Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/19/this-bicycle-has-invisible-whe.html
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6 Likes
Hint: they’re just spinning really fast.
6 Likes
Looks like a misnomer? I presume they mean invisible wheel spokes which i have seen before in motorcycles. Though granted the image below is for a spokeless/hubless one.
9 Likes
OK, not invisible wheels. Just clear spokes.
Happy now? Killjoy.
5 Likes
But now my cards clipped to the fork can’t make any neat ‘flip-flip-flip’ sounds. Bummer.
20 Likes
Transparent aluminum - Scotty did this way back in 1986.
24 Likes
It looks cool, but those will be pretty heavy wheels, and not as springy. Also… dust and dirt.
25 Likes
I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to ride those. They add quite a bit of weight (though they’re being added to tires that are already chonky), and are quite rigid, so the ride might be weird. I also imagine the effect wouldn’t last very long at all - in no time you’d get enough dust, mud and scratches to ruin the effect.
Still, it’s always interesting to see these kinds of videos, where someone goes through a fair amount of effort to build something only for a short Youtube video, and which serves no purpose outside it.
17 Likes
I’d also wonder about the durability of the plastic. I’ve seen disc wheels before, but they tend to be carbon fiber, and intended for road or track bikes rather than mountain bikes.
7 Likes
Yeah, it’s fairly thick plastic, but can’t imagine it would hold up to real punishment - certainly not the kind of off-roading implied by those super-chunky tires. (And of course once it started failing, it would be instantly unusable, rather than having a spoke or two to replace.) But I suppose it’s a moot point - after a matter of hours the effect would be gone, rendering it fairly pointless. It exists more as a potential object, used only for a couple minutes worth of Youtube footage.
11 Likes
Well, let’s ask their spokespers… Oh, wait.
25 Likes
Hmmmm. Spokes allow for cross tensioning / stiffness while allowing for some flex.
As a thought experiment, I admire it. I wouldn’t want to jump off a curb on those wheels, or land slightly off axis. I see it destroying itself RATHER easily…
Now if this guy went about 8 stages further, and did two sheets of polycarbonate laminated to some flanges around the outer wheel edge, and then had a spacer in the center on the hub that pushed out the polycarbonate about .25 - .375 inches making some tension, NOW I can see it being at least a tad more robust… 
12 Likes
Very cool, but I wish he’d wear eye and respiratory protection while drilling and cutting.
11 Likes
I just wish he would use a sound-track more suited to my taste.
10 Likes
I kind of liked the first song.
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By the way I think that mod is better suited on race bikes rather than fat mountain bikes because I suppose that on a race bike having a wheel made with a solid shett will help with airfolw.
3 Likes
Looks like a solution in search of a problem. Spokes don’t block much light.
3 Likes
Some wheels have blade shaped spokes for this reason.
1 Like
