The Skatecycle is a device similar to a caster board, but with hubless wheels and a 2-axis twisting axle replacing the function of the casters. ĭesigned "for casual cruising and slow ride-bys at shows", it consists of a 996 cc (60.8 cu in) fuel-injected Suzuki 4-stroke engine in a steel frame covered by a fiberglass body with electroluminescent wire lighting. Its hubless wheels are made from former truck tires, and a chain-driven friction drum provides power and brake force. The street-legal motorcycle was modelled after the vehicle from the film and sold through Hammacher Schlemmer. One real-life example of hubless wheels are those used in the replica Tron: Legacy Light Cycle.
Examples Tron: Legacy Light Cycle replica The research and development of centreless wheels has not been pursued by any large company due to their complexity, with their use limited to small companies and scientific analyses. While Franco Sbarro was the first to replace vehicles' conventional wheels with hubless wheels in 1989, monowheels, which are similar in practice, predate Sbarro's hubless-wheel vehicles by more than 100 years. The lack of spokes or a traditional hub also allows for more space, which can be used to more easily package a hub motor.
They can be made lighter than solid and spoked wheels, resulting in better handling and less rotational inertia. Propulsion can be achieved in different ways, such as with gear teeth along the inner surface of the rim.
Centreless wheels are toroidal in shape and have one or multiple bearings along the rim.