Cannondale Simon electronic suspension and more

Stanley Song, an engineer from Cannondale, was at CES with a prototype electronically controlled bicycle suspension system called “Simon”. This design replaces many of the internal mechanical parts (springs, valves, etc) with an electromechanical device that can vary the suspension based on rider weight and current riding conditions. Check out the videos of the prototype at this Engadget post…it really is pretty cool. Via Cyclelicious.

Yanko Design posted a Police Bike concept by Ciprian Frunzeanu. Also at Yanko design, you can see prototype photos of Fredrik Rudenstam’s Nishiki urban commute concept bike. You may remember that I posted his rendering of that bike a while back.

NYC based designer Yuji Fujimura’s square electric bike design has been getting a lot of attention on the web the last few days. One of the features in his concept is a built-in computer laptop port.

Bike Rumor posted pictures, taken by Conrad Stoltz, of this “one-off carbon fiber tandem based on Specialized’s 2010 SHIV time trial bike”. Wow! I want one…or I should say, “I want it” since there are no others in existence.

MocoLoco posted a custom Trek Carbon District belonging to Lance Armstrong. The yellow belt is a nice touch.

Speaking of Trek, take a look at these “Trek Exhibition Bikes” at Carefully Considered. These appear to just be photoshop renderings and not real custom paint jobs. Either way, I like the top, left one.

Cyclelicious posted these handmade wooden bikes from a Japanese shipbuilder.

According to Inhabitat, the number of cars owned by Americans last year declined by about 4,000,000, with more people relying on car sharing, public transportation, and of course…cycling.

Finally, I will mention that Bicycle Design was mentioned, along with 5 other cycling blogs, in the Guardian UK’s weekly internet review. Take a look, and check out the other bike blogs if you aren’t already familiar with them.


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10 responses to “Cannondale Simon electronic suspension and more”

  1. GeekGuyAndy Avatar
    GeekGuyAndy

    James,

    These BSO CAD design student projects are really annoying. That police bike concept looks like a toy that should be shooting out bubbles. I'm really getting sick of these; do they really help bike design?

    The carbon Specialized tandem is exactly the type of bike that should be hyped about by designers and bike lovers. It's functional, it's real, and it likely performs the way it's meant to (unlike those proposed superior commuter designs). How about more of this real stuff?

  2. Astroluc Avatar
    Astroluc

    I tend to agree with geekguy about the concept bike designs; no for you showing us (I like that part) but in that they never get out of digital file format. I'd like to see some working mock-ups so they can really discuss some usability rather that pretty designs that never exist in tangible form.

    That being said — I simply love the wooden bikes by the Japanese ship builder… I have a weak spot for woodcraft, and they are simply beautiful. Now, I am not entirely sure that I would trust my bulk to the inconsistencies of wood; but if I were foolishly wealthy, I would buy it just to put on my wall.

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I'm a little unclear on how the front shifting is supposed to work on the police bike, also seems like it would be kind of messy to apply what appears to be mechanical assist at the crank with a triple.

  4. Yokota Fritz Avatar
    Yokota Fritz

    Mention in the Guardian FTW!

    That tandem — oh my but that is absolutely GORGEOUS.

    I appreciate the concept stuff; in a perfect world something beyond vapor ware would be nice with real proofs of concept, but you're doing a great job getting the word out on the ideas. Yeah, there are some bad ideas in there, but some truly intriguing ones as well.

  5. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    That electronic fork is really fascinating. I wonder what principle it works by – I'm guessing it's probably a magnetorheological damper, as on luxury cars (and even prosthetic limbs!).

    I imagine it will be prohibitively expensive for the foreseeable future (as with Di2), but I think there's a really impressive confluence of electronic and mechanical systems coming as the prices of the former continue to drop. Eventually I wouldn't be surprised if electronics allow sufficient simplification in manufacturing that a superior "smart" electronic part is even cheaper than a purely mechanical one…

  6. Ron Avatar
    Ron

    Andrew : Close. The fork’s damping duties are operated by a single motor controlled orifice damper. The rate of fork compression or extension is limited by the oil flow through a single hole. A computer controlled stepper motor adjusts the size of the orifice and hences controls the flow of oil. Cannondale claims are upto 10,000 setup configurations. Pretty huge. However, its still proof of concept and we'll see how well it turns out for MTB'ers when it shows its face in the market.

  7. 3 hjulet cykel Avatar
    3 hjulet cykel

    haha, WTF…..

    Nice turbo tandem,

    I like your blog, thansk for the nice pics.

  8. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I hope the designers of these bikes consider entering their designs in IDEA2010. There is a leisure and recreation category that might be fitting. You should check it out: http://www.idsa.org/idea

  9. InternGirl Avatar
    InternGirl

    No word yet on when Cannondale plans on launching its new fully active suspension system, but Design News (a trade pub for designers) just interviewed engineers who developed the servo valve and published more details on how it works and the design tradeoffs. We’d love to hear from the mountain bike community – have engineers made the right performance trade-offs and what would you be willing to pay?

    http://www.designnews.com/article/443620-Future_Shock.php

  10. cyclingonline Avatar

    WOw Thats Tandeem BIke Is beautiful and “danger”design Its Cool……..

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