Not for motorcycles, but interesting. Loopwheels is a system integrating a suspension system to your bicycle wheels.
Better comfort on bumps and potholes? Less vibrations on rough terrain? As safe as spokes? I don’t know, but it’s worth watching the video of this young inventor looking to raise money to take his project further.
Jump to Loopwheels Video.
got loopy watching the video
Not a new concept. Completely inappropriate for motorcycles. Trail and angle are in constant change as the effective axle essentially “floats” out of plane.
On a bicycle it may work just fine.On a road motorcycle it would be like riding with a flat tyre.Loopy ideas rarely reap dividends.
Better ride…OK….But how much peddling energy does it absorb…..???
-nicker-
The next giant front bagger wheel fad?
It might not be suitable for motorcycles but in all fairness, the inventor never made such claim. In fact he specifically says these wheels are intended for small bicycles!
Nicker. I can understand your concern about pedaling energy as that was my first thought as well but on conventional bikes a lot of energy is wasted in the sidewall flex of the tires so who knows? If these could really work as promised then it would allow for thinner harder rubber on the tires. Maybe the real benefit that you could use these with flat proof tires and still get a decent ride?
Versions of this concept have been tried since the early 1800s! The Deutsches Museum in Munich has a large wall display of bicycle wheels which integrate coil springs, leaf springs, rubber balls, rubber rings, etc etc, from as far back as the ‘boneshaker’ days, before the Safety Bicycle and John Boyd Dunlop’s inflatable rubber tires, both late 1880s innovations.