FlyKly, a firm based in New York has come up with a potentially revolutionary innovation for bike commuters called the Smart Wheel. It’s a detachable electric wheel that can be purchased separately from a bike and attached onto almost any bike. The rider sets his or her desired max speed on a smartphone, and attaches in to a holder on the bike’s handle bars. The Smart Wheel has an edge over other electric bikes because it is much cheaper than an electric bike which can range from $1200 to $2000, and also much lighter.A big disadvantage of normal electric bikes is that they are much more difficult than regular bikes to ride manually, the Smart Wheel barely adds any weight to the bike and creates more of a hybrid than anything.  But despite its apparent greatness, I can think of a couple flaws that will hurt its image as a commuter tool.  The first problem is that it requires a smart phone to be on the handlebars while riding, this may not be a problem for sunny days. But it means that it’s unrideable when it rains, contrary to the point of the invention to encourage commuters to ride more frequently and to have less excuses not to. Another problem with the Smart Wheel is that it’s owners may not be willing to leave a relatively expensive piece of technology in public, even with the GPS tracking system. This two flaws lead me to believe that the Smart Wheel might have the opposite of the intended effect, discouraging commuting all season/all location commuting.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/smart-wheel-flykly_n_4247102.html?utm_hp_ref=small-business&ir=Small+Business