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Technology

The Ultimate Bike 87

Posted by Hemos from the course-that-would-mean-i'd-have-to-ride-it dept.
Lenbok writes: "The guys at Dallas Semiconductors have been busy. They've wired a bicycle (pix here) with a local microLAN of web-addressable sensors including temperature sensors, addressable switches, A/D converters, iButtons, and chips to manage battery functions. Quiet electric power, exercised on demand, a full instrument panel (via palmpilot), data login, a Web page for your eBike, and even e-mail while traveling. What more could you ask for? GPS integration? That's on its way." [timothy butts in ...] And don't forget that this is only if you want a semi-normal lookin' electric bike. Don't forget that Steve Roberts has been crankin' the pedals of a series of very wired bikes (and now boats) for a long time. Check out his Nomadic Research Labs for some of the coolest because-we-can technology (home-brewed, and re-purposed COTS stuff) you're likely to find on this planet.
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The Ultimate Bike

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  • I wonder why this thing was not built around a recumbent bicycle. When trying to re-invent a bicycle, it would make sense to base the design around a recumbent frame, thanks to their better efficiency and comfort (diamond-frame bicycles do cause impotence by hindering blood-flow in your groin, after all).

    See IHPVA home page [ihpva.org] for more details.

  • Hi,
    First of all, as many people I know here in Switzerland, whenever we are on a bike, we just renew our oxygen while riding the fastest possible, it is a sport, not only a transportation mean. This device seems to be too distractive for a hurry or sportive guy that usually take his bike to change his mind an healthy way.
    More than in a car, where handy usage is strongly discouraged, a small loss of attention while riding a bike may have huge consequences : loss of equilibrium, accident, etc. So, I just suggest we avoid such tech/sport mix in this case.
    2nd, as mountain bikes popularity as increased even more during the last decade, I just can't imagine that this bike could be solid enough to resists a tiny sidewalk jump.
    BTW, they seemed to be too modest to just indicates its weight... I bet people riding more than one mile a day won't want this probably heavy thing.
    --

  • Umm... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ... as much as I appreciate the exposure, why are you spamming /. with my HOWTO?

    -- spiralx

  • Yes, now you can actually physically transport a running program from A to B. Mobile agents are the future!

    But seriously, what else should you run to achieve the same functionality at the same development cost?
  • On this note, I've been thinking about what technology such as this could be used for on motorcycles. Sure, there's the obvious stuff, like GPS+GIS for navigation, but what else?

    One idea I've had is to have a database of photographs of streets and streetcorners that can pop up on a HUD screen in the helmet, making it easy to compare the real scene with what you should be seeing if you're in the right place -- much more helpful than a small dot on a GPS map for navigating.

    I'm not all that happy with the idea of mail on the bike, though -- biking on a busy street with buses and trucks is 'interesting' enough without trying to compose a message at the same time. The sent mail would be quite intresting to read, though: "...and thus I think thatNo! NO! Don't swerve this way! AAAaaaaargh..."

    One gadget that would be useful would be a tire temperature/pressure sensor that could warn as soon at the pressure is too high or too low for current conditions. Another one would be moisture sensors in the pack bags (don't laugh -- it's _REALLY_ depressing to stop for the night and realize that your entire wardrobe's been rainsoaked 'cause you didn't seal the bags properly).

    Any more ideas, anybody?

  • bike (Score:1)

    by vbrtrmn ( 62760 )
    This is just silly, isn't there enough of a problem with people driving with their cellphones?

    Yes, officer, I was driving down the road, and this guy just rode his bike out infront of me. I think he was playing minesweeper or solitare.

    --
    you are not what you own
  • I've been using my Psion + Garmin GPS for a while and it works okay. The problem in London and any other big city is the height of the buildings. It can be tricky to get a good lock on multiple satellites when 70-80% of the sky is filled by concrete.

    On the open road it's a breeze. I tend to stop if I'm not sure of the best route, check out what the GPS+RoutePlanner/StreetPlanner suggest, then plough on. Looking down at a screen whilst driving is a big no-no. I've played with a program (CoDriver) that shouts out directions as you go. With a bit of work that would probably be the best way to go.

    re: HUDS. I drive an Impreza Turbo. In Japan, STI will sell you a nice HUD for their top-spec models. I've not seen one on a UK car yet, so I can't report on their efficacy.

    Rob.
  • First thing that came to my mind was

    "What the hell happens if you stop REAL short, and crash?"

