Asset Overview
Exercise at https://cgcookie.com/exercise/model-a-wheel/
I modeled a bicycle wheel for this exercise.
I created three objects: a rim section (with spokes), the tire section and the treads section. To each of them, I applied two modifiers: an array modifier, which follows the rotation of an empty object at the center (45 degrees because every object/section represents 1/8 of a complete circle), and, after that, a subsurf modifier, for which I had to specify the mean crease for some of the edges of the objects, specially the rim.