Concept Bikes & Bike Innovation - for better or worse

Have you got a photo of the Mike Burrows rear end?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_108

Yeah I wasn't sure if that was the one you meant or not (didn't quite read your wording correctly). I live a stone's throw from the transport museum in Coventry, where they have a Lotus 108 - I don't know if it's an original or a replica, though.

I'll just put this here

^surely epic power transfer fail?

and the front wheel is very small hah

http://www.gizmag.com/pinion-p118-sealed-gearbox/26640/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=a9c23fa3dd-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

This has been out for a while but the first I have seen of it - wider range and closer spaced than a Rohloff, heavier than Rohloff but lighter than NuVinci. And if you're on a long tour and your wheel breaks, presumably you can just replace with any old off-the-shelf wheel. And punctures should be easier to repair. There seems to be no word on cost as they are only available to manufacturers, rather than to individuals.

Honda did something like this a few years back, for a DH bike.

And another one:

http://www.gizmag.com/retroshift-cx-cyclocross-levers-shifters/26660/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=a8d30fceb5-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retroshift-brake-lever-mounted-friction-shifter3-600x400.jpg

I genuinely quite like this one. Although you can't change gear from the drops, it's still useful for touring bikes where you want the simplicity/repairability of bar-end shifters - and you can run your shifters in friction, and change through all your gears in one swoop. At £86ish per pair, not including shifters, they are expensive, though.

Doesn't Dammit have these on his Boardman CX? I'd wondered what was going on with them.

Still cheaper than a 10 speed brifter.

Dunno about touring, cable get in the way more than a bar-end shifter, harder to switch on to function from the front, might be a bit odd to "hold" the hood with that in the way etc.

Still a great concept and can see it being useful for CX.

Yeah, the cable does get in the way of a bar-bag (well, cables would go over the top of the bag, which is where you need to put your hands to get stuff out of the bag...), whereas with bar-ends you get a nice graceful loop underneath the bar-bag. It might be better if the cables exited vertically.

I am tempted to get some when I build up my FW Evans frame.

Not sure I see this as particularly useful, but kind of cool, if a little over the top on the technology used...

http://gizmodo.com/5991284/hacked-bike-headlight-projects-your-speed-on-the-road-ahead

I think swap the projector for frickin lasers and it'd be better (although negates using it as a headlight).

saw it at 5th floor today, seems overengineered and the astronomical price is also out there but the video is cool

http://www.gokiso.jp/en/pricelist.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gBogzvY2c

They seem to have created a non-existent problem.
Hubs last plenty long enough already.

They seem to have created a non-existent problem.
Hubs last plenty long enough already.

I quite like the spherical serrated washer, but doesn't their video suggest that the axle stress from flared dropouts and the axle stress from rider weight act in opposite directions and so the net stress might be negligible.

Also, they have essentially a spring (in the form of a slotted shell) as the interface between the axle and hub body. The claim is that this keeps the bearing contact surfaces straight and so extends hub life. But wouldn't this also absorb energy, especially at the rear wheel? When you press on the pedals it would flex the spring forward.

So these $7000 hubs are so well designed that they can offer a 29 year guarantee? That will have Chris King trembling in his boots, with his meagre 5 year warranty on $600 R45s

$7000 for the hillclimb(?) version, $2280 for the road racing version

Or under $100 for the lighter and better Novatec. Tough choice.

Loopy suspension wheel idea. Video reveals some lack of stiffness.

http://www.gizmag.com/loopwheels-suspension-bicycle-wheels/27129/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=10c8ffffec-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Or under $100 for the lighter and better Novatec. Tough choice.

Yeah, but when you're forking out for your 71st Novatec. You're going to feel a right cabage.

If they don't feel the need to have this kind of overkill on a 180mph motorcycle why do they think a bicycle needs it?

Oh yeah, cos there is one born every minute.

Seems okay. Frame's handsome but the fork/stem combo could be a lot more refined (a little S bend would reduce the childlike look whilst still being narrow enough to be flatpackable... or perhaps just use a conventional fork). Impressively low weight. Shame about the price, which is prohibitive.

http://www.gizmag.com/sandwichbike-flat-packed-wooden-bicycle/27151/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=86d1f0ebce-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Impressively low weight.

Really? 13kg for a brakeless fixie skidder costing £800 is a long way from light. You have to assume that the morons who churn out this shit don't have a working internet connection, otherwise they might notice that the 2kg lighter and £500 cheaper Vitus Vee1 does more for much less, and I'd wager the Vitus shipping carton has no more volume than that of this ludicrous excrescence.

Loopy suspension wheel idea. Video reveals some lack of stiffness.

http://www.gizmag.com/loopwheels-suspension-bicycle-wheels/27129/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=10c8ffffec-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

with a mountain bike, it’s not such a big deal to design it with front and rear suspension. When the bicycle in question is a diminutive folding city bike, however, it gets a bit trickier

Not so tricky that Alex Moulton didn't solve it half a century ago.

Really? 13kg for a brakeless fixie skidder costing £800 is a long way from light. You have to assume that the morons who churn out this shit don't have a working internet connection, otherwise they might notice that the 2kg lighter and £500 cheaper Vitus Vee1 does more for much less, and I'd wager the Vitus shipping carton has no more volume than that of this ludicrous excrescence.

Sometimes often, people's buying habits are based not solely on (observably) rational factors. 13kg is "light enough" to make a rideable town bike, if you're after a bike made from wood (for example). It's light considering that the frame is solid wood, rather than bamboo or hollow milled monocoque, and it makes a stronger statement than a Calfree or Renovo. I don't agree with the practicalities of the bike either, but in broader design terms, once the prerequisite functional attributes are addressed (i.e. it's a working comfort/cruiser town bike at a reasonable weight) then most people are more interested in emotional factors than rational ones.

Do you like this one?

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/05/01/would-a-woodchuck-chuck-a-bike-made-of-wood/

Those chainstays.