    Judging by the pics, the following sequence would be likely:

    1.) Bike hits large pothole, front wheel descends and stops.
    2.) Rider is thrown over the handlebars, pulling the Palm Pilot forward, breaking the dock and yanking it off the bar. (If the rider somehow clears the Palm Pilot, the handlebars hitting the ground will tear it off anyway.)
    3.) The weight of the rear will cause it to swing forward to the right or left, falling on the rider and probably injuring him, as well as the motor, and LAN components.
    4.) Bike comes to a rest on the rider, with pieces of plastic strewn around the wreck site. A very hurt, and very pissed off rider stumbles to his feet, surveys the damage, and wonders why the hell he put computer equipment on a Bicycle.
    5.) Rider cries.

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • Instead of gangs :-P

    The Palm is securely held on by Velcro? After all that you'd think they could design a special slide-in mount. I mean, velcro is great (because vibration makes it stick better) but it's usually held on with a crappy adhesive that comes off easier than the velcro.

  • ... and as a geek, I must say that this isn't appealing at all. I ride my bicycle [cannondale.com] in order to get away from the sensory overload of the work week and my computer hobbies.

    One of the greatest things about cycling is that its simplicity. In fact, one of the things I've noticed in the sport is a resurgence of the track bike, which has only one gear and no brakes (you reverse your pedal direction to slow down). Those who ride these bikes (I'm not one of them yet) swear by its purity and ability to free your mind of the modern stresses.

    If you are any brand of computer geek and you are thinking of getting a bike, do it. However, don't look for a bike like this. Get outside. Ride hard. Get away from the computer.

  • AA quote from the article:

    Among TINI's more important duties is to make sure the rider has enough electrons to make it home for their spouse's birthday party by constantly monitoring all battery parameters to accurately determine state-of-charge.

    For cryin' out loud.

    Aside from the inherent inanity of the above statement--as if you need Java or any other bit of code at all to determine the charge remaining on a battery--why the hell would the tardy spouse in question need external "electrons" at all? Why not just put your freeqin' feet on the freeqin' pedals and pedal your sorry ass home? Or are we admitting that Iacocca's "brainchild" is really an electric scooter--the moped for the new millenium--and has about as much to do with real cycling as lightning bugs have to do with lightning?

    But maybe I'm the one who just doesn't get it; after all, I don't see why someone can't just shift into a lower gear to get up those dreadful hills instead of getting a "power boost." Never mind; I'll just go put on my stilts and try out for an NBA team.


  • ...of the idea, "just because a function can be added, doesn't mean that it should be." Remember, a Swiss Army knife is sometimes useful, but it doesn't do anything particularly well.

    Yes, I know this is a gimmick, but it really strikes me as a silly one. Can you imagine what this heavy, fragile turkey would be like on Yoda's Revenge? Or the old NORBA National Course in Elijay? I would most certainly NOT like to be the one stuck riding it.

  • I'm with you on this one. [konaworld.com] I spent a lot of money to get a bike that is both invinsible and light weight. To make one brittle and heavy would defeat the whole purpose.

    Besides, I think I saw Peewee Herman driving one like this.

    Ozwald
  • Yep, exactly what I was thinking. What I'd really like to have along these lines is a way to integrate my digital camera on the bike. I sometimes take movies (4.6MB) [bikegods.org] while riding, so I end up holding the camera in one hand with the other hand on the handlebars. While that may work for a leisurely ride through the park, it doesn't cut it for most of my rides - I need both hands. Same with the durability of the whole thing. For it to work for me, it would have to be very shock resistant. Ideally it would have to survive huge crashes like when I broke my rib 6 months ago. ;-)

    The other thing I'd love is fast wireless connectivity (it's gonna be a few years before that, and a few more before it (if ever) gets on bikes) so I can upload my pictures to the website [bikegods.org] on the fly.

  • I know a guy who did something simpler, but cooler. He routed the windshield washer hose to his front right fender. When he turned it on, fluid would spray out several feet from the right side of the car. He used to hose down pedestrians with it.

  • I've spent the week in the city, battling through hordes of Bostonians chatting away on their cell phones while they drive - whipping in and out of the lanes of traffic completely oblivious to what is around them because they are glued to their phone.

    Now, thanks to these guys, when I finally get away to New Hampshire or Vermont for a weekend of mountain biking, I can look forward to some idiot, not paying attention to the trail and once again making things relatively unsafe for everybody because he's checking his schedule or some other rediculous crap. Whoo hoo, way to make biking pleasureable.

    There are days when all I really need is an EMP gun.

  • I've done a bit of touring (and I commute by bike) and this bike runs completely counter to my cycling philosophy, I try to apply Ray Jardine [rayjardine.com]'s backpacking style (he's a very interesting individual I'd encourage everyone to check out the site). Take as little as you can and make sure what you do take has multiple uses.

