Versatile Bike Attachment Wins James Dyson Award

Stability is an issue when riding bikes loaded with heavy bags. With Wheelson, carrying heavy loads on your bicycle is not only safer but easier too.

- Isabelle Tow

The idea for Wheelson arose when a group of Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) engineering students living on campus noticed a problem. They saw their peers struggling to balance and maneuver their bicycles that were loaded with groceries on their way back from the nearby supermarket. Realizing that the root cause of the instability was the high centre of gravity of the load, being either on the handlebars or in the front basket, they decided to come up with a solution that ensured the load was close to the ground.

The team thus designed a lidded container with caster wheels, which is spacious enough to carry items, has a low centre of gravity so that the cyclist can ride with stability and maneuver with confidence. On top of that, Wheels on has the cool feature of being detachable, so that it doubles as a shopping cart, and can be snapped easily onto the bike for transport after shopping.

The innovative team, comprising Glenn Chia, Wilson Lim Wei Sheng, Leong Kei Sheng, Keerthana Janmugan, Ang Wei Jie and Sarah Ong, were named the National Winner of the 2019 James Dyson Award. Awarded $3,400 in prize money in September, Wheelson is now in the running for the title of the International Winner that will be announced later in the year.

We speak to Wilson Lim from the sextet about how Wheelson was conceptualized, its design challenges and plans for Wheelson in the future.