Kingdom of Knuffel

In the article from Micheal B. Farrell “Two startups in high-tech bike race” he tells that within a few weeks from each other, two startups announced their hybrid e-wheel. Strikingly similar, they both feature motorized wheels that connect to your smartphone. Both startups try to convince the target group to get their product.

Both wheels have their technology attached to the rear wheel in a disc. They will help in a situation like cycling uphill. In the opposite direction they can store captured energy when going downhill. However, there are technical differences between the two wheels but the concepts are clearly identical.

The first startup is the Copenhagen Wheel by Assan Biderman from Superpedestrian. He started in 2009 in Cambridge in the SENSEable City Lab. The second startup is the FlyKly by Niko Klansek and was announced on Kickstarter October 2013 for crowdfunding. Niko Klansek is the founder of Flykly Inc. which used to produce electric bikes.

Biderman is suspicious because Klansek visited SENSEable City Lab where the Copenhagen Wheel was being developed. But according to Klansek the main concept was an old idea which he has been working on for some years. In his vision the Copenhagen Wheel prototype was forgotten due to lack of progress over time.

Neither of the entrepreneurs have enough money to go to court to settle the ownership of the concept. The FlyKly wheel is priced 590 dollar and the Copenhagen Wheel is 699 dollar and that makes them unattractive to simple cyclist. They now await the release of their product to see if they sell at all.

I did choose this text because of the competition in technology. One thing that I love about my education is that you are always searching for something new. Instead of reading an article about the well-known Google Glass I am reading about new technology that might help me in a future project.

I like the concept of a gadget for your bicycle to calculate all kind of data. It is quite clever to combine all the unique gadgets in one disc. I am more concerned about the use of a smartphone. In the article they say the disc will help in difficult situations. However, do I want to grab my smartphone when I am in a difficult situation?

If I had to choose a side I would choose for the Copenhagen Wheel. The whole situation that Klansek visited Superpedestrian’s project probably leads to gain a benefit out of their progress. According to his statements its obvious that he appealed at Kickstarter because he assumed that the Copenhagen Wheel wouldn’t make it. Klansek could make use of his devotion to electric bikes as a cloak for the project. Although I am also just a student with limited money in my pockets and then the FlyKly would be cheaper.

In the end they are both in an endeavour for the best product. According to Biderman someone cannot just copy a progress of years in a short time. What really matters now is the unique selling points they can develop into their products.