News

Uber may have plans to create self-driving public bikes. This could potentially allow you to order a bike to meet you at your door and then just jump off and go. The bike could drive itself from the charging and storeage location to where it’s needed, and then return itself to an appropriate location when you’ve finished with it.

The news was announced by Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics, when he Tweeted the below notice from an event he attended last week. He suggests that the Micromobility program being launched by Uber is about creating autononomous scooters and bicycles s that can drive themselves to locations where they can charge or where they are needed.

Exciting announcement from @UberATG at today's @DIYRobocars event. "Micromobility" = autononomous scooters & bikes that can drive themselves to charging or better locations. Hiring now pic.twitter.com/sOjroo8XZI

— Chris Anderson (@chr1sa) January 20, 2019

There has been some notable backlash against bike-share services due to bikes not being returned to appropriate parking locations. This is, of course, mostly an issue affecting dockless sharing. Dockless sharing is becoming common for regular bikes, dockless e-bike sharing it is complicated by the need to charge batteries, although Uber seems to be making this work.

There has also been a lot of research at Chinese universities, funded by the Chinese government, looking to develop autonomous bicycles. Such bikes could increase the usefulness of bike-sharing services, but may also have applications for automated delivery services. Expect to see riderless bicycles a feature of city spaces in the near future.

Motors capable of delivering 2 kW give extreme performance

Befang produce the most powerful E-bike motors available. The most powerful motor, MM G510.750/1000 is rated at 1 kW running at 52 V, but it has a peak power output of 1.6 kW. With modification, it is capable of over 2 kW. The torque is also extremely high at 160 Nm.

Putting this in context, Tour de France riders output about 500 W during intense climbs and around 1000 W during sprints. Their peak power can sometimes be as high as 2000 W. However, don’t expect this system to give you the 50 mph (80 km/h) that Tour de France printers achieve. The motors speed is limited at 28 mph, unless it is modified…

This is a mid-drive system, of the type made popular by Bosch and Panasonic. The pedelec system continuously samples crank torque, vehicle speed and pedaling speed at a frequency of 80 kHz. Power is delivered in response to these variables, magnifying the riders input power.

The Max Drive System puts the rider in complete control.

Befang

To achieve such a high torque Begang use a very large diameter motor together with a three stage reduction gearbox.

In many countries a bike fitted with such a powerful motor will no longer be classed as an E-bike but rather an electric moped.

On the fly geometry adjustment getting increasingly practical

Canyon have updated their Shapeshifter system on the Canyon Strive 2019 enduro bike. It uses a gas spring to move the rear shock, simultaneously changing seat and head angles, bottom bracket height and suspension characteristics.

Although we don’t generally cover developments in mountain bikes, this shows what’s possible for bikes in general. Geometry adjustment could make a responsive and fun bike become super stable when needed. Bikes that are fun to ride but also safe and practical are exactly what we’re about at Better Bicycles. Even better, a practical city bike that can also handle a blast around a mountain bike trail when the mood takes you.

Shapeshifter is intended to shift an enduro bike between two modes: cross country (XC) and downhill.

With its Shapeshifter technology, the Strive successfully combines the climbing performance of an XC bike with the descending abilities of a downhill bike. 

Canyon Bicycles

Despite the claim that Shapeshifter can perform like an XC bike or a downhill bike, the actual adjustments are more modest. When you move from the XC setting to the downhill setting, the bike changes in the following ways:

• Suspension travel increases from 135 mm to 150 mm
• The suspension softens
• The steering angle relaxes from 67.5 to 66 degrees
• The seat angle also drops back from 75 to 73.5 degrees
• The bottom bracket lowers slightly, the amount isn’t given

Compare this with the differences between an actual full suspension XC bike and a downhill bike:

• Suspension travel increases from around 100 mm to 200 mm
• Steering angle of approximately 70 vs 63 degrees
• Seat angles don’t actually change much
• Bottom bracket height may also be similar

Clearly, Shapeshifter doesn’t achieve anything like the same geometry changes. Similar systems are available, for example, Scott’s Twin-Loc. We’d be much more interested in seeing a true variable steering angle, something not yet available in a production bike.

Helite has been manufacturing jackets and vests featuring airbag protection for a number of years. Until now, however, these have been aimed at motorcyclists and horse riders. Their latest Vest, the B’Safe, has been designed for cyclists. This looks able to provide an unprecedented level of protection, perhaps better than down-hill body armor. Critically, it does this in an unobtrusive vest.

