Congratulations to Stephen Britt whose invention the Fast Forward Powered Pedals has just won a Barclays Bank innovation award. He gets £50,000 cash to move his electrically powered bicycle pedals to prototype stage, and hopefully then on to full production. Video.
The jury is still out as to whether this concept will actually work in a real world environment. You have to take the pedals off the bike to charge them, and there’s some doubt as to whether they will actually store enough power in the small batteries to deliver a practical bicycle assist range.
Nevertheless it’s good to see that innovative ideas are still being given a chance to prove themselves, even in these touch economic times.
Britt’s powered cycle pedals are intended to replace standard pedals and provide cyclists with assistance to get up hills or carry heavy loads. Each pedal incorporates a motor, gearbox, Li-po batteries and a control board and as the cyclist pedals the sensors detect the effort and provide assistance.