    This bike falls squarely in the "Hey look what we can do" category. The rechargeable nature makes it impractical for touring, it's heavy and you need to keep it charged. The statistics tracking might be cool if you're training but if you were training you sure wouldn't want to be doing it on this bike. In my experience all the electronics would be useless, if not dangerous on a commuter bike, the only time you'd even be able to mess with the Palm is when your out on the highway, in town your focus needs to be on traffic. The other problem is all this stuff just increases the theft value, forcing you to bring it into the building with you or worry about it all the time.

    This whole package needs to be on another bike, personally I just don't like electrics, and an upright bike just makes it hard to use the gear while you're riding. A recumbent is the way to go, BikeE [slashdot.org] has a low cost semi-recumbent that would make a good starting point for someone not inclined to build their own. If you look at Steve Roberts' stuff (read his book too damn it! ; )) all his bikes he built were recumbents.

    I usually take my Palm IIIc and PocketMail [pocketmail.com] BackFlip [pocketmail.com], with it I can keep in touch for a whole lot less money than calling people.

  • "Palm Pilot = geek stuff = pawnable = another day I can get my ass lit, and the rest of this stuff has to be worth something..." I can hear it running through their heads right now.

    How do you chain this stuff up, or does it remove and go with you? I'd be scared to leave this puppy locked in front of the building. It has enough cool looking stuff on it, they would probably take bike rack and all.

  • Basically, it slows you down and that seems contradictory to the purpose.

    "The purpose"? Sorry, dude, but the purpose is to get outside, enjoy some sunshine (or rain) and fresh air, beautiful scenery, get some exercise, and have fun. You're taking it way too seriously.

  • Order of magnitude estimates are much more fun. Let's try adding some terms. Normalize to 100,000 miles in eight years:

    Purchase price: $20,000/100,000 = .20

    fuel: 0.05

    insurance: $1,200/year * 8 years/100,000 = 0.096

    upkeep, let's say 1/4 the insurance cost: 0.024

    road upkeep, in Louisiana, DOTD is funded by gas taxes (20 cents/gallon) so this has been included.

    Well, I can see how all of this might add up, but then again I earn more than $5/hr. A person who earned as much as $10/hr would have a wage cost of bike riding of .50/mile. Bike owning costs are not always trivial, and roads have to be maintained for them too if you want decent speeds.

    These are just thoughts. I hate cars, but it's hard to say they are not practical. This moped on the other hand...

    Frankenbike looks beautiful and more in line with the winebiko.

  • How am I supposed to get to 180mph in 10 seconds when there's no engine in it?

  • How about a GPS only to report its location to me whenever it's stolen..

  • FNHAABCOTP (Score:4)

    by dash2 ( 155223 ) <davidhughjones AT gmail DOT com> on Friday September 08, 2000 @12:58AM (#795697) Homepage Journal
    First "now how about a Beowulf cluster of those" Post!
  • Well, it seems to have front fork damping, so it should go off road. That means you'll crash, occasionally. At least I do. So, what's going to happen to all that expensive equipment when you crash....?
  • It is not the Ultimate bike unless the wheels change shape to cope with diferent terrain and there is some sort of device that produces a sonic wave to smash glass (In case you're heading towards a pane of glass). Or is that the Ultimate Skate board?
  • Would that be a caber tosser? [lochness.co.uk]
  • What's more interesting perhaps than the bike is the Tiny InterNet Interface - basically a Java computer running on a 72pin SIMM that's part of the bike. The SIMM and a board to bring out the RS-232, Ethernet, and 1-wire interfaces is quite affordable and begs to be used for all sorts of cool projects. It's at TINI [ibutton.com]

  • Roberts is a clown (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I remember a few years ago he showed up with his monster (800 lb?), hightech bike at RAGBRAI (Week long bike ride across Iowa in the middle of Summer) with a mob of press on hand and said something about having a relaxing week bicycling across the flatlands of Iowa in comfort.
    Apparently he'd never heard of a topo map. Iowa's between 2 of the biggest rivers on the continent, there's bound to be some hills between them. We all just laughed and let him put on his show.
    3rd day out his bike busted something (a crank, I think) and after spending hours having his support crew (no one but him had a support crew) search around the area looking for a farmer who could weld a high-tech aluminum alloy, and after listening to thousands of riders ribbing him as they flew by him ("Hey Steve, my little sister has a 5-speed Schwinn you can borrow."), he gave up in disgust swearing he'd never come back to Iowa. (Fine with us.) He loaded his bike back into it's trailer and headed straight back to California. Apparently he forgot to tell the press who were waiting for him to show up at the state capitol building. (Those that did write something about him didn't write too favorably about him the next day.)
    Oh, sure, his bike is neat I guess, But it travels most of it's miles in a custom built trailer, not on the road.
  • *laughs* make sure you buy the extended warrenty plan at whatever random discount electronics store you buy the Palm at :)
    ----
    Remove the rocks from my head to send email
  • Actually, Dallas Semi makes these:

    iButton Digital Jewelry [ibutton.com]