The system combines a motion sensor in the vest with a shock sensor on the bike to detect a crash within 200 ms. A CO2 canister is then used to inflate the vest within 80 ms. The sensor in the vest and on the bike communicate wirelessly.

The existing Moto products from Helite inflate a collar around the Neck braces against a full-face helmet to fully support the neck. The B’Safe is also claimed to protect the neck although it seems unlikely that this can be so effective with a regular cycle helmet. The Moto products are also mechanical, to avoid unexpected airbag activation and changing batteries. The wireless activation is therefore untested in the real world.

To get a better understanding of these systems, check out these videos of one of their motorcycle jackets and a crash test.

The vest is manufactured from water-resistant fabric with retroreflective detailing. It is available in a hi-viz and a black version.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) wants priority to be given to cyclists and pedestrians when roads are built or changed. The primary reason that NICE is interested in this, is to increase physical activity, particularly for the less mobile. Young, active people, may feel confident to ride a bicycle on the road with traffic. For less confident, older people, this may be a daunting prospect. These are exactly the people who will benefit most from the increased physical activity of cycling. NICE therefore wants to create an environment where everyone feels safe to ride a bike around the city.

Transport systems and the wider built environment can influence people’s ability to be active. When developing and maintaining travel routes, pedestrians, cyclists and users of other modes of transport including public transport that involve physical activity should be given the highest priority over motorised transport (cars, motorbikes and mopeds, for example).
The attractiveness of active travel is affected by distance, the nature and quality of a route and its access and safety. Improved travel route design that is maintained to a high standard will provide the greatest opportunity for people to move more in their day-to-day lives. It is important to encourage safe, convenient active travel that is accessible for everyone, including older people and people with limited mobility.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

These recomendations are currently in the form of draft guidelines. These are open to public consultation until 1st Febrary. Please leave a positive comment on the NICE website, this will affect the implementation of the guidelines by UK Government.

Amazon Alexa will allow you to speak to your bike, telling it to give directions or traffic updates, turn on lights and play music. The Cybic E-Legend will be the first bike in the world to include these functions. It will be exclusively available from Halfords for 12 months, starting this summer. This smart bike will be shown publically for the first time next week, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It will be available with or without an electric drive.

Navigation uses a built-in GPS receiver and turn-by-turn spoken directions in addition to mapping on the integrated screen. Other handy functions include sending messages, adding items to a shoping list and ordering a takeaway. All this can be done safely by voice command while riding. Data is handled by a Vodafone sim which comes with three years of free data.

Other features of the Cybic E-Legend bicycle include an integrated security lock and an alarm. The alarm can notify you via a smartphone app whick also allows you to track the GPS location of the bike.

We’ve seen innovations in alternative commuting go from strength to strength and after electric bikes we predict that the next big trend for commuters will be smart bikes. The Cybic contains all the features you love about Alexa, but now in a bike. The technology will help cyclists with many things including getting traffic updates, getting turn-by-turn directions, personalised light settings, playing music and much more.

Andy Whitehall, Halfords

You can find out more and register your interest to get updates from Halfords.

reTyre have launched a tire system with a zip which allows you to fit a skin over the base tire. This allows a road tire to be quickly converted into an off-road or a snow tire. The tire doesn’t need to be deflated and re-inflated to fit the skin, it is simply zipped over the tire.

This could be a neat solution for long distance adventure rides or for covering distance on the road before hitting the trail. However, with tires being such an important part of a bike it will need to be of the highest quality to tempt serious cyclists. The join is where the two ends of the skin meet is also a cause for some concern. Whether this creates a noticible bump or increase in rolling resistance is yet to be determined. The risk of the skin coming loose and jaming the wheel would also worry me.

NEXT, the manufacturer of some of the best carbon fiber rims, is offering to replace any damaged rim, free of charge. This isn’t the typical ‘lifetime’ warranty that excludes ‘normal wear and tear‘, this is a no questions asked free replacement. That’s right, they don’t care what you’ve done to break the rim, they will rebuild your wheel with a new rim and spokes for free, they even pay for return shipping within the USA! This appears to be a hugely significant move for carbon rims. Now, if you buy a carbon wheelset, you can be confident that it will last. It also shows that NEXT have real confidence in their rims’ ability to withstand abuse.

The offer states that if you send them a wheel that simply needs truing then they will true it and ship it back to you! They only ask that you clean the wheel and remove all tires, tubes, cassettes and skewers. You must then ship the wheel to NEXT in Vermont, USA. They will pay for return shipping within the continental US. For other locations, they will charge return shipping, around €70 to Europe.

It looks like the future is wheels that last a lifetime.