavy. Looks difficult to service/change tires too.
That is a good point when discussing vehicles that dont usually use hub motors, like electric motorbikes do anyway. I would much more critisize the spokeless design that is for sure based on an bunch of expensive and even worse, proprietary parts.
I was always under the impression that large bearing surfaces are much less efficient than small bearings in large wheels. It’d be neat if they figured out a maglev style bearing, but I think cold supercontuctors would be required
There is a lot more friction surface, which is why we’ve never really reinvented the wheel.
My thought is just that the bearings are moving so much faster in a configuration like this. Normal bearings that are close to the hub usually have an inside diameter around 20-30 mm (for motorcycles, at least) and they only move as fast as the center of the wheel.
That does look kinda badass, but the rear tire looks like it would be a pain in the ass to change. Also, that's a lot of money: I think I'll be sticking with my ebike for now lol.
Maybe you don't change it?
I have airless tires (Tannus) on me bicycle right now; I put them on last year, and I'll never have a bike without them again (I'm excited to see METLs!). Maybe these are similar?
Even airless tires eventually wear out.
On a semirelated note, I have Tannus Armour liners in my electric fatbike: 10/10 would recommend
Wear out, sure. But I no longer have my ride spoiled by constantly worrying about whether I'm losing air from a puncture.
Those are some very cool bikes. I want one but that is a lot of $$.