Unless lighter and stronger materials can be mass produced (I heard a few days ago chinese scientists managed to find a way to produce steel cutting 90% of carbon, and like 2-3 years ago about lighter steel from Taiwan and/or MIT) I just can’t imagine any serious breaking innovation in bicycle manufacturing. All this “revolutionary” bicycles seem to always go to shit because, well, they all are shit.
They had bicycles made from 4130 chromoly aircraft steel back in 1974. Half the weight of plain steel and twice as strong. I actually own one made in 1981.
Just like carbon fiber is supposed to be the way of the future, we all saw what happened with that submarine ☹️💀
No, I don’t ride carbon fiber bikes because I ride BMX flatland and don’t want to die while performing tricks. Why would I knowingly ride on a brittle frame, knowing the stresses my style of riding put on a bike?
Compromise says, if you can’t add lightness, be fancier. Can we make the frame out of batteries? Like, can we store power in load-bearing materials?
Or maybe have “spinners” on the rims, studded with alternating magnets, as the motor and the regenerative brake. If they’re static relative to the wheel then they’re just added mass. But if they ratchet forward on sudden deceleration, they convert kinetic energy. That should also be reversible into added power by mumble mumble hey look over there.
Or maybe avoid putting all the strength in four or five tubes, and spread it out over a crinkled-tinfoil shell. Engineer the shit out of aluminum so that two stamped sheet-metal parts form a rhombus that’s stable for normal use, costs several dollars, and could probably be kicked in half.
Unless lighter and stronger materials can be mass produced (I heard a few days ago chinese scientists managed to find a way to produce steel cutting 90% of carbon, and like 2-3 years ago about lighter steel from Taiwan and/or MIT) I just can’t imagine any serious breaking innovation in bicycle manufacturing. All this “revolutionary” bicycles seem to always go to shit because, well, they all are shit.
They had bicycles made from 4130 chromoly aircraft steel back in 1974. Half the weight of plain steel and twice as strong. I actually own one made in 1981.
Just like carbon fiber is supposed to be the way of the future, we all saw what happened with that submarine ☹️💀
You don’t ride carbon fiber bikes because some idiot ignored the rules for building submarines?
No, I don’t ride carbon fiber bikes because I ride BMX flatland and don’t want to die while performing tricks. Why would I knowingly ride on a brittle frame, knowing the stresses my style of riding put on a bike?
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Compromise says, if you can’t add lightness, be fancier. Can we make the frame out of batteries? Like, can we store power in load-bearing materials?
Or maybe have “spinners” on the rims, studded with alternating magnets, as the motor and the regenerative brake. If they’re static relative to the wheel then they’re just added mass. But if they ratchet forward on sudden deceleration, they convert kinetic energy. That should also be reversible into added power by mumble mumble hey look over there.
Or maybe avoid putting all the strength in four or five tubes, and spread it out over a crinkled-tinfoil shell. Engineer the shit out of aluminum so that two stamped sheet-metal parts form a rhombus that’s stable for normal use, costs several dollars, and could probably be kicked in half.
That’s precisely why I wrote “lighter and stronger”.
Carbon fiber clearly is not stronger. 1974 metals are stronger, why deviate from proven materials?