The bicycle: good enough?

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horizon
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The bicycle: good enough?

Post by horizon »

This is an article by Paul Mason about Twitter. But it applies equally IMV to the bicycle and the discussions we've had on here about innovation and marketing.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... a-disaster

I reckon the bicycle is good enough. That doesn't mean there aren't interesting things around the corner but as a means of transport in a modern city, it's there. As it has been for about 100 years. The thing about the bike is that it's pretty much perfect for what it does: you can replace it and do other things (like drive a car) but a bike is still a bike and fresh air and exercise are still its benefits. And the most you could reduce its weight by is about 10 kg which isn't enough to make a difference even if it weighed nothing - air resistance and our own body weight remain the issue.

So for large corporations, share holders and marketing men, bikes are a problem: they won't produce the massive results of a new technology or market dominance. And it's really hard to create much space between you and your competitors. Aluminium frames (more than carbon I think) have given some companies (like Giant) some headway and sheer competitive pressure has let Specialized and others reap the rewards of bloated marketing and hard work. Multiple gears, folding bikes, MTBs, LED lights have all been highlights along the way. But a bike still needs to be pedalled. And you can change the colour, go retro, sponsor a racing team or redesign the saddle - but a bike is still a bike.

I would like to see Google produce a bike. It would be white, might fold, have an internet connection, might have some extra plastic parts and er, have Google written on the side.

But it would still be er ... a bike.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
recumbentpanda
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by recumbentpanda »

As a designer, I find the bike interesting as a machine where less really is usually more. Having stripped down and rebuilt a good few, and observed various peoples efforts to redesign it in some way, I am also struck by what a complex set of interlocking compromises (or balances if you prefer), a bicycle is. To put it another way, how success depends on everything just missing everything else.

The bicycle looks simple to the uneducated eye, but it really isn't. Improvement is usually incremental. One of the most significant kinds of change has been the development of different types, specialised to different uses. This has been achieved however by simply tweaking the same set of interlocking compromises in a different direction, such as strength, lightness or shock absorption.

The 'elephant in the room' of any discussion of bike design, is of course the recumbent bicycle ( tricycles, recumbent or upright are a sub-species on their own, and I exclude them from these remarks :-). Here, we have to acknowledge the crippling influence that the poisonous combination of racing and marketing have had on all bike design. I am not one of those who believe that recumbents ought to rule the world, but they would certainly fill a real 'niche' more effectively than they do now if it were not for the baleful influence of road racing, it's rules and it's 'image' on 'utility' design.

As a relatively new format however ( 1920s), it is interesting to watch how recumbent design is still settling down, and working out its own set of optimum compromises around its own particular issues of weight, frame stiffness, and handling. Its advantage as a type ( apart from a posture which suits some people better than that of the upright bike)' is that it is a mile-eater that makes the most efficient use of the riders energy over longer distances, while inflicting less discomfort and thus reducing fatigue. If we truly thought of cycling as transport and a means of pleasurable travel, I reckon that would be a very popular direction to 'tweak' the functional compromises of bike design in. It's not for everyone, but the fact that it is not more common, especially in the UK, is in my opinion a 'canary in the mine' that reveals something wrong, not only in our approach to bike design, but in our societies approach to cycling generally.

Amen.
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horizon
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by horizon »

I thought about the recumbent but felt it still lay within the domain of pedalled cycles - different but still a bike. What I didn't mention was the electric bike. This is probably waiting for the technological breakthrough and may be the game changer. Everything else as you say is incremental.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

The recumbent trike in particular is a fabulous utility vehicle, stable, comfortable and capable.

The chain drive is particularly efficient, the pneumatic tyre as well... The spoked wheel is a marvel of lightweight engineering.
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GeoffBrassn
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by GeoffBrassn »

Yes. The bicycle is good enough - because it is so adaptable, and in each of its forms can suit a multitude of individuals.
That's why the perfect bike by definition, will never be a mass produced item. Unlike a Micro PC the bike suffers from life in the Macro physical world and so simply can not become all things to everyone all the time; but the Mac or the Google Device or the I-Whatever can be, and so be mass-produced, with part of its bloat-ware simply disabled.

With the Google Bike you'd get everything but only choose to use use a small part. Choosing to ride 26" wheels and 18" frame, but carrying around some other 28" wheels and several other frame sizes, with some derailleurs and fixed forks and a few hub gears and hydraulic tubes too. Oooh and a couple of bells with different tones just in case.

