The bicycle of the future
Discussion
This was reported on sky news earlier this afternoon and was very interesting.
http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/news/pr/releas...
Worth a watch for the superb tech.
http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/news/pr/releas...
Worth a watch for the superb tech.
Dr Imran T said:
groomi said:
The great thing about the bicycle is that it has frequently proven that new technology offers little benefit over the original design.
Removing direct control of the gear ratio from the rider is utter nonsense.
Bikes are more high tech now than ever before. Removing direct control of the gear ratio from the rider is utter nonsense.
jackh707 said:
Was it just me or did the guy on the bike, have a horribly jerky spinning technique?
Certainly looks that way. The bicycle of the future should not be an upright, it should be a recumbent with fairings and an optional rain cover. Low COG for stability, low drag and practical for use in all weathers.
Fartomatic5000 said:
The bicycle of the future should not be an upright, it should be a recumbent with fairings and an optional rain cover. Low COG for stability, low drag and practical for use in all weathers.
With crap visibility and sharing the roads with ever larger cars. A great idea in isolation, but not practical in a mixed traffic environment.So every time you want to change gear, you have to reach to the centre of the bars and tap your phone, which, unless it was running constantly and killing your battery, you would have to unlock first...can't see it myself.
Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your b
ks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please 
Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your b
ks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please Now, I WON'T be using it, as I've not even got a smartphone or tablet to run such a thing, BUT.
Reading through, it's not as bonkers as it first sounds.
Changing down when cadence drops (unless you are deliberately pushing a big gear) makes sense, as I frequently find that my mind has wandered as I've 'zoned out' while on a long distance rural ride, and my cadence has gradually fallen back on a gentle uphill section. If I'd have changed down earlier and kept spinning faster, I perhaps wouldn't feel so knackered toward the end of a ride.
Avoidance of extreme chainlines is always going to be a winner, in terms of riding efficiency and mechanical sympathy. I have learned about chainlines through my own mechanical knowledge and experience on the bike. Many novices don't realise that there may be a ratio elsewhere in the gear combination chart that is the same, or at least very similar, to the one they have chosen, but is kinder to components and more energy efficient. The smart 'brain' in the app will know exactly which ring/sprocket combination to select for a given gear length.
The big winner described in the article is the 'automatically shifting down gears when the rider brakes too fast' bit. It doesn't happen too often to me, but imagine you are approaching a roundabout or junction at which you have priority. You are pushing a big gear, and travelling at quite a lick. Suddenly you are faced with a 'SMIDSY', who pulls out of a side turn, or enters that roundabout against the priority. You clamp on the brakes, and come to an almost complete stop to avoid a collision. So far so good, death averted. BUT. You are now travelling at less than a walking pace, in 53/11, and still clipped in - result - orientational embarrassment, as you slowly keel over from vertical to horizontal, risking a broken collarbone as you do. All because you were in too high a gear to start pedalling again. This app, if it works as described, with the minimum of coding bugs, will have at the very least have dropped you into the 39 ring up front, and bailed you out on the cassette a bit (provided of course you remember to keep pedalling). It's unlikely to save your life, but might help prevent a few red faces, no?
Besides, whether or not most of us like, or want, such a device, there's always a market for folk who will pay a premium to be the first 'mere mortal' to have the latest blingy bit of tech to hang off their handlebars. You've only got to look at the numbers of 'non-athletes' using HRMs, online coaching, and Garmin/Strava. Very few of them NEED these things, but what harm is it that such things exist. They can't themselves make you a better/stronger/faster cyclist, but they can increase the effectiveness of training time for the part-time athlete, whilst not disadvantaging those who choose not to use such technological frippery.
When I saw the thread title, I thought it was going to be some radical re-design of the bicycle frame as we know it, but serious cycle manufacturers aren't as interested in new ideas for redesigning frame layout since the UCI nailed shut the door after Boardman/Obree tried to move things on. "What frame layout would sir like to try? Double triangle, double triangle, or double triangle?"
Only design studios seem interested in unconventional frame layout these days, and mostly they seem to be aiming for either the 'bicycle as art at corporate headquarters' or 'never mind that impractical, but attractive, design we'll never sell. How about this far more realistic/conventional new frame that would not have attracted anywhere near as much attention at launch' markets.
To be fair, this isn't the 'bicycle of the future' at all. It's a nice bit of tech that can be retro-fitted to any bike that could also be converted to run with electronic shifting.
In purely ground-breaking terms, it's more "Princess Michael of Kent plants a tree" than "the last concrete was poured today, completing the foundations for Europe's tallest skyscraper".
Impressive, Tim Ensor, but you are NOT a Jedi yet!
ETA: If 'Cambridge Consultants' are willing to lend me a prototype, I'd be more than happy to give it a VERY long-term test. If nothing else, I'll give it a thorough workout and an honest appraisal.
Reading through, it's not as bonkers as it first sounds.
Changing down when cadence drops (unless you are deliberately pushing a big gear) makes sense, as I frequently find that my mind has wandered as I've 'zoned out' while on a long distance rural ride, and my cadence has gradually fallen back on a gentle uphill section. If I'd have changed down earlier and kept spinning faster, I perhaps wouldn't feel so knackered toward the end of a ride.
