Maxwell von Stein, a 22-year-old graduate of The Cooper Union, built a bicycle that uses a flywheel to store energy. The third wheel weighs 15 pounds. Instead of braking, which turns your kinetic energy into heat, Max can transfer energy from his velocipede to the flywheel, which spins between the crossbars of the bike. The flywheel stores the kinetic energy until Max wants a boost, then he can transfer the energy back to the wheel using a shifter on the handlebars connected to a CVT at the rear wheel.
The simple flywheel is making a comeback in all sorts of applications. Automakers are beginning to install flywheels in new test vehicles. Flywheels have already done thousands of laps in Formula 1 racing cars to enhance acceleration times. This fall, Volvo will be road-testing a car with the technology in an effort to save energy and cut down on polluting emissions.
I dig flywheels - high density stored energy without complex chemistry or rare earth metals. And they are cheap, small, last way longer than batteries, charge up quickly, and are easy to maintain. I’m happy to see Stein put the technology into a bicycle.
