Aeroplane

Pardon for jumping back to the superconducting energy recapturer for cycling...

It's a great idea in theory, but from a systems engineering view: Why go from mechanical energy (the wheel) to electrical (motor/generator) to mechanical again? Superconduction will only help in the electrical system. The flywheel will still slow due to friction and air resistance. So, why not eliminate the electrical system (and the devastating wait for room-temperature superconductivity) and just make it an entirely mechanical system? Start a bidding war between Shimano and SRam and make the big bucks.

phidauex

My idea is basically all mechanical. The magnetic component is purely to provide a frictionless mechanical coupling. The flywheel won't slow down very quickly, because as a superconductor, it can 'float' on magnetic bearings inside a vacuum sealed case. However, it could still interact with magnetic systems outside the case. The transfer of energy would be mechanical to mechanical, with magnetism as the transfer force.

The other way would be with some sort of big spring-like device, but it would be hard to re-use that energy for anything other than going backwards really fast, as fun as that would be.

peace,
sam

mikorp

so psyched this bike project drew some emotions. haters, it's all parts someone thought of before me. nitto, campagnolo, brooks, paul, velocity. If you wanna ride a 2400$ bike on the street, do it. I see 5k carbon road bikes infront of coffee shops all day. not flexed. In the end I will get ALL of my money back, and had a fun time building this bike. jim-bob. I know I have bikes you drool over. if not this one, then a cinelli, a ciocc, a nagasawa, a panasonic, a lightning njs, and even a 100$ miyata. Thanks for looking. peas

jim-bob

Actually, yeah, you do. Too bad that lindsey was too big for me. I haven't ridden a frame by that guy that I haven't liked.

Abuckeye99

re: superconducting: i won't claim to know all that's been said, so thanks for the uber-nerdy refresher.

re: tyvek: yes, you can heat seal seams, as it is simply plastic, but i've read that the heat-seal can weaken the structure of the plasti-fabric. for reference:

https://www.materialconcepts.com/sewglufab.shtml

sam, your website also linked me to www.couchsurfing.com way cool, i've said hello to an old friend i found who has a couch and told another friend who's going to europe this fall about the resource. thanks!

ben

The LT

[QUOTE=phidauex]Well ok then. I thought we had already determined that the bus's braking system does in fact create heat, and that we had moved on to superconductors. I guess it was just the teacher in me, answering questions no one asked. I hope someone liked reading it.

Sam,
I pretty much all of that, but I still enjoy a good refresher every now and again
Thanks,
Luke

ImOnCrank

Dudes holy cr@p. That was the ninjaest discussion of ridiculous stuff I've ever seen on a thread ever. Too bad that gold still looks bad no matter what.

highpants

but do you guys know what i mean about those new priuses? how they look like those land-speed-record bicycles with the fiberglass shells that they test out in the middle of the desert or whatever?

that's what i really want to know. all this superconductor stuff is way over my head.

somebody should really help me out and get ahold of an image of one of those bikes i'm talking about and put it next to an image of a new prius.

bostontrevor

You're thinking of a fully faired HPV which looks a lot like a Prius for the obvious aerodynamic reasons.

In fact, I would argue that the Prius is nothing like the fixed gear of the car world. It leverages every last technical advantage to improve its performance. A classic carburated 4-speed manual European sports car is a lot closer to the fixed gear ideal: simple, cheap, no frills, no worldly comforts. Everything that isn't engine or transmission exists to link them.

bodegabandit

I have to agree with Trevor on that on. the prius being the roadie and the Fiat being the fixie.

bostontrevor

Goddamn! I was thinking EXACTLY of an old Fiat Spyder.

I almost bought one once for $800 but it was in sore sore shape. The floor pan was completely rusted through, the top wouldn't raise, and the wood dash was completely dried out and cracked. In theory it still ran, but...

bodegabandit

I dated a girl that had a spyder. And I have to say it was a blast although quite unreliable

highpants

i see what you're saying about the prius...i guess i was just thinking about the stopping. if you've never driven one, do it. it's super fun, and maybe i would start to make a little sense, although that's anyone's guess...

WithNail

I was thinking a Fiat 500, now that car just screams fixie to me. It's also the most popular car among F1 drivers.

Metieval

off topic conversation is very interesting!!! Thanks

and oh BTW the gold on page one still sucks and is ugly as sin

Anthony King

Can any vehicle that uses a series of controlled explosions to propel itself (no matter how relatively "simple" it may be compared to other cars) be, in any sense of the word, fixie-like?

And yes, the gold and green bike on bike is still tacky. Maybe rappers will give up their Escalades, embrace the fixie craze, and ride bikes like that Colnago.

But I admit it is so over the top, thoroughly-executed tacky that it's kinda cool.
For somebody else to ride.

144 BCD

I'm sorry, but the grips on the tops just about sum up the true intended use of that bike.

sohi

daily messenger work?

bostontrevor

Can any vehicle that uses a Krebs cycle to propel itself be, in any sense of the word, fixie-like?

Internal combustion is a damn sight simpler than human metabolism and power production.

Anthony King

Yeah, I saw that one coming when I wrote my quip.

Just for fun--you are conveniently ignoring that a car, to move, utilizes the metabolism of its driver. So, since the complex human metabolic system exits on both sides of the car/fixie comparison, we can cancel it out in an evaluation of their relative complexities.

Or, if you have 2x and 2x on both sides of an equation, you can safely ignore the two 2x's when evaluating the equation.

--AK
fellow retrogrouch

mikorp

just sold this bike for asking price. now its moving to texas. lol

ImOnCrank

Come now all of you. Prius as the roadie of the car world? Shame shame. The roadie of the bike world is obviously some form of upscale euro sports car (BMW anyone?). You know, the kind that you can't fix yourself because you need a roomsized supercomputer and the ability to work with carbon fiber to do it.

highpants

er, i want to second this, i really do...except that i take my prius to a place called "the foreign service" out in the suburbs that specializes in saabs.

bostontrevor

Fixed = Fiat Spyder (or any old Spyder make)
Roadie = BMW
HPV = Prius
Hybrid = Caravan
BMX = Import tuner
Mountain Bike = Jeep Wrangler
Cruiser = Lesabre
Cafe racer = Mini Cooper

edit: as an aside, I had the extreme pleasure of seeing this Porsche Spyder from the Ralph Lauren collection when it was at the MFA. Gorgeous. I can't imagine doing 125 mph in that rollerskate.



For scale:

ImOnCrank

Hell no cruiser is a lesabre. Cruiser is definitely an old 1960s caddy man. You forgot lowrider, obviously the 1960s snoop dogg impala.