  • Hiya Mirko,

    I live in Liverpool, but I guess it's about the same in most towns in the UK:
    You'd have to be CRAZY to ride a bike around here!!!! Ask yourself:

    • bike lanes? what bike lanes??? kids get run over 'coz there aren't even red lights so that they can cross some dangerous roads safely... (kids and drunk students ;)
    • Are you sure it is your job to filter the pollution with your very own set of lungs?
    • Do you think you can win against a doubledecker in case of frontal collision (still not used those cars driving the WRONG $^$%^%& side of the road ;)
    • Are you rich enough to pay fines for riding on the pavements... or to pay for a new one, when your bike gets stollen?
    mmhh... thought not. The only alternative I found to be half viable is to rollerblade to the uni. I found these nifty skates with a blade that comes of the shoe, it's pretty cool to go inside shops and stuff. Still doesn't solve the problem of car pollution, but at least you can still ride on the pavement (towns like manchester forbid it :(((( )

    Oh well, I guess at some point I'll have to learn how to drive a car and start contributing to air pollution myself...

    ---

  • Thoughts from a cyclist (Score:4)

    by Mr T ( 21709 ) on Friday September 08, 2000 @04:47AM (#795707) Homepage
    As a competitive racer (read: bike geek, and there are hardcore geeks in the bike world) and a full-on computer geek I have mixed emotions on this stuff. You would not believe the kinds of money I and people like me have spent trying to make our bikes stronger, stiffer, and above all else lighter. A good racing bike doesn't have comforts, in fact they are usually aluminum or carbon and they are insanely stiff and you feel every little pebble in the road, minimum padding in the seat, cork on the bars is probably the biggest luxury on the ride.. Even mountain biking is moving away from soft long-travel full suspension style "luxury" bikes, only down hill experts ride those anymore, soft tails (very cool, pivotless rear suspension usually made out of space age carbon or Ti.. no pivot means no extra metal for the joints which means less weight) are where it's at because they are stiffer which means that less energy goes in to bounce and more energy goes in to make you go forward faster, there is just enough rear suspension to take the edge off. That's not to say it's not fun or enjoying to ride such a bike, the idea is to go fast and that's what they are designed to do, I probably wouldn't tour 500 miles on one though.

    Then these guys come along, I read about Winnebiko in Dr. Dobbs a while back.. And they are bucking the nature of it all for me. Putting computers and crap on there is sweet. Shit, putting computers on just about everything is sweet, but this just doesn't seem right some how. Maybe I don't get the whole "touring" thing. All the computers and stuff make it more heavy which means you can't climb as fast and they make it less aerodynamic which means you're not going to hawl as much ass on the downhill side. Basically, it slows you down and that seems contradictory to the purpose.

  • This guys gonna get his rear kicked one of these days. I mean, I like the idea, but the very *LOOK* of the beast with the Palm sticking out just screams "Please, KICK MY A**!!". ;-P Of course, as you peddle as fast as you can to get away, you hit a rock, fly through the air, and begin to cry as all of the wonderfull toys come smashing to a pile of smashed plastic and broken circuit boards. And just then, the guys who say you earlier catch up.. ;-P
  • Nice spelling!
  • Anything to get all these flabby-ass geeks off their asses and outside is okay by me. If it takes Quake on wheels, then so be it.
  • Cardio vascular diseases take about 60% of Americans. The other 40% die of cancer. Accidents and other stuff is trival next to the biggies, less than 10%. I'm on track to be in the majority.

    I've worked out various schemes to get some exercise in, but nothing has worked out yet. Riding to work was the best, but living 45 miles from work wrecked that. At home, I set up a clipboard next to the wheight set so I could read. That was cool. I've also set up exercise bikes next to desks. Both the weight set and the bikes had two problems: sweat and noise. Can't set this up at work without putting the rest of the department on meds.

  • A huge step backward from his winebikeo. It's so far backward that it makes the winebikeo look practical. Gone are the recumbent seating, solar cells and other goodies for touring. It was designed so that he could type while riding.

    Forward would be to add a heads up display to a helmet and some kind of voice recognition. The goal should be to be no more distracted by work than by a good conversation. Oh yeah, make that a thick helmet just in case.

    This made me think about human power in general and how expensive it is. An average person can sustain about 1/4 horsepower. Let's call that 250 watts. If we could convert all that to electricity for one hour, we'd have made 0.25 kilowatt hours. At minimum wage of five bucks an hour, we'd have a killowatt hour that costs $20, which is one thousand times more expensive than normal production and hundreds of times more expensive than retail electicity.

