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Bicycles may seem simple but took many decades to get it right. Your comment also reminded me of this gallery of drawings from people attempting to create a bi
by miguelmota 7y ago
Bicycles may seem simple but took many decades to get it right.
Your comment also reminded me of this gallery of drawings from people attempting to create a bicycle from memory which is pretty funny https://twistedsifter.com/2016/04/artist-asks-people-to-draw-bicycle-from-memory-and-renders-results/ https://twistedsifter.com/2016/04/artist-asks-people-to-draw...
- notatoad 7y agoThe most astounding thing about bicycles is that we did actually get it right. looking at the first ~100 years of iteration, you'd kind of assume that it was one of those things that would just keep evolving forever. But then they found the classic diamond frame design, and bikes have been fundamentally the same since then.
- davidw 7y agoFeels kind of asymptotic to me: they got most of the basics right 100 years ago, but things like derailleurs are a pretty big improvement in terms of allowing an ordinary person to ride over varied terrain. Quick release skewers (grazie a Tullio Campagnolo), lighter materials, clipless pedals (for racers)... have all been incremental improvements. More recently, tubeless tires on mountain bikes are a big improvement in my enjoyment of riding off road.
- madhadron 7y agoYou could also argue that the political necessity in competitive cycling to maintain its status quo (thus not allowing recumbents and the like) has forced us into a local maximum that we cannot easily exit.
- dharmab 7y agoYou can absolutely make arguments that bicycle design is unoptimized. Why use front forks when they have so many problems? https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/why-are-there-no-alternatives-to-the-telescopic-fork-front-suspension https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/why-are-there-no-alter... Why haven't recumbent bicycles taken over the road bike market despite many advantages (hint: It has to do with what kinds of traffic we prioritize in cities) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle#Compared_to_uprights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle#Compared_to_...
- notatoad 7y agopeople have been trying to make linkage forks a thing since forever ago, and it never pans out. For all the claims that telescoping suspension isn't very good, there's still nothing better.
- Grustaf 7y agoI don’t get it, front forks seem very optimal to me. Could hardly be any simpler.
- dharmab 7y agoThey're simple, but from the article: > The main problem with conventional forks is that they can’t separate bump forces from braking forces. > As a result, a conventional fork dives under hard braking. As weight’s transferred to the front wheel, the fork springs compress. This uses up fork travel that would otherwise be available for bumps, which is bad enough. But wait, it gets worse... > Brake dive also shortens the wheelbase and changes the rake angle. In a perfect world, engineers would certainly rather not change those parameters in mid-corner! This makes braking mid-corner a risky proposition, which leads to accidents when riders encounter surprises mid-corner. In the motorcycling world this is being worked around by computers, so we're not likely to see an alternate front suspension, unfortunately. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHRWg91hv-M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHRWg91hv-M
- Grustaf 7y agoThis seems like it’s talking about front forks with suspension though? Only mountain bikes have that, and in the terrain they are made for it works well. On the road mountainbikes are terrible in numerous ways.
- m463 7y agoWhat's kind of fascinating is that sport motorcycles have all reached a similar design too, except they were all influenced by a racing rule that said the fairings couldn't extend forward of the front axle. Before that, motorcyles were tending towards football-shaped.
- plopz 7y agoWhat a frustrating article, they say its missing a key component but doesn't say what.
- arpfaust 7y agoA bar between the axes of the pedals and the rear wheel ;)
- Jarwain 7y agoEven the artist just says "an important part of its frame". If I had to guess, it's a bar connecting the back wheel's harness-thing with the gear to maintain a consistent distance. If someone sat on that, I think the wheels would flex out, the chain come loose, etc.
- davidw 7y agoThe chainstays are missing in the first image.
- ogre_codes 7y agoIt's the Chainstays. You need two bars connecting the bottom bracket to the rear hub or the rear wheel is extremely unstable. Most modern bikes are fundamentally 2 triangles joined at the base.
- InitialLastName 7y agoThere's no chain stay, to complete the rear triangle.
- blackearl 7y agoI'd love to see some of these built out and tested. I'm assuming most would snap in half when riding over the first curb. Thanks for sharing!