The bike is a good enough genre, pleasingly immune to mass production, unhappily prone to mass-compromise. Like the perfect love, impossible to define. :D
mercalia
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by mercalia »

well an advance would be much lighter materials that dont have the issues of alloy or carbon but more like steel?
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horizon
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by horizon »

mercalia wrote:well an advance would be much lighter materials that dont have the issues of alloy or carbon but more like steel?


True, but then what? The weight of a 10 kg bike isn't that significant compared to the weight of the rider up hill and air resistance down hill. There are lots of interesting developments and improvements that can be made but the bike is still the bike.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
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horizon
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by horizon »

GeoffBrassn wrote:The bike is a good enough genre, pleasingly immune to mass production, unhappily prone to mass-compromise.


It can be mass produced but someone still has to pedal it.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
beardy
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by beardy »

Thinking about what is wrong with cycling may lead to ideas to improve it.

The tedious chain (and other) maintenance, exposure to the elements and wind resistance are three that come to mind.

A monocoque moulded plastic bike, enclosing rider (and chain) while also providing an aerodynamic envelope would be quite a noticeable improvement and it could be left out in the rain alongside your car.

There is already development towards some power assist up the hills.
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squeaker
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by squeaker »

beardy wrote:A monocoque moulded plastic bike, enclosing rider (and chain) while also providing an aerodynamic envelope would be quite a noticeable improvement and it could be left out in the rain alongside your car.
Er, a bit like one of these? (IMO the 3rd wheel is needed for lateral stability with all that area exposed to side winds, and it's not a monocoque - don't think the price / weight / stiffness combination is there yet.)
"42"
Brucey
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by Brucey »

the dream of a fully enclosed bike is wonderful, but the reality is that every machine with a hard fairing I have ever seen or tried has been really noisy; a bit like being inside a dustbin whilst people are hitting it with something.

TBH I'm not quite sure I could stick that noise level all the time; to me it is just as intrusive as (say) the noise of riding on the rollers, which I hate. I quite like peace and quiet when I go out on my bike and I'm not sure I'd have it in any fully faired machine; maybe one with a fabric fairing would get 90% of the benefit without the noise?

BTW new materials might in the future reduce the weight of a robust bicycle significantly. However if a town bike went from (say) 15kg down to 10kg, this isn't that big a deal, not when you figure that bike plus rider plus luggage is liable to be 80-110kg for most adults on a commute.

cheers
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mill4six
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by mill4six »

Brucey
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by Brucey »

mill4six wrote:This might be quite speedy.

https://www.facebook.com/43033336703362 ... =1&theater


Image

blimey.... :shock: :shock:

More style than substance IMHO.... a tail fairing would net at least as much gain without knackering the steering so much(think of the windage torque on the bars!!!!)...

The wheel fairing panel gaps are too tight at the front of the machine; on a bumpy road the steering will bind.

The gearing isn't going to be any good for going fast with, not with that size chainring.

You can't go up hills either, because there is no small ring, and you can't fit a small ring because the frame was designed by a twit, so that the chain will foul the chainstay....

As if further evidence of the muddled thought involved were needed, you can see that they thought that the handlebar had to be 'aero' even behind the windscreen, for some reason.... :roll:

cheers
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reohn2
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by reohn2 »

Brucey wrote:
mill4six wrote:This might be quite speedy.

https://www.facebook.com/43033336703362 ... =1&theater


Image

blimey.... :shock: :shock:

More style than substance IMHO.... a tail fairing would net at least as much gain without knackering the steering so much(think of the windage torque on the bars!!!!)...

The wheel fairing panel gaps are too tight at the front of the machine; on a bumpy road the steering will bind.

The gearing isn't going to be any good for going fast with, not with that size chainring.

You can't go up hills either, because there is no small ring, and you can't fit a small ring because the frame was designed by a twit, so that the chain will foul the chainstay....

As if further evidence of the muddled thought involved were needed, you can see that they thought that the handlebar had to be 'aero' even behind the windscreen, for some reason.... :roll:

cheers


But at least it's got disc brakes :mrgreen:

It's a MAMIL's machine if ever I saw one,now where's the engine?
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reohn2
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Re: The bicycle: good enough?

Post by reohn2 »

The DF bicycle developed quickly from the Hobby horse and hasn't changed fundamentally other than (significant) incremental tweaks and ongoing refinements,but the basic bicycle is still there.
It's ability to instil freedom in the individual for the their energy input is unsurpassed.

Beautiful it is,and most definitely 'good enough' :D .
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
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