Comments on: Berner pulleys and a Rafael singlespeed

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:20:43 +0000

Nah, that’s not true at all.

I had my bike setup with a similar bar position for years. Sprinting, both in and out of the saddle, was great. Beyond my anecdotal evidence, take a trip through cycling history and look at all the pursuit/funny bikes that graced the 80′s. A lot of them had bar positions level with the front wheel and they were using 24″ or 650 front wheels. It might not be ideal for people with back or neck problems… but I don’t think that’s the market a concept track bike is aimed at…

Actually, lower handlebars will make a bike inherently more stable, as long as your hand position is in front of the stem. The lower they are, the more your body weight is thrusting forward to be supported by your hands, essentially pulling the front wheel straight.

What doesn’t look right about this bike is the saddle angle. With that much saddle-to-handlebar drop, there’s going to be nothing but the thin nose of that saddle and your soon-to-be-ineffectual genitals to support your weight when your hips rotate forward as you bend over.

By: weisenheimer

weisenheimer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:37:28 +0000

the “lightweight” disk wheel on the Spyder was on display at Interbike last fall. Eighty-something carbon spokes integrated into the disk.

By: Ross Nicholson

Ross Nicholson — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:20:53 +0000

Both photographs show black on black background. They’re impossible to see, even with magnification. Black backgrounds behind black parts my be being used to discourage photography or to hide details?

By: Jay Parkhill

Jay Parkhill — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:52:08 +0000

The Spyder does look nice. It also looks unrideable. The angle of the stem elegantly continues the plane of the top tube but the result is that the in-drops hand position is level with the front tire. That would be a scary bike to get out of the saddle on.

The is the Bicycle Design blog so no criticism of the coverage intended at all. Rafael talked a big game with its adjustable mold system. It’d be nice to see less concept and more rideable bikes to back up the hype.