autoshifter

yk said:

Does anybody have any experience with it ?
I've seen an informacial of a bike with autoshifter called LandRider.
Gear [censored] by centrifugal force.
I am just curious to know how the idea works. Not interested in the bike
quality ...etc.
There must be a good reason it is not that popular.

It's design forces the rider to maintain a cadence which many
recreational riders find to be excessively fast.
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"Werehatrack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

It's design forces the rider to maintain a cadence which many
recreational riders find to be excessively fast.

That not what they said on the infomercial.

--

Let the bridges I burn light my way...

yk said:

Does anybody have any experience with it ?
I've seen an informacial of a bike with autoshifter called LandRider.
Gear [censored] by centrifugal force.
I am just curious to know how the idea works. Not interested in the bike
quality ...etc.
There must be a good reason it is not that popular.

There's a concurrent thread about gear selection and a
perennial discussion of fit with the same conclusion: As
Peter Chisholm so famously said, "what's good for you is
good for you".

I suppose the guy who designed the shift curve of the little
spinning weights autoshifter, on his particular commuting
route, had it perfectly adjusted. For the rest of us it
shifts too early or too late or at an inappropriate time.

Given the shoddy bikes on which they are found and the
overall low cost execution, they are amazingly resilient. If
you find them interesting at all (I don't) the designer did
a good job of making it tough at a very low price.

Or, if you meant 'how does it do that?', a spinning weight
pulls the derailleur to a higher gear with faster wheel
speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm. The
mechanism is similar to an early-1800s steam engine governor.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"A Muzi" wrote: (clip) a spinning weight pulls the derailleur to a higher
gear with faster wheel speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So it takes no account of hills or headwinds? How can anyone ride a bike
like that?

Leo Lichtman said:

"A Muzi" wrote: (clip) a spinning weight pulls the derailleur to a higher
gear with faster wheel speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So it takes no account of hills or headwinds?

Most riders slow down when going up a hill or into a strong headwind; I
know I certainly do. That would then result in the device selecting a
lower gear. So hills and headwinds are automatically taken into account
by the effect they have on the rider's speed.

However, I can't see that I'd ever want a device automatically shifting
for me since there are times when I feel more like spinning and other
times when I'd rather push harder in a higher gear.

Andy Muzi said:

(clip) a spinning weight pulls the derailleur to a higher
gear with faster wheel speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Leo Lichtman said:

So it takes no account of hills or headwinds? How can anyone ride a bike
like that?

If you encounter a climb or a headwind, you will be forced to slow down.
This will make the gear shift down.

All automatic transmissions shift primarily on the basis of speed.

Sheldon "A Product For People Who Think They're Too Stupid To Be Able To
Operate A Regular Bicycle" Brown
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| pleasures in this world are always to be paid for, and that we |
| often purchase them at a great disadvantage, giving ready-monied |
| actual happiness for a draft on the future, that may not be honored. |
| -- Jane Austen |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
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Leo Lichtman said:

"A Muzi" wrote: (clip) a spinning weight pulls the derailleur to a higher
gear with faster wheel speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
So it takes no account of hills or headwinds? How can anyone ride a bike
like that?

It merely shifts by speed, and the shift points seem to be designed to
happen around a cadence of 75, or at least they were on the one I
briefly had.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

"A Muzi" wrote: (clip) a spinning weight pulls the derailleur to a higher
gear with faster wheel speeds, reverts to a lower gear with slower wheel rpm
(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Leo Lichtman said:

So it takes no account of hills or headwinds? How can anyone ride a bike
like that?

There's a S. Brown sig that goes something like, 'for every
problem there's a simple obvious solution that's wrong'

These bikes were premiums probably landed for about $50.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971