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Why the ever more number of gears

Old 03-01-10, 07:23 AM
  #126  
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Originally Posted by HillRider
That's correct and Shimano has specifically stated they did NOT want to make Di2 an automated transmission.

However, the potential is certainly there. Some additional programming and sensors could provide a completely sequential gear selection and it could be tied to pedal pressure, cadence or what ever parameters they wanted to measure and incorporate.
I was thinking about this on my way into work this morning (by bike of course). At least for lower end groups, an electronic shifting bike with some automatic-like features could be a big benefit. Imagine how much easier it would be for a beginner if they only had two buttons on their handlebars: high and low (or something of the sort). A simple push of either button executes a shift down to the next lowest gear. The computer takes care of deciding whether or not that shift should be a simple rear derailler-only shift or a combination of front chainring and rear cog change. With how good Shimano's shifting under-load with Di2 supposedly is, dropped chains on late downshifts would no longer be an issue. It would be a tough feature to ignore for even more experienced cyclists.
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Old 03-01-10, 11:03 AM
  #127  
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Originally Posted by noglider
There's the hydrogen fuel cell, but of course, that has other problems, cost being the primary one. We may one day make these practical, but for the time being, the all-electric car doesn't fit most Americans' needs. We like to drive long distances between refuelings, and we don't want to wait long at a refueling. It takes 5 or 10 minutes to put gasoline in the tank. It takes hours to recharge a battery. And it's impractical to swap a battery that weighs hundreds of pounds. Maybe one day, we'll have cranes that lift it out and drop a replacement in and a system for doing it quickly.
The biggest problem with the h2 cell is the availability of hydrogen. It takes a lot of energy to remove it from water or methane.
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Old 03-01-10, 11:07 AM
  #128  
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Originally Posted by davidad
The biggest problem with the h2 cell is the availability of hydrogen. It takes a lot of energy to remove it from water or methane.
We'll just burn more coal to make more electricity. Oh, wait a second... Oh yeah, we'll bury the liquid CO2 in the ground and hope our coal supply and underground space never runs out. On second thought...

We'll see a cure for all cancers before we see an answer to the energy problem that's 1/1,000,000 as simple as drilling for oil. You can hold me to those words
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Old 03-01-10, 12:54 PM
  #129  
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Originally Posted by ahsposo
A 286 processor played solitaire just fine and you can get pac-man, too!
No, no it doesn't, watching the cards jump off the screen was painfully slow.... I need at least a 486 DX2 to maintain the card cadence.
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Old 03-02-10, 07:08 AM
  #130  
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Originally Posted by HillRider
That's correct and Shimano has specifically stated they did NOT want to make Di2 an automated transmission.
They have made an autoshifting drivetrain based on their Nexus 8-speed IGH.

These are designed for folks that can ballance, steer, pedal and brake but can't shift.

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Old 03-02-10, 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by tcs
They have made an autoshifting drivetrain based on their Nexus 8-speed IGH.

These are designed for folks that can ballance, steer, pedal and brake but can't shift.

tcs
Since there is only one gear-changing location (the rear hub) that was a simpler system to automate and Nexus appeals to the casual, non-performance minded rider so it's weight and inability to "know" what you want isn't as important.

Doing the same thing for a two-derailleur drive train would be more complex but, I'm sure could be done, if Shimano thought performance riders wanted it and the weight penalty was minimal.
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Old 03-02-10, 08:56 AM
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In my teens, I had a Schwinn 10-speed (at the time, Ford was in office); since then, I've progressed steadily -- 12-speed in the 80's, 18 speeds, in the late 90's, 24-speed 5-8 years ago, and 9-speed since then. Tried a 21 for a short time, went quickly to 24 on that bike.

6 and 7 speed rear always left me looking for the 'right' gear; the 8-speed rear worked well. I went to 9 because I wanted to try the 'new' SRAM X-series. The result of that? The only Shimano I'll ever run again is XTR brake cables (and maybe FD). SRAM XX 10-speed? Yeah, right, the cassette costs more than my entire X.9 drivetrain! (While I wouldn't mind X.0 shifters, the X.9 does it for me overall! Best system I've EVER used!)
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