    How about a direct comparison? A good rider can keep up about 20mph, so he will cover a mile in 3 minutes. At minimum wage, that will cost you 25 cents. A car that gets 30 mpg will will cost you 4.7 cents to drive you that mile at $1.41 per gallon. Let's call that 5 cents/mile to make things easy and conservative. The difference of 20 cents per mile, when multiplied by the 100,000 mile life of the car adds up to twenty thousand dollars.

    Oh well, I'd still love to live within 10 miles of the place I work, and ride there every day.

  • Hear hear. I've been using the TINI for my fourth year project in electrical engineering, and I've been having lots of fun with it.

    We've got it performing access control, automatic temperature control - using a fan and a heater - and we've also got switches, etc, controllable from a web browser using servlets, not applets.

    TINI is cool - and it's well priced

  • Does this mean that soon they'll make cars with GPS and Sat Nav that actually works properly? Hell, maybe it'll help us get around London...
  • Use a hand held GPS - there are models which have london maps built in.
  • Embedded Java? On a bike?

    Oh well, I guess that silly Java-on-a-wristwatch joke isn't as far away as I'd like it to be.
    ---
    pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate [ncsu.edu].
  • Bit awkward if you're trying to drive at the same time. Do what the Navy does. Fit a HUD to cars... Maybe we'll gain the weaponry then too. :)
  • I can't believe /. posted a pointer to a really boring article that has been on their site for months almost the same day that I noticed an actually interesting article on the same site.

    Check out this [ibutton.com] article on an iButton interface for your Visor...

  • but people have also tried to make cars do everything practically. I remember a news story about 15 years ago that covered a guy who had retrofitted his classic car (circa 50') with a bar, kitchen, shower (you basically hung off the side of the car while it was moving I think!), and many other items that I can't remember. No, there was no internet or GPS that car didn't have any of that new fangled stuff...
  • ... rain? How well to all those components work in a downpour? Or are you only supposed to ride the thing where there's guaranteed blue skies? Silly me - you can only afford one if you're a Silly Valley dotcom millionaire, so of course rain's not a problem. Doh.

    ai731

    --

  • Well, there are two things I am very
    glad about. One, this post is lame, so it
    won't get to much attention and the second
    is I am replying very late in the game.

    These are cool things...normally I would have
    to worry about losing karma (but today I have
    not those fears).

    You see, Sun created java to suck, its slow,
    its not really that portable when you do
    cool stuff (ie device interaction), and its
    way to bulky for my needs. Java compiles o
    so nice and small doesn't it....but your fucking
    jvm is a pos bloatware bitch. I can see
    the Sun gods now pulling jedi mind tricks...
    its not the jvm your looking for....

    Anyhow, ok, the Tiny is a POS, serve a web page
    and hope to god the fucker doesn't crash. For
    the price of those bastards you would be better
    suited to get a 486 at a trade show. Something
    can still be compact and be worthless... I know,
    I see it in the toilet every morning. Even worse,
    you really don't want to run the java based stuff
    on em... ;)

    iButton. This shit is cool when you use a real
    language behind the big bad deamon. Use java,
    and your fucked. Need serial support...on anything
    but windows.... HAHAHAHAHA. Device interaction,
    very cool, very tricky, very much not a java thing.

    Lets talk about PALM. A geek toy. That is what it
    is... a toy. Its for geeks with to much money
    who want to say...oh look at me...im a cool geek
    with some green. I am quite sure the java
    implementation is whacked. ("Not sure", it means
    misinformed and still ranting like a mofo).

    Now my big complaint. All the really hyped up
    bs Sun tries to feed us. OneWire Network(tm).
    ITS A FUCKING SERIAL DEVICE. Java reeks of
    this kind of crap. Thats what Sun does... they
    market shit. Thats what this bike is... it
    is a marketing walking talking frankenstein that
    has come to sleep with your daughter and take
    your wife to reno.

    Run, don't walk to your nearest Sun representative
    and demand those fuckers go back to the planet
    they came from.
  • ... do you really want to look like this [ibutton.com]?

  • 2WD (Score:1)

    by hawkfan ( 11267 )
    To get the ultimate bike
    You would of course
    Want a two (2) wheel drive
    bicicle.

    What good is
    A GPS
    If you're
    on your ass?

    Or worse your wrist.
  • I've never used a Cannondale mountain bike, so I don't know if they really do crack'n'fail. I have an old steel Stump Jumper.

    As well as the CAAD4 road frame I have a 1990 3.0 series criterium frame (extra chunky downtube, cantilevered rear dropouts, etc) that has been ridden, raced, and crashed continually since it was new and shows no signs of cracking or any kind of failure.

    I'm quite happy with my upper body as it is, thanks. I'd show you, but I think my husband would be upset.