Avoidance of extreme chainlines is always going to be a winner, in terms of riding efficiency and mechanical sympathy. I have learned about chainlines through my own mechanical knowledge and experience on the bike. Many novices don't realise that there may be a ratio elsewhere in the gear combination chart that is the same, or at least very similar, to the one they have chosen, but is kinder to components and more energy efficient. The smart 'brain' in the app will know exactly which ring/sprocket combination to select for a given gear length.
The big winner described in the article is the 'automatically shifting down gears when the rider brakes too fast' bit. It doesn't happen too often to me, but imagine you are approaching a roundabout or junction at which you have priority. You are pushing a big gear, and travelling at quite a lick. Suddenly you are faced with a 'SMIDSY', who pulls out of a side turn, or enters that roundabout against the priority. You clamp on the brakes, and come to an almost complete stop to avoid a collision. So far so good, death averted. BUT. You are now travelling at less than a walking pace, in 53/11, and still clipped in - result - orientational embarrassment, as you slowly keel over from vertical to horizontal, risking a broken collarbone as you do. All because you were in too high a gear to start pedalling again. This app, if it works as described, with the minimum of coding bugs, will have at the very least have dropped you into the 39 ring up front, and bailed you out on the cassette a bit (provided of course you remember to keep pedalling). It's unlikely to save your life, but might help prevent a few red faces, no?
Besides, whether or not most of us like, or want, such a device, there's always a market for folk who will pay a premium to be the first 'mere mortal' to have the latest blingy bit of tech to hang off their handlebars. You've only got to look at the numbers of 'non-athletes' using HRMs, online coaching, and Garmin/Strava. Very few of them NEED these things, but what harm is it that such things exist. They can't themselves make you a better/stronger/faster cyclist, but they can increase the effectiveness of training time for the part-time athlete, whilst not disadvantaging those who choose not to use such technological frippery.
When I saw the thread title, I thought it was going to be some radical re-design of the bicycle frame as we know it, but serious cycle manufacturers aren't as interested in new ideas for redesigning frame layout since the UCI nailed shut the door after Boardman/Obree tried to move things on. "What frame layout would sir like to try? Double triangle, double triangle, or double triangle?"
Only design studios seem interested in unconventional frame layout these days, and mostly they seem to be aiming for either the 'bicycle as art at corporate headquarters' or 'never mind that impractical, but attractive, design we'll never sell. How about this far more realistic/conventional new frame that would not have attracted anywhere near as much attention at launch' markets.
To be fair, this isn't the 'bicycle of the future' at all. It's a nice bit of tech that can be retro-fitted to any bike that could also be converted to run with electronic shifting.
In purely ground-breaking terms, it's more "Princess Michael of Kent plants a tree" than "the last concrete was poured today, completing the foundations for Europe's tallest skyscraper".
Impressive, Tim Ensor, but you are NOT a Jedi yet!
ETA: If 'Cambridge Consultants' are willing to lend me a prototype, I'd be more than happy to give it a VERY long-term test. If nothing else, I'll give it a thorough workout and an honest appraisal.
Edited by yellowjack on Friday 11th January 09:12
AyBee said:
So every time you want to change gear, you have to reach to the centre of the bars and tap your phone, which, unless it was running constantly and killing your battery, you would have to unlock first...can't see it myself.
Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your bks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please
I think the idea is that it just keeps your cadence in your pre-defined range, so it'll auto-change for you when you go out of that range. You don't need to do anything. I agree though that it is tech for tech's sake.Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your b
ks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please On that theme - what advantages (and disadvantages if any) do you see from electic gears on your bike over cable operated? I've never used electric gears so have no experience of their benefits.
I once rode an automatic bike. It was utterly rubbish. While I'm sure that things have moved on considerably I don't really know why anyone able bodied would need it.
http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/AutoBike_Smart...
http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/AutoBike_Smart...
ewenm said:
AyBee said:
So every time you want to change gear, you have to reach to the centre of the bars and tap your phone, which, unless it was running constantly and killing your battery, you would have to unlock first...can't see it myself.
Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your bks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please
I think the idea is that it just keeps your cadence in your pre-defined range, so it'll auto-change for you when you go out of that range. You don't need to do anything. I agree though that it is tech for tech's sake.Fine as a turbo training gadget but I definitely wouldn't want someone else dictating when it changes down in preparation for hills- I can see it now, you descend a hill, get out the saddle to attack the hill, stamp on the pedals...and it changes down, you don't have the resistance that you were expecting and it all goes to sh*t, possibly leading to a nasty accident involving the frame and your b
ks. I'll just stick with my electric cables and buttons please On that theme - what advantages (and disadvantages if any) do you see from electic gears on your bike over cable operated? I've never used electric gears so have no experience of their benefits.
No cable stretch
Trimming the chainline 'on the fly'
You can change gear under far less favourable chain tension conditions with less risk of shredding your chain/cassette/chainrings
Less physical effort required to select a bigger sprocket/chainring (ideal for people with joint trouble)
yellowjack said:
Biggest advantages are:
No cable stretch
Trimming the chainline 'on the fly'
You can change gear under far less favourable chain tension conditions with less risk of shredding your chain/cassette/chainrings
Less physical effort required to select a bigger sprocket/chainring (ideal for people with joint trouble)
Those advantages are exactly the same as what standard electronic shifting offers. No smart phone gimmick or auto shifting, just electronic actuation.No cable stretch
Trimming the chainline 'on the fly'
You can change gear under far less favourable chain tension conditions with less risk of shredding your chain/cassette/chainrings
Less physical effort required to select a bigger sprocket/chainring (ideal for people with joint trouble)
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