Who really benefits from turn signals? Unless they are mounted on special stalks, it's going to be difficult to understand them anyway.
Other ideas are somewhat useful, like the car detector, or adjustable lights - I already thought about relating headlight power to speed or ambient light in 2011 (shameless plug: when I started working on Jazda - https://rhn.github.io/jazda ). But the power benefits of that may still balance out with the additional electronics needed.
For a commuter / daily-driver bike without weight concern, I think a belt-driven internal planetary gearset with electronic shifting would be ideal as the bike nearly becomes a sealed unit, without any exposed grease or need for lubrication or adjustments.
Someone I know rides every day and said the battery lasts for about 4 months (looks like newer versions are rechargeable as well). There aren't any cables in the shifting mechanism. It is a set of shifters that are wirelessly connected to the derailleur.
SRAM's eTap wireless shifting system has a mix of rechargeable batteries on the derailleurs and non-rechargeable CR2032 batteries in the shift/brake levers.
I don't know what Campagnolo does, because I'm not interested in farm machinery. It is probably rechargeable by sending it back to an Italian specialist every two weeks. ;)
That said, I prefer my home built fixie: cheap to get great components, easy to maintain, and damn fun to ride.
One of the reasons why I absolutely love cycling, is that my bikes (and those of friends and relatives) are one of the only things left in my life I can fix myself, I save money and learn a lot from doing it, it's rewarding and incredibly cheap.
It would be really disappointing to see parts become a black box, more expensive and disposable.
Leave it to the eBikes I say.
While electronics should open new hackability options, I'm afraid that's just not going to happen. ANT+ standard, for example, requires an NDA before you can make an implementation. Bike computers themselves don't have a serious open option (Jazda needs more work before it can be sold).
Could it just be a small and lightweight LED panel that flashed a bright arrow pointing in the intended turn direction?
With LED, it can be pretty efficient and still be really bright. I would think a blinking bright arrow would be fairly universally understood.
For the rest, I agree it increases the failure likelihood, but it is probably heavily mitigated in some cases by the fact that most of the power can be generated by the biker. These are not large gears, so the shifting capabilities probably don't require plugging in. And they should "fail to on" such that if they go dead on power, you just can't shift. Can still use the gear you are in.
The key to mechanical longevity is maintenance, a bit of oil and a bit of care and this stuff will last a lifetime. How many electronics bits and pieces do you know or do you have that have lasted > 20 years? > 30 years?
Case in point a friend has a Shimano bike with electric shifters. Super nice bike, but super fragile. One trainride and a very thin and fragile cable got lodged in the gears.
Several long hours of work later I have it working again (this only happened last week), oh, and never mind the $45 crappy little cable with custom plugs which gets plugged into an in-frame patch panel that is just about impossible to get to. I don't see any advantage over my mechanical stuff, in fact I see a significant disadvantage. Electronics and bicycles don't mix well unless you are prepared to make things bullet proof and that will price them right out of the market. So I don't see this as a viable path, a novelty, something on very high end bikes but not something that will stand the test of time.
You're probably right about the average bike lights. But the good folks at Light and Motion make some incredible products. USB-rechargeable, bright, easily removable, and pretty durable in my experience.
Air bubbles in silicon, thermal expansion, and a zillion day night cycles.
Humidity and dust enter, contributing to occasional momentary shorts.
Oxidation anywhere you have electromechanical connections.
Magnetic stresses on any coil, any rectifier.
Which leads to the fact that many bike tools are incredibly specific, and require updating almost more often than the parts they are meant to be used with. Insert old joke about standards and having so many to choose from - but that's an issue that stands to the side of electronic against mechanical parts.
However, once I have that much tech on a bike, it would be impossible to park it anywhere without the risk of being stolen.
I just worry there will be a bit of a donut hole problem. Where at the high end you have super smart bikes with electronic everything and on the low end carbon steel big box store bike and nothing in-between.
There's tech for that, too. ;-)
That said I can't vouch for the biopace rings...
(To be read for comedic purposes only. I don't actually ride that one to work.)
Electronic shifting and other boondoggles completely undermine the reliability, elegance and simplicity of bikes.
I've fixed my bike while on the side of a mountain a hundred miles from home and ridden home.
What happens when my derailleur firmware crashes?
I'm excited for https://pinion.eu/en/gearboxes/. It is designed to last a long time and not need maintenance (we'll see about that...)
Do you mean chains?
I'd prefer to leave them alone.
Seriously, I have a hard time thinking of many machines that fit that description.
One cool thing that stood out to me was that these monitors will transmit data over ANT+ or Bluetooth. As someone who already tracks all my workouts w/ a Garmin watch, I welcome the ability to track more metrics like power output. Gives you a good way to objectively track your progress over time when training for events and can help you gauge the impact of sleep, alcohol, etc on your performance.
I really wish recumbent tricycles were more popular. The story of the exclusion of recumbents from races is rather sad.
I have a rearview mirror on my road/commuter bike that replaced the plug on the bar end and it works a treat.
I'm old-fashioned, but I generally want able-bodied folks to get on the saddle if they can, whether it's an old clunker or a new e-bike. Shimano makes amazing electronic components, but what about the cheap competitors that start flooding the market with integrated parts that break? Will bikes be salvageable and maintainable beyond that point? Are we going to get into a planned obsolescence situation here?
