The Copenhagen Wheel - a new biking experience

Designers at MIT tried toreinvent the wheel. The result: a high-tech hybrid bike, with several iPhone-connected gadgets. Rather clever to present this to the world during the conference...

The new wheel uses a kinetic energy recovery system, the same technology used by hybrid cars, like the Toyota Prius, to harvest otherwise wasted energy when a cyclist brakes or speeds down a hill. With that energy, it charges up a battery inside the wheel’s hub.

The sleek red hub, called the Copenhagen Wheel, was to be unveiled Tuesday morning in Copenhagen. It can be retrofitted to any bike’s rear wheel, and it includes sensors that track air quality, a meter that logs miles and a GPS unit to track routes. All that data can be sent via Bluetooth to a rider’s smartphone and shared with others.

I would be more than happy to test this bike in our rather hilly capital!