Revolve Reinvents the Wheel
The Revolve wheel is a foldable, airless bicycle wheel designed by German designer Andrea Mocellin, and it solves a problem that has existed since the bicycle was invented: full-size wheels are efficient for riding but impractical for storage and transport. The Revolve collapses from a standard 26-inch wheel down to 260mm with a single button press, reducing the space it occupies by 60%. What unfolds into a functioning full-size wheel folds back into something that fits in a backpack, a car boot or an aircraft overhead locker.
How the Revolve Wheel Works
The wheel's patented structure uses a hexagonal folding geometry, originally developed by Mocellin in 2015. Each segment of the rim collapses inward, transforming the wheel from its 665mm riding diameter to a compact pod of 260mm. The result has an almost sculptural quality when folded, its geometric form reminiscent of a speaker grille or an architectural folding structure. A single button releases the mechanism in both directions: one press to fold, one press to deploy and lock into a rigid, ride-ready wheel.
Illustration by Alexander Babich
Airless Tyres: the Other Innovation
Beyond the folding mechanism, Revolve uses airless tyres, eliminating punctures entirely. The ride comfort is maintained through the material properties of the tyre compound itself rather than pneumatic pressure. This combination of foldability and puncture-immunity makes the wheel genuinely useful for urban commuters who need reliability without maintenance: no pump, no puncture repair kit, no pressure checks.
Compatibility and the Foldable Vehicle
The Revolve wheel is designed to fit the majority of bicycles and also works on wheelchairs, broadening its application well beyond sport cycling. The next phase of the project is a complete foldable vehicle built around the wheel technology, capable of converting between a bicycle, a trolley and a kick scooter. Hundreds of prototypes and 3D design iterations produced the current mechanism, which Mocellin developed through the rigorous process of design competition entry and independent prototyping.
For urban mobility products that push design boundaries in the same direction, TheArsenale's bicycles collection includes handmade and limited-edition bikes such as the PG x Bugatti carbon bicycle and the Viks Carbon fixie, alongside the broader e-bikes collection.
Designboom covered the Revolve wheel in depth at launch: designboom.com. New Atlas published a full overview of the wheel's mechanism and applications at newatlas.com.
