Wide Rim Weight Reduction Experiment. For Acceleration Improvement. by Brian Miller, citizen scientist. CONCLUSION: Worthwhile. For the environment of paved city street riding, improved deceleration, acceleration, and steering speed are rather beneficial; lighter rim is better. ABSTRACT: An unusually wide bicycle rim is needed for a high performance urban bicycle project. To improve [more…]
Which has less mass, steel or air? On most planets, an air bladder is much lighter than a steel spring. There are other performance parameters, but air springs are light. A suspention air fork for a bicycle can often be almost the same weight as a dead rigid steel fork. The other parameters include stiction [more…]
Here is how the Maximum Roadster has been developing. Ceramic bottom bracket is a noticeable improvement. I got it by accident while testing many crank configurations for another bike. I ended up using the inexpensive crank, with high end chainrings, and top of the line bearings. Practical. Great tires, and that skinny Stans front rim. [more…]
The sleek carbon fiber and titanium, non worn out, Specialized Future Shock FSX Rock Shox suspension fork was not holding air in one side. I liked this damn thing, it’s perfect for street riding; light, compact, and short travel. I went to start a tear down and investigate what could be the problem. Of course, [more…]
Users of the category of vehicle, wheeled nonmotorized, operate differently from pedestrians. They also do not act like motorized vehicles. And considering the risk of damage or injury from a mishap, the tolerance should be wide.
The project started out to be as a Scorcher. Like those late 1800s simple, direct, bikes the scorcher guys rode. But really, I need multispeed shifting and brakes here on the street, also I need to learn about disc brakes. Plus I need to learn more about larger 700c wheels. So, big [more…]
I found a murdered-out 1 year old high end Specialized hybrid for sale. Frame was great, chipped and gunked like a retired delivery bike, but straight. The bike came with a rigid fork, and a smaller 26”, wide mountain bike wheel, with high end tire and rotor, but no brake. 2015 Specialized Crosstrail Sport [more…]
This has been the best iteration of this bicycle design. I have ridden this frame a lot, mucho trial-and-error with component advances. The result became: Light, compact, and nimble, yet hard; intended for broken big city streets. Acceleration among traffic being a top priority for componentry harmony.