    Molly.
  • You can still use the pedals; but do you need an IP chain for that ???
    How to make a sig
    without having an idea
  • I appreciate that this is a bike for geeks, but could it look any less geeky, do you think?
  • Why didn't he just get a limo?! :)
  • I remember a while back someone came up with a navigation system which, rather than using GPS sattelites, tuned into AM radio and gained its position by triangulation of the data combined with a database of transmitter locations. Needed a heck of a lot of signals - 10ish IIRC - to get an accurate enough position, but it did work. And for quite a bit less cost, too. Never did hear more about it, which is a pity. Struck me as a nice hack and would probably work better in that sort of environment.

    Anyway, back onto the original. One thing some designers seem to forget, though, is that it isn't practical to assume a constant GPS signal. I heard a rather funny story a little while back where a system was being tested by one of the UK car mags (Autocar) but wasn't telling them to come off a roundabout. See, the exit was under a flyover and it couldn't get the signal as it hit the junction, which it required. Oops...

    Someone soon wrote in and pointed out that the system on their Rover 75 could successfully navigate through a tunnel. Apparently, it was using the speedo and power steering to provide secondary location information. Not so accurate, but it worked well enough to clear the obstruction and could probably help with this sort of problem.
  • like put stabilizers on it or something?
  • On the wall is both a 120-volt power plug for recharging the battery and the RJ45 Ethernet jack that gives the bike an Internet connection..

    Not even a wireless LAN? Hm, is the 150km extension cord also included?

  • hmm. Maybe we could attach the weapons to the bike? Then they could make an 80's styled "Street- Hawk" TV program about it...
  • That would be Nightvision [cadillac.com] by Cadillac.
  • Get a smaller battery and get the current generated by the rider. The battery is just here to discharge when you stop. Then you can do some sport and burn some fat (a lot of american need it). Put a GSM modem and get the internet live. But only for the rear passengers. The driver needs to not be disturbed.
  • where handy usage is strongly discouraged

    And just to help confused people, "handy" is the English word for "mobile phone", but not in English-speaking countries.

  • ...did a talk at an auditorium at Moffett Field, California, for the Computer Museum just yesterday, and I went to go hear it. Very interesting stuff.

    The Computer Museum's home page is at www.computerhistory.org.

  • Those aren't real bikes. Real bikes have skinny tyres and go on roads.

    Cannondale make nice ones. Mine looks a bit like this [cannondale.com]. Got to do something about those STI levers though. Why don't they make something for people with tiny hands?

    Molly.

  • Help me with this one, gang:

    A few years ago (probably in an issue of QST magazine), there was an article - with photo's - of a bike + trailer that hauled lotsa computers, radios, solar cells, batteries, GPS-gear & cel.tel's.

    I think the designer/rider would come to your event for a cool US$ 5,000 for a show-and-tell, and the events were anything from trade-shows to science exhibits or the like.

    It's been so long that I've forgotten its name and URL. Anybody got it coming back to mind?

  • i knew a guy in high school that routed his cars windshield washer hose into the drving compartment, filled the washer resevoir with gin and at the press of a button; dispensed himself martini's. all without leaving the drivers seat.
  • The day is not far when somebody will try to OC. In view of this fact, I think it's important to warn people of various hazards.

    * Overclocking bikes is different from OC'ing PCs. A crash is slightly more likely to be non-recoverable.

    * Immersing bikes in liquid nitrogen tanks while dressed in scuba gear and driving by chicks to impress them with your leading edge status in the OC community is a Bad Idea.

    What other possibilities exist? Add to the list.

    w/m

  • Nifty bike, but not really fresh news. Dallas Semiconductor was riding it around at this year's Java1 [sun.com] show.
  • This caught me off guard. A bicycle is the last place I expected an internet connection (maybe not the last, but it's low on my list). With all the fuss about cell phone drivers, what about bicyclists playing Nethack? My friend has a bicycle with a digital spedometer on it, and I'm afraid of that killing me; "I wonder how fast I'm going, wow, 35 miles per h *WHUMP*" Imagine if I could troll Slashdot at 20 miles per hour? In my opinion, this is an unneeded and dangerous technology.
  • Where I come from, we call those things 'mopeds'.

    Bicycles run strictly on human power.

    But I suppose eBike sounds sexier than eMoped.

  • This made me think about human power in general and how expensive it is. An average person can sustain about 1/4 horsepower. Let's call that 250 watts. If we could convert all that to electricity for one hour, we'd have made 0.25 kilowatt hours. At minimum wage of five bucks an hour, we'd have a killowatt hour that costs $20, which is one thousand times more expensive than normal production and hundreds of times more expensive than retail electicity. How about a direct comparison? A good rider can keep up about 20mph, so he will cover a mile in 3 minutes. At minimum wage, that will cost you 25 cents. A car that gets 30 mpg will will cost you 4.7 cents to drive you that mile at $1.41 per gallon. Let's call that 5 cents/mile to make things easy and conservative. The difference of 20 cents per mile, when multiplied by the 100,000 mile life of the car adds up to twenty thousand dollars.

