Awhile back I ran across a Kickstarter about a new cycling product that would convert any bike into an electric assist bike. I thought this was a great way to get more people on bikes. Specifically when I speak with a lot of people about using their bike for commuting a big reason for not attempting a bike commute is the sweat factor. This new Copenhagen Wheel system was developed at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Superpedestrian and with an initial price of $699 plus the cost of a bike or you can of course just use your existing bike, which is the preferred method, you will be up and running.

This new electric assist wheel is not just a wheel with a motor inside the hub, but instead it is a very smart wheel. It has the ability to connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth 4.0 and before you are ready to ride you can tell the wheel exactly what kind of ride you will be doing. So if you are going to have a hilly route you can set a program so that the wheel will respond to the upward terrain. It’s also smart in that it will learn how you ride and make inputs to assist your ride based on your activity. The mobile app also gives you real time stats of your ride, how much battery you have left and also where other Copenhagen Wheel users are in your community. All in all, pretty awesome!

I’m all for innovations in cycling to get more people on bikes and this is just another great idea coming to the cycling world. We are inching closer and closer to a world where bikes are an accepted form of transportation and inventions like this are helping to pave the way (no pun intended). Below is the official launch video for the Copenhagen Wheel. Give it a look to learn more about this product.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS