You want to be fast, with grip and traction and without punctures? Then tire pressure is the key to happiness. A well-known procedure is to let the air out of the tires before setting off - but "WhiteCrow Hub" goes a few steps further.

A lot of brainpower in the hub

The magic of "WhiteCrow Hub" is of course in the rear hub, which is equipped with a mechanical pump and an air reservoir. A hose connects the hub to the rim, allowing around one bar of air pressure to be deflated or inflated from the tires. Using a cable-activated remote control from the handlebars. There is a kind of inner tire on the rim that protects against punctures and a normal tire on the outside - similar to what we know from Deaneasy or Procore.

Without battery

The air pump and the reservoir in the hub allow you to adjust the air pressure as often as you like, without the need for manual pumping, recharging or anything similar. The system weighs a few hundred grams - around 500 grams to be precise - more than conventional wheels and the price for a wheelset is not exactly a bargain at around USD 1300. As long as the additional weight of a wheel is mainly in the center (and hubs do that), the weight penalty has a noticeably less dramatic effect due to the laws of leverage and inertia.

Finance now, ride the "WhiteCrow Hub" in summer

The system was devised and developed by a Belgian team of four since 2013. They are currently working on the crowdfunding platform indiegogo to drum up USD 40,000 for the start-up financing, with around 30 percent of this sum currently raised.

"WhiteCrow Hub" on Indiegogo crowdfunding
"WhiteCrow Hub" on Facebook