​Fuel Wheels and Ferris Wheels

We spend an awful lot of time writing about wheels here at BB Wheels. If you scan through our wonderful assortment of articles, you will find plenty of references to truck wheels, Fuel wheels, and any number of other types and brands of wheels you see pretty much every day out on the streets of your city or town. We have even written about the types of wheels you might want to install on your Hyundai Elantra to help make it look better, if that is at all possible.

To be honest, we are feeling a little depressed today, perhaps because August is coming to an end and all too soon winter will be upon us. Or maybe because it’s Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon seems all too far away. In any case, the last thing we feel like doing right now is writing about truck wheels. So, for your enjoyment and our sanity, today we will be doling out information about different types of wheels; to be more specific, we want to discuss Ferris Wheels.

Wikipedia describes the Ferris Wheel as a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that the wheel turns yet the cars are kept upright by gravity.

We describe the Ferris Wheel as this big round thing that goes around in circles and can be pretty darn cool to ride.

It is widely believed that the Ferris Wheel was invented in the 17th century somewhere in Bulgaria. But enough about the history of the Ferris Wheel for now, we are straying from our original purpose; which is to give you a list of the best Ferris Wheels in the world.

The Wonder Wheel

The Wonder Wheel is an eccentric wheel located in Brooklyn, New York. What makes this amusement ride different from conventional Ferris Wheels is that a few of the passenger cars are not fixed directly to the outer rim of the wheel. That is, some of the passenger cars slide on rails between the rim and the hub as it rotates.

This 150 ft. tall wheel has a capacity of 144 and is one of Coney Island’s most popular and iconic attractions.

Texas Star

The Texas Star is a Ferris Wheel in Dallas that is in operation during the annual State Fair of Texas, it stands at 212 feet and was the tallest Ferris Wheel in North America until 2013 when the Star of Puebla was erected in Mexico.

The Texas Star was built in Italy at a cost of $2.2 million and shipped to Dallas for the opening of the fair in 1985. It was illuminated by over 16,000 incandescent red, white and blue bulbs until 2008 when they were replaced with more efficient and longer-lasting LED bulbs.

The Big-O

The Big-O Ferris Wheel is a massive, state-of-the-art wheel located at Tokyo Dome City in Japan. It is a part of this list of awesome Ferris Wheels because it has no center axle and no spokes. In fact, it has no internal support structure at all. This amazing Ferris Wheel is held up by two arrow-shaped supports that ironically look like pairs of chopsticks.

Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Flyer has 28 air-conditioned capsules that can accommodate 28 passengers each. Each capsule is handicapped accessible, has restrooms and cocktail and champagne service. It is a luxury Ferris Wheel to be sure.

The wheel opened in 2008 and rotated counterclockwise, but this was soon reversed on the advice of Feng Shui masters and now the wheel rotates clockwise.

The London Eye

The third tallest Ferris Wheel in the world is the London Eye. The London Eye sits on the south bank of the River Thames in London and is 443 feet tall. It is Europe’s tallest Ferris Wheel and offers the public the highest viewing point in London.

The Tianjin Eye

The Tianjin Eye is a massive Ferris Wheel built above the Yongle Bridge over the Hai River in Tianjin, China. This Ferris Wheel is electrically powered with 48 capsules each able to hold eight passengers. It takes 30 minutes to complete one rotation, which gives it a maximum capacity of over 750 passengers per hour.