A group of Slovenians have created the FlyKly Smart Wheel, which turns any bike into an electric bike, with an open API and the ability to incorporate crowdsourced intelligence.
This is a nine-pound pedal assist wheel containing a super-thin motor and lithium battery. When using the wheel, cyclists can go up to 20 mph for 30 miles without pedaling before they need to recharge. While that’s not enough for a long bike trip, it leaves ample battery power for short jaunts around a city.
Installing the wheel is easy. Just remove a bike’s rear wheel, replace it with the Smart Wheel, and start riding. Set the top speed via the FlyKly app (currently compatible with iPhone, Android, and the Pebble watch, but the Smart Wheel API is open source), and keep track of distance, battery, time traveled, and speed as you ride. The Smart Light comes included and features a handlebar smartphone holder and the ability to recharge an onboard LED light (and mobile electronics) while you pedal.
While the Smart Wheel is optimized for city riding, it’s also a fancy object that’s ripe for the picking by bike thieves. However, the wheel can be locked by pressing a button on the app and an onboard GPS means that a stolen wheel can be tracked and recovered.
To test paddle it, the Smart Wheel is available on Kickstarter starting at $550.
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