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Bicycles

Centinel Wheel makes bikes into e-bikes

By Ben Coxworth
May 20, 2015
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The Centinel Wheel replaces an existing bike's rear wheel
Hycore
A Centinel Wheel-equipped bicycle
Hycore
The Centinel Wheel replaces an existing bike's rear wheel
Hycore

If you'd like the ease of an electric bicycle but don't want to give up your perfectly good "manual" bike, there is something you can do – you can replace your bike's existing rear wheel with the electrically-powered Copenhagen Wheel or FlyKly, or replace its front wheel with the Omni Wheel. Those three products may soon have to make room for another competitor, however, as the Centinel Wheel enters the marketplace.

Like the Copenhagen Wheel and the FlyKly, the Centinel is swapped with a regular bike's back wheel – plans call for it to first be made in a 26-inch wheel size, with other sizes to follow.

The Centinel contains a microcontroller, two 180-watt motors (for a total of 360 watts) that can be removed for upgrading, and a 24-volt 13-amp lithium-ion battery that can also be taken out for charging.

A Centinel Wheel-equipped bicycle
Hycore

It also has a Bluetooth 4.0 module, allowing it to communicate with an app on the user's iOS or Android smartphone. That app allows them to select the amount of electrical assistance provided and view the battery charge level, among other functions. Additionally, the Centinel is able to monitor the user's cadence, automatically providing more assistance as needed in order to maintain that pace.

According to Hycore, the Seoul-based designer of the product, the Centinel has an electronically-limited top speed of 16 mph (26 km/h) and a range of approximately 30 miles (48 km). By comparison, both the Copenhagen Wheel and the FlyKly can go up to 20 mph and have a range of about 30 miles.

If you're interested in getting one, the Centinel Wheel is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Pledges start at US$899, with shipping scheduled for next April if all goes according to plans. That price is actually less than that of the $949 Copenhagen Wheel or the $1,099 FlyKly.

A prototype can be seen in action, in the pitch video below.

Sources: Hycore, Kickstarter

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Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.
12 comments
Leonard
Don't think i would buy something from a company that can't even have the front of the bicycle correct among other things.
Keith Reeder
Don't know I'd trust a company whose publicity image is a picture of a bike with its front fork entirely back-to-front...
Jugen
I was taught that the ideal wheel should be as light as possible. Rotational mass is something to be going away from, not towards. He talk about being able to remove the battery to reduce the weight if things went wrong. This doesn't exactly convey much confidence in the reliability of the product.
Dries
Apart of Copenhagen Wheel, Flykly and Omniwheel, there is also the longer existing Rool-in. See http://www.rool-in.com.
Freyr Gunnar
For that price, might as well buy a pedelec directly, and choose one where the motor sits in the bottom bracket instead of the rear wheel.
George W. Groovy
These wheels might be more appealing they didn't cost upwards of a grand, not including the bicycle.
racefanwfo
why is the fork reversed. if you do not know which way the fork go's then how do we know that the wheel will roll the right way.
Kevin Ritchey
Why not take the bike shown and remove the center post and make the frame from flexible yet durable material thusly creating a shock absorbing frame much like a bowstring? I'd rather have a more comfortable ride than a heavy motor assist any day.
AugustineXLenox
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/reinventing-the-wheel-tron-style
These guys are doing the same thing for half the price.
Stradric
@AugustineXLenox: The *same* thing? I don't know how you can look at these 2 and call them the same. Maybe they accomplish the same task, but they do it in clearly different ways.
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