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I just don't know where to begin with [url= https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1989795590/the-cyclotron-bike-revolutionary-spokeless-smart-c?ref=nav_search ]this one[/url]:
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They could have got someone who can actually ride a bike to put on their video!!
World's First(tick) Hubless Smart (tick) Bicycle - Electronic E(tick)-Gear Box - Fully Integrated(tick) - Space Grade(tick) Carbon Fiber(tick) - iPhone & Android App(tick)
And that, is Kickstarter Bingo before I've even got off the title!
well that's not winning any prizes in the short chainstay competition.
Looks like it handles like Jack Russel with an inner-ear infection on meth.
Don't trust. Can't spell "Cable"
I was wondering how the shopping stays in the baskets when you go round a corner, but it doesn't look like it goes round corners anyway.......
No glowing solid wall of light trailing out behind you?
Tron is dissapoint.....
Looks like it handles like Jack Russel with an inner-ear infection on meth.
HAH! It does, though.
"We've already secured more than 1.5 million Euros in funding, plus our own funds we've put up. This money is for taking on the last technical tweaks on the Bike and the App/Web development. The pledges we collect on Kickstarter are solely used for production of the final Cyclotron Bikes."
My translation: "We've built a prototype, the initial backers thought it was sh!t, we now need another 50k to build a few real ones to claw back our own investment."
Although I could be wrong and I'll be troning it around the Surrey Hills on one this time next year.
say what you like the child seat is class!
full marks for actually having something ride-able. That's more that lots of kickstarter folks seem to have. However it does look like a real handful or the guy riding it can't ride bikes. Wonder if the problem is in the hubless wheels
which reminds me, I wonder how that Limits stuff is doing
That is the biggest pile of shit I have seen in my life.
Shared!
26" ain't dead.
Where's the $1 pledge that goes to sending them on a photoshop course?
full marks for actually having something ride-able.
The video looks like a render, rather than actual video.
When are they getting sued by Daft Punk?
Me thinks the 'carbon' exterior is hiding lots of lawn-mower parts.
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Never mind it looking almost unridable why does this guy have someone else's face?
Just looked at the video & it's either massively difficult to ride, or the rider has been on the Old Peculiar all day!!
Pretty horrendous all round, really.
[I] it's either massively difficult to ride, or the rider has been on the Old Peculiar all day[/I]
or it's massively difficult to animate human movement realistically...
Not the bit of the guy riding it unless they deliberately wanted it to look unrideableThe video looks like a render, rather than actual video.
mmm, goes off to watch againor it's massively difficult to animate human movement realistically..
edit:you might be right. I was wondering why it was in the dark so much other than the fancy lights
The video doesn't look real. It looks like one of those TdF simulator type things...
That kids definitely gonna get wiped out by a lamp post or bollard!
IHN - Memberor it's massively difficult to animate human movement realistically...
Just watched it again & I can't decide, whether it's a real person or not.
If it was a rendered animation, why have the bike wobbling all over the place & why have the rider wearing some crappy brown Nike trainers when he's in a black bodysuit?
And why is he cycling down a random dark country lane (I guess the darkness is to show off the lighting). It would look far better if he was zooming through an urban, city environment.
The whole thing is just weird....
The pedal strok on the legs looks wrong, really choppy, and I gues dark country lanes are easier to animate than busy urban streets.
If there's a real, actual working bike I'll eat my hat. Well, I'm not wearing a hat, my socks then.
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Definitely some really dodgy merging real with unreal going on. It's almost like it's a bike being ridden on rollers then having the crappy render merged over the top.
That might explain the funny wandering. It does look a bit rollerishIt's almost like it's a bike being ridden on rollers then having the crappy render merged over the top.
With a single child seat, that's gonna be a handful.
With a single child seat, that's gonna be a handful.
It'll be fine as long as you never have to turn right.
Also if it's a render it's a really crappy render, it looks like it's made from pleistocene if anything. Where and how do you mount the front light?
When the Sensors encounter signs of an emergency or accident, the Cyclotron App autonomously sends an emergency notification to get you help.
😆 😆
Nice use of the word "tron" in the name though.