    An interesting analysis, but you're overlooking some of the biggest advantages of human power: renewable fuel (peanut butter, bananas, etc) and, especially, the benefit of exercise. Something like a million Americans die every year of heart disease, obesity-related diabetes is on the rise, and what is our solution? Ummm... driving our SUVs to the gym to ride a stationary bike. This isn't quite logical. Why not a laptop hooked to a recumbent bike via a generator charging a car battery? Who says you can't pedal and write code at the same time? How much more healthy, alert, and , yes dammit, buff would we all be if we got eight count 'em eight hours of aerobic exercise each and every day? Mere mortals would cringe before us! Geeks would RUUUUUUUUUUUULE..... oh, sorry. Yes, doctor, I'll take my meds now.

  • I have been doing ham radio on bikes for a long time.

    I have a 2 meter and a 440 mhx hand held. I put them on my bike when I do public service events or when I go for long trips and I think I may need to call for help if I get into trouble in places where cellular phones won't work.

    That is also where I draw the line.

    I have met Steve Roberts and I have seen his famous bike. I even lifted it. And almost ended up on the deck with a bad back. You guys are right.

    The weight is what kills the fun out of those gadgets.

    Sure, the solar panels are a good idea. I copy-catted that idea and have a small solar panel that I use on long trips. No computers. No internet. No GPS. No heads up stuff.

    In fact, the ham radio stays in the pannier sack until I need to use it. Hence, it stays dry in the rain. Seattle does get its rain. When I am riding, I am riding. Not computing or talking or webbing or whatever.

    I also agree with you Iowa people. What happened to him can be an embarrasment. Having met him, I can fully simpathise with you folks.

    Good Luck!

  • As a mountain-biker (Kona Explosif with Pace front forks, fixed-tail), the only thing I want more of is _fun_. Adding electronics to a device designed to cross terrain in the most enjoyable way seems a bit dumb to me. If it doesn't get me more air or more speed, or less weight up the hill, I don't want it.

    Rob.
  • They have it, in fact they have had it for a long time. I think the simplest HUDs on cars came out around '91 or '92. They used to run an add on television showing a person passing another car and how much scenery changes in the amount of time it takes to look down at your dash meters. The early HUD would print your speed and RPMs.

    They are still working on advancing the tech. I think the latest is the oncomming headlight dimmers and pseudo(?) night-vision. Though that is kinda of stretching the HUD concept.

    I kind of remember a navigation system that projected on the wind sheild, it was probably on a concept car though. The problem is that a meaningful map is usually rather detailed, expecially in a dense area like cities where they are used the most. So they become distracting.

  • Let's see.. I am supposed to be able to send email from this thing..? From a Palm..? While riding..? Yeah.. I could picture myself riding this (probably heavy) bike with one hand while tapping merrily (or writing Graffiti) on the Palm with the other hand watching the road, the traffic and the Palm on the same time.. NOT! Here in Denmark we have a law against talking on a cellphone while driving a car or riding a bike. There is a reason for that..
    This is another example of a useless "we-have-nothing-better-to-do-let's-make-a-gadget- because-we-can" toy. Sure it's cool to have a Palm on your bike. But would you really want to..? Can you say "rain"...?
    And it's not even fitted with a wireless network. It has to be plugged in d*mmit..! I suppose it doesn't come with 100 km's worth of Cat-5 cabling?
    /S

  • ...if we can train fish to use it.

    If you don't know the old feminist saying, then look here:
    http://www.fishonabike.com/why.htm [fishonabike.com]

  • Of course, one of the first thinfs to do is wire and program the thing to blank the display whenever the wheels are turning. I should know, as I once, when I was still young and foolish, after repairing the odometer on my bike, ran fully into a parked Volkswagen Beetle. Luckily only my bike and my pride were hurt.

    Also, adding an automated radar system might be fun. Pity any software for such a consumer good would be written with the assumption of MicroSoft running the computer, making "Where do you want to go today." a hazardous experience, invariably ending in up in Redmond at the License Control booth.

