The wheels are identical, they are transformed into the specific front or rear wheel by inserting either a dynamo or gear ‘module’. This whole thing asks from you to completely forget what you know about standard bicycle dropouts. Also this proposal only applies to urban bicycles with internal gear hubs.

There is a relatively cheap, empty shell as a hub that is laced into the wheel. You slide the wheel between the forks, insert the brake modules and the specific modules, tighten them and the wheel is all set. This is as fast as a normal set up, but you can’t take out the wheels when the brakes are engaged; hence the brake is in fact a wheel lock.

But the real advantage lies in the modularity of the system. Wheels with internal gear or dynamo hubs can often not be bought as a stock part; there are so many combinations possible and the hubs are relative to the rims so expensive, that manufacturers will not keep complete wheels in stock. Instead the bicycle shop has to relace the hub wit a new rim, a job that is very time consuming and costly. With the proposed wheels in this concept you can order cheaper prefab, prelaced wheels and slide in the expensive gear, dynamo and brake modules.

For manufacturers of urban bicycles this is can also be advantageous; they can make there own style of hubs to follow the design of the rest of their bicycle design and still use a standard Shimano or Sram gear hub for the transmission.