Dr. Zoltan reinvents the wheel...

"E.T's Bicycle" (gatorjjh)
08/23/2013 at 13:46 • Filed to: kickstarter

...and in drunken stupor decides to call it the Shweel.

Above it the earlier prototype. In all honesty it is an interesting idea that is on Kickstarter right now. Its a solid rubber tire connected to a hub by six shocks. According to the Doc it will increase comfort, MPG, reliability, and bulletproofness. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Below is what they are hoping to fund.

DISCUSSION (31)

Takuro Spirit > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:49

You posted the wrong image.

Kinja'd!!!

William Byrd > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:52

Fascinating.

And I googled Zoltan, and wasn't sure if I should make a "Big" joke with the fortune teller or a Hal Sparks in "Dude Where's My Car" joke. First world problem I guess.

Oh and does the "Schweel girl" show up in the video again?

E.T's Bicycle > Takuro Spirit
08/23/2013 at 13:52

Point taken.

Sparf > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:52

Sounds like it must weigh a bit.

Sparf > Takuro Spirit
08/23/2013 at 13:52

Sex sells even on Kickstarter, huh?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:52

While it seems good in theory, as I sit here looking at this, my mind keeps saying something about unpsrung-weight. That cannot be lighter than a normal wheel and air-filled tire of similar size.

Wouldn't adding all that weight in the wheel assembly increase the effort needed to slow the wheel down during braking? And accelerating?

William Byrd > Takuro Spirit
08/23/2013 at 13:53

Kinja'd!!!

MonkeePuzzle > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:55

Shweel, more like

Kinja'd!!!

DoktorZombie > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 13:56

Looks like a lot of rotating mass. How much will each wheel weigh?

William Byrd > MonkeePuzzle
08/23/2013 at 13:57

haha I think I got you by one minute on that joke (in reply to Takuro).

MonkeePuzzle > William Byrd
08/23/2013 at 14:00

I hate you

that is all

edit: mine is animated, I win

doodon2whls > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:01

Improvement in reliability and bulletproofness ? Um, not with twelve shocks and a significantly more complicated solution to the simple and efficient plate/cylinder based wheel design that has been around since .... the stone age...

This is complexity for complexity's sake.

NOPE.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for innovation, but the REAL magic in ride quality/comfort and fuel economy will come in tire technology. Like as in, smart tires that can change their construction/behavior based on chassis inputs.

William Byrd > MonkeePuzzle
08/23/2013 at 14:02

Animated gif's (probably) didn't exist during the Waynes World era. I was keeping it real.

Yours is better.

davedave1111 > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:02

"At just what point does kickstarter just turn into a nest of scammers? Are these people merely overambitious and deluding themselves out of eagerness, or is it a scam?" - What I've thought about almost every Kickstarter idea ever. Some of which have been successful.

But seriously, this one's just a joke, right? It's surely not possible for anyone to build that thing and never have heard of things like rolling resistance. And yet:

Kinja'd!!!

Amongst other advantages, apparently the wheel is self-braking...

MonkeePuzzle > William Byrd
08/23/2013 at 14:03

tempted to reanimate it removing the girl in red dress and adding this stupid new wheel... then I'd for sure win and you'd be SUCH an internet LOSER

tempted... but not motivate

William Byrd > MonkeePuzzle
08/23/2013 at 14:04

I would turn in my keyboard for sure.

E.T's Bicycle > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
08/23/2013 at 14:08

Everything you say makes perfect sense, though the good Dr. claims "The Shweel has a rigid rim, with a layer of road gripping rubber belt, which is connected to the hub by a series of air-cylinders, acting as air-springs and air-dampers, allowing for large rim-to-hub displacement, which eliminates unsprung weight. "

CKeffer > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:12

Looks like a more expensive and complicated version of the tweel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweel

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:13

Nope.

Don't buy it all. If it's outside the spring, it's un-sprung weight, and that is all also rotating which will add inertia.

The vehicle would still need to have some suspension parts, otherwise it wouldn't be able to corner. How do you get all that business to tilt or increase camber in a corner?

So if you've still got a typical suspension set-up, and you add one of these, is your car suspension-ceptioned? Yo, Dawg and all that...

Frank Grimes > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:13

I am not an engineer. But wouldn't hitting a bump at speed cause some crazy non beach boy vibrations.

Casper > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:18

Yeah, I'll let someone else throw their money at this snake oil. The increase in complexity alone cancels out the benefits. A big part of why wheels are the way they are is durability and ease of repair/replacement.

desertdog5051 > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:31

That guy, and his friends need to quit smoking that stuff. They spelled axle, axel. Talk about complexity. The thing did not run concentrically on the dyno. How can you improve MPG when you have a massive increase in unsprung weight and overall weight. OY.

MonkeePuzzle > William Byrd
08/23/2013 at 14:32

lunchbreak now, so, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

I require your keyboard now good sir

Kinja'd!!!

William Byrd > MonkeePuzzle
08/23/2013 at 14:33

ROFL!!!! COTD

Hmm, it's not actually mine.

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:33

I think is expect this to have more application in something like a tractor where weight (and cost for that matter) isn't an issue.

MonkeePuzzle > William Byrd
08/23/2013 at 14:37

sure, except its hidden at the bottom of some completely unseen discussion, plus oppo comments don't qualify :P

William Byrd > MonkeePuzzle
08/23/2013 at 14:40

Not anymore it's not!

And I know, sad but true. I'm always greyed out on the FP so I don't bother posting much.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 14:42

I am not sure people are really grasping this concept. The hub is sprung weight not un-sprung. Or at least half-sprung, if there is additional suspension for the axle, as well as the shweel.

There may be a fair amount of rotating mass.

There would have to be a very specific rate to the spring/damping to allow suspension but not completely absorbing torque being applied, if it is a driven wheel, and it would drag more if it were an un-driven wheel.

And it looks like a lot of small, high precision parts in a vibration and shock-prone, and possibly vulnerable space.

And not much room left for brakes.

At this sort of pie-in-the-sky level, why not just go further, for mag-lev hubless wheels?

oyumurtaci > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 15:05

I can live with the name, since I don't see how this will ever get off the ground. The unsprung weight is probably much more than a traditional wheel, at least on this basic level, and in the video there seems to be a very serious balance issue when the Forester with the Shweel is on the dyno, and with so many components I seriously doubt the balance issue can be easily overcome.

CobraJoe > Frank Grimes
08/23/2013 at 15:10

I bet the shocks should dampen any vibrations, but you probably would get some weird forward and backward movement.

CobraJoe > E.T's Bicycle
08/23/2013 at 15:12

The only place I see this being useful is on something extremely simple and cheap, a people's car.

You could eliminate the rest of the suspension on the car, eliminate the need for CV joints, and have a simple kingpin steering arangement.

Other than that, I think it'd be rather unstable at higher speeds or forces.