Lunartic is a capstone project from Loughborough Design School student Luke Douglas:
The aim was to use a hubless wheel to create a compact bicycle, with the benefits of a large wheel and belt drive.Hubless wheels have appeared in bicycle concepts already, and were first invented by Sbarro. However, few concepts have made it to prototype and when only used for aesthetic purposes, the disadvantage of extra cost out weights the visual gain. Lunartic uses the hubless for a reason; to house the working parts, reducing the wheel base but not sacrificing conventional riding geometry. Lunartic is supposed to be as compact as possible without folding or being awkward to ride, however there is the potential for the front wheel to fold up into the rear or for that space to be used for a laptop back, motor or dynamo.
[via nerdstink]
48 thoughts on “Belt-Driven, Hubless Rear Wheel Bicycle”
Comments are closed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Join Make: Community Today
Can’t find a reference to your assertion regarding Sbarro and the hubless wheel. Perhaps someone else’s google fu is stronger, or you have a citation please?
I think the only person claiming Sbarro invented the hubless wheel is Sbarro. A link, tho:
http://sbarro.perso.neuf.fr/technique/roue_orbitale/roue_orbitalegb.html
Sbarro’s system is a solution in search of a problem.
There’s definitely some prior art. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/17/war-tank-on-one-wheel-operated-by-one-man/
I can’t imagine there are many new ways to reinvent the actual Wheel at this point.
I just want to know if it uses a solid tire/insert, or whether the tube’s valve stem has been re-routed.
Check http://www.carstyling.ru/de/car/1989_sbarro_orbital_wheel/images/14237/
Wouldn’t the gear wear down eventually and be a source of noise/skipping? If there are many bearings facilitating the smooth movement of the larger wheel around a groove, those may mean more maintenance than in a regular bike with a couple of sealed bearings in a hub.
Totally see the “aesthetics” issues. FUGLY !!!
Why was necessary to use a belt? Looks like the pedals are right next to the wheel, so you could connected the gear that rotates the wheel directly to the pedals.
I would totally but that..
Am I the only one who thinks this concept would be great for the next
Schwinn Stingray Crate? Add ape hangers and remove the long stem.
Direct pedal drive wouldn’t get the torque up on the wheel to get the momentuum into the gyroscopic stabilisation fast enough.
The rig shown has just four bearings on the wheel, one drive and three guide.
I still ride the bike I bought to cross that campus thirty-three years ago…
Doesnt Sbarro make pizza?
are there rear brakes?
Yankee Doodle, his head stuffed completely up his ass, works through the mists of very much pot-smoke, cocaine, saliva, to ‘perfect’ the already perfect bicycle designs used for decades, the world over. (see: Holland, Denmark, China) Meanwhile, China develops whole, thorium fueled, nuclear/electric train networks and their nuclear electric powered infrastructures, and inter-connects them, like daisy-chains, in a pan-Asian empire, from the European eastern borders to China’s ocean shores. Good luck Yankee Doodle! Hope you win big on this one!
There is one problem he expects you to turn with the handle bars, when you actually more steer with you legs on a bike. Also I think if he made the bottom bracket more up-sloping it would give you more stability that looks a little wobbly.
No, you don’t (ever hear of ‘countersteering’?)
great concept ! looks cool. Unfortunately alot of people with good ideas have to put music
on their videos. First on youtube for example UMG is pissing and moaning about Copyrights
and therefore in germany i cant watch them. And sometimes if the Copyright Cops werent
there alrady the music is annoying often. I think there is no need for that.
saludos a todos, esperamos sus comentarios sobre este proyecto que traemos actualmente, unas ruedas ++hubless wheel++ by hand made motor club cozumel mexico, en una sccoter,
[…] Belt/hub driven bike This shows a brand new modern take on an old idea […]
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you have to take the bike apart in order to change the rear tire/tube? It’s totally trapped by the frame!
Very cool never saw a bicycle version… there is a motorcycle called the HUBLESS MONSTER on youtube check it out very similar.
[…] Belt-Driven, Hubless Rear Wheel Bicycle Lunartic is a capstone project from Loughborough Design School student Luke Douglas: The aim was to use a hubless wheel to create a compact bicycle,… […]
It’s a clever design, but it seems that having bearings and gears so low to the ground would mean that they would collect more road grit and grime, and probably wear out faster.
garagebuild
Belt-Driven, Hubless Rear Wheel Bicycle | MAKE