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Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

outsideonline.com

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Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#101

Post by rhn_mk1 »

stevenwoo wrote: post #26
rhn_mk1 wrote: post #3

I'm not sure who's seriously interested in most of these features, fun factor nonwithstanding. One of bicycles' strengths is simplicity of critical elements, notably the gear switching. How do they make sure that the electronic system doesn't die on the rider when the battery goes flat? How do they deal with increasing slack in the lines? Who really benefits from turn signals? Unless they are mounted on special stalk…

I agree with you but Shimano has kind of built their entire business in the bicycle market on planned obsolescence, changing the number of gears to make equipment incompatible every few years and then making the highest end shifting electronic (and incompatible with prior versions) when they reached the practical limits of chain width for bicycles (they tried introducing a new standard chain size for bicycles that re…

That's another thing that gives me worries - or motivation. The electronical components are virtually guaranteed not to interoperate with competitor products (I hope I'm wrong though).

While electronics should open new hackability options, I'm afraid that's just not going to happen. ANT+ standard, for example, requires an NDA before you can make an implementation. Bike computers themselves don't have a serious open option (Jazda needs more work before it can be sold).

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#102

Post by rhn_mk1 »

some-guy wrote: post #75
ssambros wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people have three hands in Copenhagen, because last time I checked my bike had two handbrakes, and I have to use both of them to stop safely?

Not a professional bike mechanic (I build bikes as a hobby) but in general your front brake should be set up to be powerful enough on its own. This requires clean rims, and clean, non-worn, non-hardened brake pads.

The general non-emergency braking advice with derailleur bikes is to switch gears before stopping. While I can't speak for others, I do it at the same time. That requires a braking hand and a shifting hand.

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#103

Post by verytrivial »

megy wrote: post #24
verytrivial wrote: post #12

"It's reminiscent of a modern car, where you can control all the critical vehicle functions from a few buttons on the steering wheel." So, one then? The horn? "Critical" clearly means something different to someone tricking-out a push bike with thousands of dollars of marginally useful kit.

Do you not have a modern car, with their many buttons on the steering wheel?

I do. It has volume bottoms, call answering buttons and others, but exactly ONE essential button, the damn horn which is right in the middle taking up the full width of the wheel center.

I don't know why this observation seems controversial.

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#104

Post by Nition »

papa-whisky wrote: post #83
Nition wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we're talking about it, are there any decent brands still making dynamo bike lights (the ones that are powered by the turning of the wheels)?

There are quite a few, mostly German. For the hubs themselves look at Schimdt SON, Shutter Precision, or Shimano. For lights, Busch & Muller, Schmidt, or Supernova. Most dynamo lights use a reflector (more like a car headlight than a normal bike light or flashlight) so despite the lower lumen output they can actually provide much more useful light on the road.

Thanks!

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#105

Post by _Wintermute »

ScottBurson wrote: post #97
some-guy wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a professional bike mechanic (I build bikes as a hobby) but in general your front brake should be set up to be powerful enough on its own. This requires clean rims, and clean, non-worn, non-hardened brake pads.

But the front brake is normally controlled by the left brake lever, and signals are supposed to be given with the left hand. I've seen it argued that since most people are right-handed, and the front brake does most of the work and therefore deserves the most careful modulation, the usual practice is backwards: the right level should be for the front brake. I guess this is another reason. It makes sense to me, I gues…

In the UK the front brake is on the right.

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#106

Post by p90puma »

krhae wrote: post #21
rhn_mk1 wrote: post #3

I'm not sure who's seriously interested in most of these features, fun factor nonwithstanding. One of bicycles' strengths is simplicity of critical elements, notably the gear switching. How do they make sure that the electronic system doesn't die on the rider when the battery goes flat? How do they deal with increasing slack in the lines? Who really benefits from turn signals? Unless they are mounted on special stalk…

Brake lights would be a great addition, however. During fast stops, especially while commuting, it's nearly impossible to signal.

ANT+ lights connected to a Garmin computer do this today.

Totally wireless.

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#107

Post by mr_tristan »

agumonkey wrote: post #80
mr_tristan wrote: post #64

Automatic lights would be amazing in ridesharing bike systems, like Nike's Biketown that we have here in PDX: https://www.biketownpdx.com/ I see these fancy "smart" features very useful for making biking convenient and simple for very casual biking. Hard core bikers already are happy for the most part, and probably only care about shaving off marginal amounts of weight.

What are Automatic Lights ?

Um, the article mentions lights several times, and includes a link to these:

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/550821#overview

They are lights that automatically turn on when needed. Thus, people don't need to bring a lights for the bike they rent, in case it gets dark, etc. Right now, the Biketown bikes don't include any lights on them, so you basically either bring your own or just don't ride them in the evening.

There are of course other features, like automatic brightness adjustment etc. They can be like daytime running lights for your car.

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#108

Post by buttsu »

I love the idea of not having to replace my shifting cables/ adjusting them every few months however, the price is a huge deal for me. I ride my bike to work every day and while i did shell out 200$ for a new 105 crankset, I don't want to have to pay too much more than that for lights/shifting. Maybe a di2 version of the lower market shimano group sets would make that more feasible as a cyclist who doesn't mind occasional maintenance

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#109

Post by buttsu »

jacquesm wrote: post #8

Anything you strap to a bike has to be reliable. If there is one thing you can say about mechanical systems it is that we know how to design them so they last the lifetime of a bike (wear parts excluded), anything electrical or electromechanical will have a shorter life than the equivalent that uses only mechanical parts. Just look at your average bicycle light set, even after I don't know how long we still can't mak…

A "Work-horse" version of this would be very ideal. I will start looking into this technology when i see bike messengers and the like using it

Re: Shimano wants to make your bike as smart as your car

#110

Post by agumonkey »

mr_tristan wrote: post #107
agumonkey wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are Automatic Lights ?

Um, the article mentions lights several times, and includes a link to these: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/550821#overview They are lights that automatically turn on when needed. Thus, people don't need to bring a lights for the bike they rent, in case it gets dark, etc. Right now, the Biketown bikes don't include any lights on them, so you basically either bring your own or just don't ride them in the evening. T…

oh low light triggered, I see
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