I give it a week till they get notified of a copyright infringement.
the video is well dodge, definitely some weird rendering going on, the way it instantly accelerates/decelerates
the mock up looks like painted cardboard to be honest! some shopping of the wheels in the side on images too.
such wow
I like that people want to do something different and think outside the box, but you'd have to be insane to put your money up for this.
Everything about it looks like a low scoring product design dissertation.
A VERY low scoring one!
4/10 effort
0/10 feasibility
[i]See me. [/i]
Better graphics on Zwift.
Kickstarter is a great way to separate the stupid from their money, especially if you do something bike related. Not everything obviously, but almost all the bike tech things on there wouldn't get investment any other way, for good reason.
There's a reason no-one uses hubless wheels - they're really, really hard to make run true without wobbling. If that thing is real, that might explain why he's having so much trouble riding it.
I experimented a bit with hubless wheels for someone years ago - never got a solution that worked nicely.
Cabels.
Ahhhhm oot.
I think it's real footage of the prototype being ridden, I think the wobbling might be a result of the hubless wheels, the choppy pedalling looked like it might be caused by speeding up/slowing down playback of the video, as the steering wobble seemed to speed/slow too, I'm guessing the prototype is fixed too no shots of it going up or down, just cruising on the flat...
Definitely Someone's industrial design degree final year project, and now they don't want to get a real job...
Hooray for kicker-m'starterer, keeping 'Millennials' with wacky ideas and up to date haircuts, out of everyone else's way...
Not real footage. Definitely animation or really dodgy mo-cap of a roller bike. Not sure why the wobbles though, unless it's a clumsy attempt to make the video more realistic?
Definitely Someone's industrial design degree final year project, and now they don't want to get a real job...
Exactly what I thought, I did an ID degree and one of the shit and deluded people on the course turned up on Dragons Den a few years later pitching his submarine idea. It was still a student project just with some better visuals 😆
Even if it did work (unlikely) the pricing of 1599 euros for a hand built, electronic geared, lithium battery, carbon fibre thing is hopelessly unrealistic considering the price of a decent normal bike made in the hundreds of thousands. Perhaps they'll be assembling in Nigeria ?
Just seen this on the front page... they're offering money back guarantee after a test ride!
There must be some kind of protection from kickstarter to stop people getting ripped off, surely??
[edit]Nope: [i]Kickstarter doesn't evaluate a project's claims, resolve disputes, or offer refunds — backers decide what's worth funding and what's not.[/i]
Saw this last night while researching for my own Bicycle related crowd funding project.
It was late when I looked at it and I wasn't that critical and just thought the wobbly riding was down to the low angular momentum of the wheels having assumed that true to their word they'd created a working proto.
Maybe there is more smoke and mirrors involved. One thing is for certain, as has been pointed out above, the budget is very low and the pricing ambitious.
I wish them all the luck in the world, it has some nice ideas but they're going to disappoint a lot of people.
Good graphics - low content = Bull**** baffles brains.
[quote="bencooper"]I experimented a bit with hubless wheels for someone years ago - never got a solution that worked nicely.In other industries they've spent probably millions trying to get hubless wheels to work.
They've learnt lots of things, but not how to make hubless wheels.
Interesting from a design/styling/showoff perspective. Bloody useless for anything else. Like moving, or going in a straightline.
Hubs work really well.
it's not clear from the video if the 'wheel' is just an exposed section at the bottom that touches the ground or if the whole thing is exposed. Also that riding position does not look comfortable & it hasn't got a bell on, how would he ride down the canal???
No, it is pretty clear - the wheels are almost fully enclosed. A true hubless design (see Sbarro) would not accomodate the add-ons.
MUSIC!
Who's ridden a bike and thought "this is okay, I guess, but I really wish it didn't have any hubs. That would make it great"?
It looks futuristic, but what's the point?
didnt you see the bags?!!!!It looks futuristic, but what's the point?
[quote=bails ]It looks futuristic, but what's the point?
It's on Kickstarter, I presume the point is to scam money off the gullible.
Has all the hallmarks of the drone that was crowdfunded a couple of years back. Basically some interesting concepts packaged together with some unicorn dust which can't possibly be delivered at the price they promise nor, indeed, any price.
