3 ms·
There's something fundamentally missing from that explanation, because it doesn't explain where the energy is coming from. You can't load a spring without prov
by jeremysalwen 6y ago
There's something fundamentally missing from that explanation, because it doesn't explain where the energy is coming from. You can't load a spring without providing energy, and gravity cannot provide energy in a steady state system.
- dclowd9901 6y agoThen how does it assist for gas springs? The reason it _isnt_ hard to push your trunk lid down is because gravity is helping you do so. If you take that gas spring off the trunk, suddenly you need a lot more force to compress it. I don’t understand your explanation: you can’t load a spring without energy, gravity + mass loads a spring, but gravity + mass isn’t energy. It is literally potential energy isn’t it?
- function_seven 6y agoSo in the trunk lid example, the energy that helps raise the lid was stored in the spring from the last time you shut the lid. The gas spring provides resistance on the closure, and assistance on the opening. With this wheel, the energy that goes into compressing the 12 o'clock spring must be provided (partially!) from the expanding 6 o'clock spring, plus additional energy from the cyclist to cover the mechanical losses in the system. I don't see any left over energy that can be used to help with forward propulsion. Maybe on very rough terrain it helps out by trading forward velocity with assistance up a bump, then trading the gravity on the other side of the bump to push forward again. But that's a far cry from the claims being made on the page.