if you have a bicyclemost likely has a derailleur and lots of gear set up in the rear. Helps you cycle more efficiently. And while that derailleur may be controlled by cables, hydraulics, or even electronics, it's usually up to you to set it in the right place. But once upon a time, there was a push like this: Introducing automatic transmission On the bike.
Yes, you may think that current bicycle innovations are overkill, but that doesn't mean they're useless. Ridiculous things about bike designers It was a leading force in the early 2000s.
This incredibly over-the-top piece of kit was brought to our attention by the good folks at Global Cycling Network. They accidentally discovered an automatic transmission bike during a budget bike challenge. They were very impressed with the technology and then did a deep dive into how it worked, which was interesting.
The automatic shifter they discovered was installed on bicycles made by Landrider, an American brand that unfortunately went out of business in 2016. However, to shift between gears, automatic derailleurs do not use electronics, relying instead on weights and belts. Switch gears depending on your input. According to GCN's explanation:
This system relies on a plastic disc attached to the back of the cassette, with a belt around it and connected to a small gear at the rear of the derailleur. The derailleur itself has two small counterweights fixed to the gears that the belt drives.
As driving speed increases, these counterweights are pulled apart by centrifugal force. Once the weights are separated and pulled apart, the parallelogram of the derailleur connects to the internal section of the counterweight. This allows the cage to pull and downshift into a smaller cog, allowing the rider to pedal at a constant cadence.
As the speed decreases, the force on the weights decreases, allowing the derailleur spring to overcome the centrifugal force of the weights and allow downshifts.
Despite its ingenuity, automatic shifting never really caught on. in the world of bicycles. That's probably because something as simple as a broken belt can render your derailleur completely useless. It was also problematic because rapidly changing gears when you got to the bottom of the hill could cause the derailleur to dislodge and jam.
Now, electronic gear sweep In the cycling world as a whole, I don't think automatic shifting will be in the spotlight any more. But what do you think? Wouldn't you like to ride a bike that takes away the worry of which gear to put in? If you've ridden a bike that can shift like this, let us know in the comments below please.
