dalava

Video: Prototype automatic electric shifting for bicycles

RJM

Eventually they will figure a way to put an engine in it and all will be well with the world.

Caliper

They're bad enough I cars, now someone wants to inflict that on my bike? No, thank you.

dtrain

Those Landrider (autoshifting cruiser type) bikes have been out for nearly a decade, right?

datlas 

Stick shift FTW.

StanSeven

I laugh when I hear this. I'm as much a car guy am a bike guy. Automatics out perform manual transmissions in every way except maybe fuel economy, and that's slight. Quarter mile acceleration time differences are several te the of a second difference in some models. The intelligence on a race course or twisting roads on gear selection can't be matched except for the very top professionals. For braking or just slowing down, you can select a gear just as easy in an auto than a manual.

RoadTire 

I like the idea for commuting in busy areas where shifting, for me, is a distraction when there's lots going on, and lots of rapid speed changes.

Oh-oh. Was using the "C" word a bad thing in the Road Cycling forum?

bikemig 

I'd be concerned riding a bike with gearing that is more intelligent than I am. Hard to say it, but that's the truth.

RJM

Biking ain't driving.

dmanthree

Looks like a solution in search of a problem. Modern mechanical shifters work so well, I see no need for this.

WhyFi

I think it's pretty cool and pretty much inevitable that it would come to electronic shifting. Those that are turned off by the very idea automatic gear selection? They aren't going to to electronic shifting, anyway.

bbattle

I rode my aunt's 3-speed automatic back in the 80's. Hills were always iffy, as the shifting didn't always occur as I wanted.

On my bike and in my car, the gears shift when I say they shift.

kbarch

Or a market in search of novelty - something else on which to spend the $ that are burning holes in pockets. Automatics are enjoyable in their own way, but more involvement doesn't always mean more work or more worry. Sometimes it means more fun. My last two cars were stick, not because I thought they "performed" any better, but because I enjoyed controlling them. Of course, to some extent you can control an automatic without touching a shifter, but it really isn't the same; hands-free always struck me as, shall we say, "unhealthy."

rpenmanparker 

Luddite! Stick is an affectation.

rpenmanparker 

Sport stick option on an automatic is there for the malcontents.

ButchA

I remember reading something about it back in the day. The derailleur system somehow "knew" how hard or how gentle you were pedaling and was supposed to automatically adjust itself. I think it was just a passing fad and never (obviously) took off and became successful.

Dave Cutter

The Autobike they show-up on Craigslist from time-to-time. They use a set/series of weights that shift when gears based of centrifugal force, I think.



MHO.... I think the evolution of the safety bicycle... has matured to an impasse. Once the iron horse, human powered machine, becomes powered by everything else as well... it loses purpose. If we have to recharge our electric bicycle-devices why not just add an electric motor and recharge the bicycle as a whole. Or... maybe just add a gasoline motor and call it a motorcycle.

Falchoon

I believe Di2 for MTB already has a sort of automatic shifting on the rear, when you change down on the front the rear automatically changes up a gear or two.

mcours2006

I love cars too, but I would much rather drive one with a stick shift, not because I think it would outperform an auto, but because it forces me to be more in tune with the car and its surroundings. I am not tempted to do anything else while I'm driving because, well, I can't--I don't have a free hand. Being aware of your surroundings is the best way to avoid a collision when driving. I would say that the same thing goes for a bike. If you've been riding a while and are used to frequent shifting it comes second nature to you. Driving a manual is also more fun, especially if you know how to do it properly.

cydewaze

The problem with this is in the execution. While autos work well on very high priced cars, when it comes to something I can afford, automatics usually = an expensive way to be in the wrong gear most of the time.

When we were last test-driving cars (2012) I tried some cars with automatics (my wife doesn't fancy a manual) and found everything from lethargic shifts to overriding my gear selection to sometimes even ignoring my gear selection altogether. But beyond that, it's not always a performance issue. I just like that feeling of being connected. When I ease off the throttle, I can feel the engine start to pull the car speed down. I don't get that with an automatic, at least not in the cars I can afford.

Sure, someday that tech might trickle down to all cars, but right now, I'm stuck with a VW TDI with a fancy dancy DSG transmission that takes expensive fluid and is barely discernable from my mom's 2006 Honda Civic in how it shifts and feels.

Caliper

Laugh all you want, but drive an auto and a stick car back to back and the stick car is just plain more enjoyable. I've personally swapped two different cars from auto to stick and in both cases the car was 100% better after. Having driven a stick daily for about ten years now, I'll take manual over automatic in everything but an LA style dead stop bumper to bumper jam and in that case it's really just a toss up. It's not about a few mpg (although a lot of that is gear ratio selection) or that a computer can do many things better than I. It's the fact that driving an automatic is mundane and boring even in some pretty hot cars while a stick puts a smile on my face even in what would othwrwise be a mundane car.

dalava

When I used to live on the west side of LA and have to commute to the Valley through the canyon roads, with a Starbucks in hand and an occasional a cigarette and a cellphone (pre-bluetooth), I had to give up the stick shift.

Null66

Makes no sense on a bike.

In a car the computer knows engine speed, torque, requested acceleration.

Your legs are nothing like a engine, power varies at the same cadence... Sometimes it's better to pedal harder and slower, and others faster and lighter for the same output, based on how your feeling at the time...

dalava

Well, that's why the guy didn't say the automatic is based on a desired cadence only but through some sort of analysis based on your historical power data. There are a lot of hand-waving there, though, and I would think there are probably a lot of kinks still to be worked out.

rpenmanparker 

I pretty much agree. I can't believe the mileage difference still falls in favor of the stick. With high end automatic transmissions having as many as 8 speeds and computer control of the shifting, I don't see how the average ham-fisted, lead-footed schmoe could get better mileage with a stick. Maybe the various Formula 1 drivers who hide behind other identities on the 41 can do it, but it would be a very rare thing. To beat the computer, every shift would have to be perfect. Fat chance!

As far as more fun, well whatever burns your gas. Vroom, vroom!