The pledged amount went down 2000€ since yesterday, this can only be a good thing I suppose.
Deep potholes and kerbs look like they'd cause problems.
Think I'll pass
Yep, because if that project actually gets funded, no-one will be getting a bicycle or ever seeing their money again!The pledged amount went down 2000€ since yesterday, this can only be a good thing I suppose.
Some interesting ideas, but as stated absolutely impossible at that price. Also no mention of the weight of the thing... would have to be 60 lbs+ surely?! (not that it actually exists!)
The weight's near the top of the page, it's worth another lol.
[i]The weight's near the top of the page, it's worth another lol.[/i]
Yeah, but.. its SPACE GRADE carbon fibre!
You know that uncomfortable looking riding position? Just flip the handlebars and *lower the saddle* and you can completely screw your knees.
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http://www.tuvie.com/flexi-bike-with-rotating-frame-allows-you-to-change-your-riding-posture/
Their timeline does claim they have a working prototype (and the FAQ says there are no renderings as Kickstarter doesn't allow them?)
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Quite apart from any design issues the price is so ludicrously low it doesn't even come across as a good con.
[quote=simons_nicolai-uk ]Their timeline does claim they have a working prototype
Define "working" and "prototype"
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It's ok to dream 😉
The budget isn't enough to develop an iPhone app, let alone build bikes.
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So far they've spent 1.5m on a working prototype.
oh yeah, I'd forgot about that bit...Yeah, but.. its SPACE GRADE carbon fibre!
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To achieve a true Space Grade Composite Construction we combined two layers of carbon fiber with an ultra lightweight core structure. This way we can use fewer layers of carbon fiber and less resin, without impairing stability.
so why does the "ultra lightweight core structure" look like the cardboard stuff I use to make cheap, light exhibition graphics, with a layer of carbon fibre-effect vinyl applied on top? I suppose that technically qualifies as "composite construction"! 🙂
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I guess, being charitable, they haven't given too many details away because they're going to apply for 15 patents. (The problem being that this will cost most of the money they're trying to get off gullible punters.)
so why does the "ultra lightweight core structure" look like the cardboard stuff I use to make cheap, light exhibition graphics,
Because that sort of sandwich has a high strength to weight? I used sandwich panels with a honeycomb aluminium core and alu sheet on either side to make cladding . More of an issue is those sheets are flat, and they only work if they're flat. There aren't any flat panels on the bike that I can see. The outer sheet of the composite wouldn't be woven either would it?
(The problem being that this will cost many multiples of the money they're trying to get off gullible punters.)
Has all the hallmarks of the drone that was crowdfunded a couple of years back. Basically some interesting concepts packaged together with some unicorn dust which can't possibly be delivered at the price they promise nor, indeed, any price.
Zano, which was basically fraud as the video they had of the working prototype, wasn't video of a working prototype.
I got screwed in that one...
If you make the panels yourself, the honeycomb core is fairly floppy, so doesn't need to be perfectly flat.
That "working" hubless bike up there (for a limited definition of "working") illustrates another problem - it's effectively got a 4" back wheel, so it has to have a £500 Schlumpf gearbox in the bottom bracket just to get it up to any sensible kind of gearing.
These baskets are going to be loads of fun every time you stop:
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Not to mention the gaping holes at each end, how are you supposed to stop your chiaha from falling out.
To late for a ninja edit, I meant chihuahua!
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The white hexagonal stuff is this: http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/core-materials/closed-cell-foam-and-3dcore/3d-core-pet100-foam-core.html
not exactly space age.
I think they're defining 'space age' to be contemporary with the Apollo program.
The other stuff is Nomex honeycomb, basically Kevlar fibres made in paper and thermoset in a phenolic resin. It's old tech but next to nowt beats it for making stiff and light, flat or curved panels from.
Great spot Andyl - they've even nicked their pic from the link you posted:
I just did the same, made a black background... and you can see now that the carbon weave on the left is all out of perspective, so that's another shopped pic... soooo dodgy
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Needs [url=
Wheels[/url]