    But imagine the possibilities for traffic control and acciednt prevention, if every vehicle had a little chip, broadcasting it's size, position, velocity, acceleration, direction, and propulsion method. <wavy lines>Why, combining the info with a map, you could warn against lunatic drivers plotting to bury themselves into you. Or look around corners with impeded sight.</wavy lines>

    Alas such a system would immediately be deedm classified and solely be used by the police and criminals.*sniff*

    Stefan.
    It takes a lot of brains to enjoy satire, humor and wit-

  • As another bike geek, I have to agree with you. The beauty of the bicycle is in its simplicity,not in how complicated you can make it. You can leave all that stuff off my bike thank you, maybe even make it a single speed.... Of course we can leave that for another discussion.
  • Thank you for the correction. You are correct. I meant to express this sentiment, but I worded it improperly. I didn't want to scare others into thinking that there were people who seriously go riding around with no means of slowing or stopping. ;)
  • Interesting point. I assume you are referring to the choice of an Aluminum frame? I actually found that the balance between the stiff aluminum and the suspension gives a really good ride. The rear suspension does absorb more pedal power than I would like, but this is a tradeoff for the money I could afford to invest.

    Since getting into cycling (I try to do about 300 kilometers a week) I am finding that road biking is really my true passion. This spring I plan to get a road bike, but it definitely won't have a palm pilot mounted on it. ;)

  • Even car boosting orginizations like AAA peg the cost of driving at $.40-$.50/mile. If you start figuring in the indirect subisidies, the cost goes a lot higher. (all that sales and property tax that gets used to pay for road repair -- so called auto user fees don't come close to covering the direct cost of roads)

    Besides the thing the converted is a MOPED. There are several compeeting definitions of "bicycle", but this doesn't even make the most liberal of them. (Intl. Human Powered Vehicle Assn [ihpva.org], whose rules for eligibility are:

    1. Vehicle must have a means of directional control, operated from the vehicle. (no guy with a remote control, trackside)
    2. Land vehicles must have a brake. (they also do air and water)
    3. No stored energy. (No batteries. Flywheels that are stationary at the start of the event are permitted)

  • I do agree that all that electronics is a bit excessive, but it is a nifty idea. It might be a good idea to know the battery state, and certainly speed and distance indicators are helpful.

    I am right now shopping for an electric bike for commuting, and the idea of an electronic interface sounds pretty interesting. I wonder what can be done that is not too distracting for safe riding. The largest road hazard by far are the clueless idiots in four-wheel metal boxes who are too busy reading the paper to pay attention to the road, I certainly don't want to encourage cyclists to behave in the same poor fashion.

    Btw, if anyone has an opinion on specific electric bikes, I would appreciate any comments. Here in drive-or-die Atlanta, there are few places that even have any, much less what I'm looking for, and I will either have to buy it sight unseen or plan a trip somewhere. I have decided to go with a trike because it's bigger and more stable -- and with the electric assist the mass isn't a problem.

    And before you get on me about the blue hair trailer park thing, the last thing I am interested in is sport riding -- I just want to be able to go to the train station or the store without driving. The short trips are killing my car and the bus sucks for reasons too numerous to start in on here.
  • Is it just me, or does he look like JeffK [somethingawful.com]?
  • Does anyone besides me find this ridiculous? Some questions / comments / observations:
    • Why?
    • How heavy is this monster? Lightweight bikes are far more practical, as a rule; is this too bulky to be worth using?
    • Would you want to be on the same {street|sidewalk} as the maniac barreling along on one of these? Cell phones for drivers are bad enough, palm-web-java-whatever on a bike sounds like a series of (admittedly relatively minor, compared to cars) injuries just screaming to happen.
    • I, for one, like riding my bike as a form of release from technology. It's just me and the pedals, and one of the few times I don't really connect to the digital world. I don't want that space to be invaded this way. Maybe others would like it, but I think it would be a particularly hard sell if others feel the same way I do.

    Gizmos in the car is one thing -- you're more likely to have passengers to play with the stuff, or to be stuck in traffic and what have you. But this feels like the wrong platform to me. Why why why?



  • Hmm.. Martinis in a car. Now all you got to do is drive over bumpy terrain and get them <007 Voice>shaken, not stirred</007 Voice>


    -- Bucket
  • So I'll get this bike, and go for a ride to my friend's house. After I try to dislodge the dirt and gravel from the connectors when I get there, I'll check out the weather report, and find out exactly when my trick e-bicycle is going to get soaked (oops, on the way home - shit!) and become a heavy, bulky, ugly bike with some waterlogged ex-LAN components strewn throughout.

    As I swallow the grain of salt, I noticed it's stamped "PROOF OF CONCEPT ONLY" on it...

  • It's been done :-
    http://www.rokon.com/
    http://home.mira.net/~iwd/2x2x2/index.html

    Notice it's not really a sports bike, see my sig for the ultimate bike.

  • the bike can send you automatic email such as

    "You are about to ride under a bus, LOOK UP, LOOK UP!!!!"

    A head-up-display would be MUCH safer.

    Bob.
  • "e-biker crashed while playing quake" ... nah - not for me!

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