automatic shifting bike
 

I posted this same question in general discussion, Do you remember those auto shifting bikes a few years back? whats the opinion on them as mechanics? anybody get to work on them or even own one?? just asking,,,,,,some say they were cheaply made??

AFAIK, there were several iterations of these. The only one I ever saw was at the shop for a repair, but another mechanic was fixing it. The quality of all the bits was pretty low, but the other mechanic was impressed with the concept, if not the execution of it.

Autoshifting without derailers? The ol' Sachs Torpedo Automatic has a bit of a cult following, and SRAM recently resurrected it as the SRAM Automatix. Looks pretty foolproof, with only 2 speeds, but i'd rather have a regular kickback. (And I do.)

I assume you're referring to those derailleur bikes with front freewheel and wheel weights that controlled the shift process.

If so, they fall into the category many here refer to as BSOs - bicycle shaped objects - which pretty much says what folks think of them. Problem wasn't the concept, but that they were built to dept. store quality standards.

That said, I've seen some that worked fine for quite a while, and in some cases were able to bring people into the sport that otherwise would still be playing golf (or whatever). So I don't find them objectionable, though I wouldn't ever recommend one to a friend.

There have been MANY attempts to have an auto shifting bike over the years. Most are mechanical systems using either rotationally spinning weights to lever the der or chain tension to do the same. Electronic systems are being developed that have power or cadence sensors and servo controled gears (internal hubs are the usual here). All suffer from the 'program" that controls the shifting. One of the problems with riding is that at different moments one might want an up shift at a lower cadence or a higher one. How to "tell" the system what to do is a one shot deal at this point. Either you get low cadence shifts, or higher. Since most of these efforts are targeted to the casual rider the shift points are almost always too low a cadence for a "sporting" rider. Then there's the issue of the down shifts... Andy.

Fastfingaz, I was given two of the ones that use sliding weights, both not shifting, one really screwed up by somebody working on it. The one I was able to repair I gave to one of my son's in law mother and the other had just too many issues and gave up some parts to the repaired one.

The system as I remember (been over ten years) kept cadence within a fairly narrow range, there was no ability to down shift and seemed best suited for neighborhood or gentle path riding. The bikes themselves were basically underwhelming otherwise. There are cyclists that are well suited to this bicycle.

Brad

I've worked on an 'Autoshift' bike, the kind with the weights on the rear wheel that controled shifting. I even had to take it for a test ride. My advice; If you ever come across one, run, don't walk, away from it. They are cheap in every sense of the word. And the ride is horrible. It will shift when you least expect it, and it is jarring. Cheaply made would be a compliment for these things.

They're still around.

http://evolvethebike.com/

Their commercials were so bad I used to scream at my TV. Clearly targetting an audience who doesn't know anything about bike riding or bike mechanics.

I poked around and found that the one with the sliding weights is called the Autobike Classic. The one linked is electronically shifted as it has a dynamo front hub and costs nearly a grand!

Brad

The Brain Implant to just think to shift may seem intrusive.

I watched 'Hardwired' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405412/ this week ,on DVD.

I'm not up to speed on newer products, but I remember when the Browning Smart Bike was introduced in the early 90s. Never wanted one for myslef, but it's an intriguing bit of bike technology/history:
http://www2.bsn.de/cycling/articles/browning.html

The company that made the autobike classic in the 90s with the horrible commercials was CSA. Autobike was one of their brands.

AutoBike, Inc. was formed in 2011 in metro Detroit, Michigan and has no affiliation with CSA (which went bankrupt back in the late 90s). We build an electronically controlled automatic shifting cruiser/comfort bike and will soon offer more of a commuter/hybrid style bike as well as a retrofit kit. There's nothing like it on the market and we have all the previous attempts at automatic shifting bikes at our facility.

Happy to answer any questions. :)

The Nuvinci N360 is an ideal hub for an automatic shifting bike without a derailleur.

So... do you use cadence sensing, power sensing or a combination of the two? Are the shift points adjustable?

I'm not in the market, just interested in the technology. I thought a combination of the NuVinci hub, a crank or pedal based power / cadence meter and a PID controller would make a great system for commuters etc.

We use speed and grade to estimate power. We line up that power output estimate with a target cadence and we let the rider adjust that on the bike itself or through iOS/Android apps that we've developed. So whether you are a masher or a spinner, you can find your comfort zone and the bike will keep you in that zone at all times. It's pretty sweet!

I've often wondered about this. I guess auto shifting would not be great on climbs (i commute in a hilly area). I can imagine getting out of the saddle, gears shift, i fly over the handlebars

What's so tough about shifting that indexed derailleurs didn't cure? bk

The Nuvinci N360 was a CVT type deal I thought.

It is. I'm not sure if seansimp is suggesting the N360 for use with some sort of auxiliary auto-device that I am not aware of, or if he's just thinking that the twist-for-variance shifting is "auto" enough. I want to try the N360 pretty bad, but an auto-feature wouldn't interest me at all.

The SRAM Auto hub uses magnets to determine speed, and up- or down-shifts between the low gear and the overdrive accordingly. Pretty interesting.

Our bikes use the N360 with a mechanism that automates the ratio selection as you ride. The system can perform multiple shifts per second and the result is a super smooth, comfortable, and fun ride. In the course of a mile, it might shift hundreds of times depending on what you are doing. You can put it in manual mode if you want or you can put it into cadence mode where you simply select a cadence and it'll close-loop control so that you maintain your preferred cadence. Your riding stats are saved on the bike and you can pull those off using the bluetooth already built into your iOS/Android smart phone.

Not with the Nuvinci. It's so smooth you can't even feel the shifts and you don't have to be pedaling for a shift to take place which is pretty cool. One of the coolest feelings on the bike is getting out of the saddle and really getting after it. It'll keep feeding you gears as you rock and roll down the road.

+1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

It's not difficult but it's not typically the highlight of the riding experience. Many people don't shift enough (some don't shift at all) and that leads to poor riding experiences. Poor riding experiences lead to bikes collecting dust in garages. Our system is certainly not for everybody but everybody who has tried it has been impressed and knows someone that could benefit from its simplicity and ability to deliver a comfortable ride. I used to design automatic transmissions for GM and the manual trans guys would make similar arguments to the one you made above. 95% of cars in the US are sold with automatics despite getting worse fuel economy and costing more. Why?

With their "Coasting' auto-shifting parts group a few years ago, Shimano spent big money proving that the demographic of folks that can balance, steer, pedal and brake but not shift is extremely small.

This 'mechanism' would be Fallbrook's Harmony?

Ah, the old automobiles/bicycles argument. A comparison to motorcycles would be more apropos.

Only three models had this system and they sold 40,000+ of them per year. Not too many individual bike models selling those types of volumes. Of course that's not going to move the needle for Shimano but they actually attributed the less than stellar performance to the disconnect between the sales people at bike shops and the customers that would want an automatic bike. Their customer service group manager said, "The overall concept of Coasting and the reason for branding it was to create a pre-packaged experience. Most bike shop employees are geared toward selling to enthusiasts and the bike shops are set up to sell to enthusiasts. I think it was a challenge for bike shops to integrate it."

Imagine some of you hardcore riders trying to sell an automatic bike? Of course that's not going to work out. LandRider sold a far inferior product at a much higher rate simply because they were reaching the target customer that doesn't visit bike shops for fun.