Comments on: DIY Flywheel Hybrid Bike Boosts Without Batteries (video)

By: Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:23:00 +0000

actually, decreasing the mass of the flywheel will defeat the purpose, as it will also decrease the amount of energy the device can store; making it less effective.

it’s all outlined here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel#Physics

By: Flywheel Energy I: Safety, Security, Reliability | CleanTechnica

Flywheel Energy I: Safety, Security, Reliability | CleanTechnica — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:06:45 +0000

[…] with a bit of knowledge, we can assess a real world example. Recently in the news was a flywheel bicycle: The flywheel was 15# of steel on a bicycle that may have been no more than twice that weight. It […]

By: Jmsthurber

Jmsthurber — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:25:00 +0000

I wonder if the flywheel couldn’t be fabricated from a lighter material, such as plastic or fiberglass. This could make it a lot more effective.

By: Jo Borras

Jo Borras — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:33:00 +0000

The Copenhagen wheel was super-promising, but hardly accessible to DIY-ers.

By: Jo Borras

Jo Borras — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:32:00 +0000

No, not with pedal-power – just with electricity from the coal-fired plant down the road.

By: Jo Borras

Jo Borras — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:31:00 +0000

Correct. This isn’t for roadies, but bike-messengers (for example) would probably benefit from it.

By: Jeremy R

Jeremy R — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:51:00 +0000

another 2009 flywheel BIKE project, much more pretty too:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/science/earth/15bike.html

By: Jeremy R

Jeremy R — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:42:00 +0000

The flywheel stores the breaking energy into spinning, and it is harvested when the rider wants to speed up again. In a short number of stops and restarts the weight of the device is offset by the reduction in waste that normally is lost in breaking. However if you never break, flat land and no red lights it is a considerable amount of weight to add to the ride.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 04:06:00 +0000

Good idea BUT, it’s a bit half baked.

To get the bike moving from a stand still, as you pedal you are inputting energy into the flywheel. That’s extra load!!

Just use an electric hub motors and a battery. The battery won’t need charging with pedal power before it can be used!