Cycling Thread - New Bikes, Copenhagen Wheel & Superpedestrian

[Astronuc]

We have various topical threads, e.g. The Food Thread, Best Songs Ever, How does your Garden grow?, etc, so I thought a cycling thread would be in order.


This past summer, our family invested in some new bicycles for family cycling outings. We've frequented a local railtrail.

I have a 30+ year old 12-speed, but my new bicycle is a 14-speed with conventional lever gear shifters, as opposed to modern thumb shifters or rotational/rotary shifters on the handlebars.

My wife and son got 21-speed bicycles.

I was also looking for a place to put news of a new innovation - the Copenhagen Wheel.

http://digg.com/video/mit-actually-reinvented-the-wheel

http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/
http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/wheel.html

. . . The Copenhagen Wheel differs from other electric bikes in that all components are
elegantly packaged into one hub. There is no external wiring or bulky battery packs,
making it retrofittable into any bike. Inside the hub, we have arranged a motor,
3-speed internal hub gear, batteries, a torque sensor, GPRS and a sensor kit that
monitors CO, NOx, noise (db), relative humidity and temperature. In the future,
you will be able to spec out your wheel according to your riding habits and needs.

Live in San Francisco? Add more battery power.
Interested in real-time applications? Increase the number of sensors.

Lastly, the wheel is controlled through your Smart Phone and becomes a natural
extension of your everyday life. Simply place your phone on the handlebars, and
its Bluetooth module syncs with the Bluetooth module in the hub of the Copenhagen Wheel.
. . .

https://www.superpedestrian.com/

Power assist and regenerative breaking. Very cool!

 

[jedishrfu]

To complement your post I raise you one trikke:

http://www.trikke.com/shop/electric-individual/

These are pretty cool too, like skiing without skis...

 

[Astronuc]

To complement your post I raise you one trikke:

http://www.trikke.com/shop/electric-individual/

These are pretty cool too, like skiing without skis...

Not exactly cycling, but certainly an alternative to petrol-powered vehicles. I wonder if they have regenerative breaking.

I was also amazed by how many bicycles are priced over $1000, and I was really amazed to see many bicycles in the range of $4000 - $12000.

Cannondale's EVO bikes are quite expensive (hmmm - I wonder if there is a royalty involved?)
http://www.cannondale.com/catalog/category/view/s/supersix-evo/id/922/

 

[KrisOhn]

I was also amazed by how many bicycles are priced over $1000, and I was really amazed to see many bicycles in the range of $4000 - $12000.

I know a few years back I was looking in a store dedicated to Specialized brand bikes, their top frame with absolutely amazing parts was listed for over $13000.

I have two bikes myself, a 2005 Gary Fisher Bitter that I absolutely love, and use for dirt jump and street riding, and I also have a 2009 Trek Fuel EX-7 that I use for cross country and all mountain riding. Both of these bikes cost around $1500 (bought the Trek used, new it costs around $2500).

It's very easy to spend over $1000 on a bike, especially if you get even a little serious about it.

 

[jedishrfu]

I have a preference for folders and own a cheap Dahon Mariner 20" 7 speed bike for trekking around locally.

 

[Borek]

The idea of spending too much is never applauded here, all our bikes are in the $500-$700 range.

That means two of them at the moment, one Author and one Wheeler. Trekking models.

 

[phion]

Rode about 10 miles in the snow today.

 

[AlephZero]

I don't know how seriously to take this, but somebody is thinking big.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25549789

 

[Borek]

I don't know how seriously to take this, but somebody is thinking big.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25549789

I like the idea. Not sure how much economical/social sense it makes, but it is definitely an interesting approach.

 

[AlephZero]

It could make sense as another step towards an integrated system, on top of congestion charges for car use in central London (started 2003), and the "Boris bikes" cycle hire scheme (named after the mayor who introduced it in 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclays_Cycle_Hire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge

 

[Pythagorean]

I need to buy myself a bicycle in my new locale. I've become very sedentary after years of grad school.

 

[lisab]

This thread seems to just go round and round.

 

[Pythagorean]

it's a vicious cycle.

 

[jedishrfu]

Let the circle be unbroken...

 

[Enigman]

Two wheels to rule them all, One cycle to find them,
One forum to bring them all and in the thread bind them.
----------------------------------------------------------
^I am an evil idiot.

 

[lisab]

Back OT...

My main issue with biking is, cars. Here in the US we are a car-oriented society. Bikes have to fit in as they can. This can result in problems:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bike_rage

I know some places (The Netherlands) have infrastructure that is very bike-friendly. But in most parts of the world, this isn't the case. How do PFers deal with this?

 

[AlephZero]

As a non-biking car driver, I don't have much problem in the UK with bikers commuting to work etc. They don't take up much road space, so long as they know how to ride in a straight line.

But I do have big problems with those who belong to clubs and do it for "sport". Those idiots hunt in packs, maybe 20 in a bunch riding 5 abreast and blocking all of one half of the road. When you do get past them, at the next road junction they usually jump the queue and block the same line of drivers all over again.

Even if you bully them into riding in single file, they don't leave any gaps for you to overtake them a few at a time.

And of course they have no ID, no bike registration marks, and no insurance...

A work colleague had a brand new car wrecked by one of those eejuts. He was stopped at a red light on the way to work, and the biker rode into the back of the car probably at about 30 mph, bike and rider both went over the roof of the car doing some damage on the way, and the rider did even more damage when he landed on the front of the car. He then had the cheek to try to claim for a new £2000 bike plus loss of earnings for the several weeks he spent in hospital, from the car insurance!

His excuse was that he didn't see the car because the weather was foggy. Yeah, right.

 

[Adyssa]

Solution: ride on the dirt and leave the roads and the crazies that drive on it well alone! I went for my first DH ride in too damn long this week, it was awesome, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face all day and the scrapes I picked up just serve to solidify the memory :)

Get one of these bad boys, put it on a 30 degree decline on loose dirt and rocks and see how long you can go without touching the brakes :P

http://www.norco.com/archives/2006/images/bikes06_large/aline_grey.jpg

Bwaarrppp!

 

[phion]

Solution: ride on the dirt and leave the roads and the crazies that drive on it well alone! I went for my first DH ride in too damn long this week, it was awesome, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face all day and the scrapes I picked up just serve to solidify the memory :)

Get one of these bad boys, put it on a 30 degree decline on loose dirt and rocks and see how long you can go without touching the brakes :P

http://www.norco.com/archives/2006/images/bikes06_large/aline_grey.jpg

Bwaarrppp!

Hell yes!

I use a GT Transeo. In a day, I'll average anywhere from 4-7 miles in the rain, sleet, or snow. Doesn't matter to me at all. Car scare me a little bit, especially when it's snowing, so I either ride the shoulder facing oncoming or just ride in the frozen knolls.