Panniers are ideal for touring, less so for quick trips around town. Backpacks leave you sweaty. Saddlebags are too small. There must be an easier way…

That was the thought process behind the ‘Transport’ commuter bike, a concept by three students from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Just as a car has a boot, this bike has built-in storage – except here, it’s in the front wheel.

The concept, sponsored by component manufacturer SRAM, is effectively a hubless, hollow front wheel. The storage area itself doesn’t spin, only the wheel around it. You just drop your existing bag into the ‘boot’ and cycle off.

It’s only a prototype so far, and given that it’s made of wood, it’s not a very rideable one either. Still, the student designers hope that it will inspire development of urban bikes.

More photos at David Hotard’s site.