Founder Sam Pearce describes his design idea: “In 2007 my idea of a wheel with tangential suspension was born when I was sitting at Eindhoven airport waiting for a flight. I saw a mother pushing her child in a buggy. The front wheels hit a slight kerb and the child jolted forward because of the impact. I asked myself why a wheel couldn’t have suspension inside it, so it would soften an impact from any direction. I sketched the idea in my notebook, got on my flight, and didn’t think much more about it for a couple of years.”
In the end, their method worked. Project e-tron now sits about 30mm lower than it did when it was delivered at the dealership. Effectively, every setting in the range is now 30mm lower, with the allroad setting being roughly equivalent to the previous comfort setting.

The added components don’t make the wheels all that much heavier, too, as each Loopwheel only weighs 300 grams more than a similar spoked equivalent. Because they use hubs and rims similar to standard wheels, they can be installed on any bicycle designed to take 20-inch wheels. Other sizes may come soon, although that will likely depend on how well the current size sells.
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