What's the verdicts on hub-less circle bicycle wheels? Sturdy and "maintenance-free"? You've probably seen these weird hub-less bicycles, the Reevo and the Cyclotron; while they &quot;look cool&quot; I wonder if anyone has long term maintenance experience on these. Considering that normal hub/dérailleur systems ought to get re-greased and fixed, and any stripped cogs replaced, every 10 years or so, I am not sure I believe the &quot;maintenance-free&quot; claim.
Is this bicycle design too new to be familiar with any bike repair shops... or is the verdict still out on the long term reliability on this design?
Verdict seems to be 'this is a scam'
Cyclotron is a scam https://cyclotronscam.boards.net/board/1/general-discussion
Reevo is suspiciously similar
https://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickstarters/comments/ivk95y/reevo_hubless_ebike_anyone_know_anything_about/
Comments on there about sum it up: looks good to the gullible on Facebook/Kickstarter, in reality is much worse than existing solutions. Hubs &amp; spokes work just great, spokes are fantastic things in that they are each in tension making the wheel strong and repairable.
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/85/the-science-behind-spokes
The 'advantage' here seems to be 'not having basic physics on my side, but looks cool'.
One such bike was made an art school product; I suggest that is as far as this will get
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laulaulau3/31994357/sizes/o/
Until these things are actually available and in people's hands, it's best to work on the basis that this is either an outright fraud, or at best will be a terrible piece of junk that works incredibly poorly.
I'm not going to hold my breath to see if my instincts are wrong. But I'm glad you posted this, because I saw these on Facebook and immediately thought 'lol, scam', and now I've done 10 minutes research I'm feeling pretty much confirmed about my theory. But then I am a very cynical person, so.
There is a bit on hubless wheels in general here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centreless_wheel  Essentially they are a problem looking for a solution
Edit: I had a look at the technical names given here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/reevo-the-hubless-e-bike#/
CEO might have relevant experience https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-lim-6877821b7/ but it doesn't appear to relate to bicycles or motor vehicles, maybe only robotics
Lead engineer seems to work on microchips in Italy https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-stona-87984739/
CTO seems to work for Osram as his day job on lighting, connected lightbulbs, etc. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chewivan/
I get the impression there are a few software people there; how much work they are doing is not clear, but there doesn't seem to be much if anything in the way of 'people who could reinvent the wheel'