On another note I'm planning to take a cycle touring trip through Mizoram in far eastern India over Chinese New Year, probably for around three weeks. Anyone crazy enough to want to join? :)
I just measured a 48T Biopace ring that was in my spare parts bin, and the ratio of major to minor diameter is about 3 percent.
The only annoyance I can think of is that you can't use those rings with a single-speed or gearhub without a chain tensioner.
If they're wrecking your knees, don't push such long gears. Or, rotate the ring by 72 degrees on the crank to pretty much negate the effect.
I see these fancy "smart" features very useful for making biking convenient and simple for very casual biking.
Hard core bikers already are happy for the most part, and probably only care about shaving off marginal amounts of weight.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/550821#overview
They are lights that automatically turn on when needed. Thus, people don't need to bring a lights for the bike they rent, in case it gets dark, etc. Right now, the Biketown bikes don't include any lights on them, so you basically either bring your own or just don't ride them in the evening.
There are of course other features, like automatic brightness adjustment etc. They can be like daytime running lights for your car.
The R9170 Dura-Ace hydraulic system isn't even complete yet, the power meter crankset is only starting to materialise.
Yet it does represent the 2nd proper generation of electronic shifting and hydraulic braking on road bikes.
None of what is in the article is new, but it is being polished and brought together better. One of the things that I have enjoyed is that with a Wahoo bike computer (or the forthcoming Hammerhead Android based computer), it's now possible to grab your bike... go out and put in a long ride, and without any hassle or prep for your power, heart, cadence, and speed to all be recorded, accurately, auto-uploaded to Strava on your return, and during the ride the buttons on the Shimano R9170 hood can control the screen on the GPS, and the electronic shifting means tired hands on seriously long rides are far less of a problem.
This is now a reality, it's there. That's my daily steed.
That style of bike is also now the default choice of the endurance rider. They learned a few years ago of the benefits of all-weather braking that doesn't fade, electronic shifting to spare the hand.
The fear of flat batteries within Di2 is just not there. If you top up every few months... you'll be fine. You'd need to be doing events like the TransAm or Transcontinental and training on the bike and failing to charge... to even stand a chance at experiencing a flat battery.
Re: the accident alert in the Garmin, I tried a See Sense rear lamp that has this feature and it's pointless. Nothing more than a headline grabber. Far better on lighting just to buy something with a solid bright red light that operates on bog standard AAA batteries and is cheap, my favourite being the GBP 15 Moon Pulsar. For front light I favour Lumicycle, but for rear give me super reliable and easy to find batteries for.
This stuff is all very nice. It's currently top dollar for the Dura-Ace end of the range, but is available in cheaper groupsets, and is also starting to emerge with the Alfine internal hub gear systems. Meaning: It is moving down the range and becoming common.
Cycles will also nearly all go power-assist. They too are maturing at a great rate, and even avid cyclists like myself who have ridden one is now tempted.
Cycles will go electric in all ways. The future is here.
If you're interested, other recent changes in cycling:
+ Frames geometries are changing, the emergence of 3d printing is making bottom bracket and dropout clusters lighter, stronger and more capable
+ Tyres are fatter and lower pressure https://www.schwalbe.com/gb/road-reader/schwalbe-g-one-allro...
+ Tyres are becoming tubeless, like car tyres, with puncture filling gloop to handle everything short of a side-wall failure (but then you can just insert a tube to get you home) https://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/buyers-guide-go-tubeless.html...
+ Wheels are getting wider whilst still being aero, and accommodating aero with fatter tyres, helped by disc brakes (allows rims, forks and frames to evolve). Check out Enve SES AR 4.5 wheels https://enve.com/products/ses-4-5-ar/
+ Disc brakes are changing frames so that axles are thru-frame for quick and easy wheel changes and consistent brake alignment https://cyclingtips.com/2015/10/road-bikes-are-headed-toward...
+ Gravel bikes are the new road bikes, striking a balance between cyclocross and road they are adventure or "super versatile" bikes that are fast and have the potential to take a gravel trail occasionally http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/217893-18-best-2017-grav...
+ Bike bags are moving from panniers to under saddle and on the bar, check out Apidura for examples of this. Bike-packing is very on-trend right now https://www.apidura.com/
+ Riding is changing from sportif to weekend and overnight, and clothing is changing too into lightweight and adaptive wear, Rapha Brevet range is an example of this, especially their insulated gilet and jacket http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/brevet/category/brevet
+ Most anticipated new product is probably the Hammerhead computer. Garmin is tolerated and not loved, Wahoo is pretty good but not yet feature complete https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/03/wahoo-elemnt-gps-bike-co... , but the Hammerhead could be excellent and they have the potential to move into Android Wear with some actually excellent apps too https://www.hammerhead.io/
There is nothing in cycling not currently undergoing rapid change. This is an industry overhauling itself to grow it's market by having vehicles and equipment to allow human-assisted transport to be easy, go faster, go farther, be more comfortable, more practical, more lifestyle. This stuff is currently top-end, but it's already moving down and becoming more accessible.
I do want the rear radar!!
oh god. no.
So, one then? The horn?
"Critical" clearly means something different to someone tricking-out a push bike with thousands of dollars of marginally useful kit.
I don't know why this observation seems controversial.
