Self shifting bike
05-12-20, 05:43 AM
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Self shifting bike
A self shifting bike showed up at the yard today kinda cool. It has weight's on the back wheel that spread apart from centrifical force. The faster the wheel spins the gears change higher gear. And when the wheel slows down the gears come back down. Just thought Id share.
05-12-20, 06:03 AM
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GT had a bike that did that using a similar mechanism, it waited too long to shift to easier gears so you could really struggle on a climb and if you had to stop fast the gears would grind as you took off.
05-12-20, 09:19 AM
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Shimano had an automatic shift system for their four speed IGH. I tried it once and really liked it. It was always in the lowest gear at a stop, and as you got going faster it would shift up. The shifts are so fast you didn't notice anything other than that the cadence dropped 15% or something. Unfortunately it was only four years.
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05-12-20, 09:57 AM
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Sounds like the junk Autobike, these things suck lol, we fix a few every couple of yrs. I keep the ones I find in the trash just to give them to my boss so he has parts when we get them in.
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05-12-20, 10:12 AM
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Auto-shifting MIGHT work with an IGH, but not with a derailleur. I rode with a guy who had an Autobike a few times. These were supposed to be leisure rides, but at every hill, he had to sprint as fast as he could on the approach, so the shifting system would have time to shift on the ascent, and he would not be pedaling hard on the ascent, which made the silly thing strain to engage the larger cogs.
05-12-20, 10:19 AM
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The Auto Bike had a derailleur with pie plate that pushed it out as the wheel sped up. Extra drag, plus It was a clattering mess if you were between gears... but an attentive rider could silence it by either speeding up or down a tiny bit. The worse issue with this system was that high intensity pedaling (think "hammering") resulted in violent up shifts that would toss your feet off the pedals.
The Shimano Coasting 3 speed bikes are very smooth and quiet. Plus, they have an adjustment knob on the controller box that allows you to fine tune the speed where the shift points occur. (or lock it in 2nd gear)
The Shimano Coasting 3 speed bikes are very smooth and quiet. Plus, they have an adjustment knob on the controller box that allows you to fine tune the speed where the shift points occur. (or lock it in 2nd gear)
05-12-20, 10:49 AM
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That ^^^^ is a lot more sane. Now they just need to miniaturize / internalize the control, so you don't have what looks like a cable TV access box on your downtube.
05-12-20, 11:03 AM
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Say good bye to your testicles! Had a few of those come through Bicycles for Humanity. Nut crackers, to say the least.
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05-12-20, 11:15 AM
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05-12-20, 11:17 AM
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Given the OP's location I'm wondering if it was a CCM? In the late 1990s, Procycle manufactured an Auto-Bike model using the AutoBike system. I've seen actual AutoBikes in Canada but the CCM version is far more common.
