QUEST: The bicycle wheel with spokes has been the way it is. That is until now.
This is the Loopwheel, which if the inventor has his way, will overturn centuries of cycling.
Why does this work better?
SAM PEARCE, INVENTOR, LOOPWHEELS: This works better because we've got rid of the spokes and in its place we've put these composite springs. These composite springs allow the rim to move relative to the hub in all directions and it isolates you from the road noise, from the high-frequency road noise that gives you shoulder ache, wrist ache.
QUEST: What's this made of? I mean, it doesn't seem very springy.
PEARCE: No, because it's designed for your body weight, not for a hand on the rim. It's made from a composite material which we've spent four years developing.
So the spring has a compression force but also is laterally stiff. So it doesn't feel like a wobbly jelly wheel.
QUEST (voice-over): Around and around they go, modern wheels with metal spokes and pneumatic tires dating back more than 100 years.
So why change anything?
PEARCE: So I was just at an airport and I noticed that a woman pushing a buggy across the concourse hit the curb. The child was flung forward out of the seat. And I thought why can't the wheels work in all directions, the suspension work in all directions?
I'm really in design consultancy, and we've plowed all my consultancy money back into designing the wheel, developing the wheel. And in the last six months, we've decided to try and fund the project where we get the general public to pledge for wheels and bikes so that we can get the money to tool up so we can mass produce this wheel in the U.K.
QUEST: Now for the ultimate test, the cobblestones. The Loopwheels are much smoother and it's certainly less jarring on the back. All in all, a more pleasant experience than traditional wheels with spokes.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Spokes or loops? Loops or spokes? The humble bicycle may not have changed, but what's down below, certainly a revolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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