I think they mean the gear (cassette) on the wheel - not the one up at the pedals; there wouldn't be a way to "enclose" that end. Instead, though - flex might

I think they mean the gear (cassette) on the wheel - not the one up at the pedals; there wouldn't be a way to "enclose" that end. Instead, though - flex might be able to be eliminated by making the "hub" larger, so that the disc (according to the article and renderings, it's a flat and not conical system) has something "solid" on the backside (this isn't shown in the renders from what I could see). I'm not sure what such a change would do to the performance or handling of the bike, due to the shorter lengths of the spokes to the rim, and the larger mass of the hub, and who knows what else. I haven't been on a bicycle in well over a decade, and even then it was just a cheap Huffy I bought at Walmart for Burning Man use... So one could say that this technology, even if it were real, would not be targeted at me as a consumer or bike user...