Rael: a road bike concept by Evan Solida

I have posted about Evan Solida’s Cervellum Hindsight digital rearview camera a few times in the past. In a post last August, I mentioned that the concept is moving forward and will be ready to ship sometime this year. Accident recording capability is something that people hoped for in earlier versions of the concept, and Evan explains that it will be available in the final product:

Accident recording, a patent-pending technology, is done by continuously recording loops of video both for­ward and behind the bicycle. With the integrated G-sensor, the Hindsight 60 can detect large impacts and will cease recording 10-seconds after any major shock, leaving the cyclist with actual video evidence of whatever occurred leading up to the accident.”

Evan’s latest design, the Rael concept bike, has a Hindsight camera lens nicely integrated into the seatstays. That is just one of the features that differentiates this concept bike from other high-end carbon road models on the market. An LED battery indicator for the Di2 drivetrain is included in the stem cap. Brakes are also integrated into the frame and fork leaving a clean overall appearance. The seat-tube is split diagonally and fitted with a dense elastomer. Doing this essentially turns the seat-stays and top-tube into an enor­mous leaf-spring, resulting in a limited amount of suspension. Other details, like the proprietary crankset and wheelset(s) combine to make this bike visually unlike any other.

Rael handlebar and brake leversThe patent-pending handlebar/brake concept is perhaps the most interesting detail on this bike though. Evan studied the ergonomics of traditional brake-lever/ handlebar assemblies before developing this new design. He explains:

“When you’re riding on normal hoods, your index finger (longest and most powerful digit) is located near the pivot for the lever.  That’s far from ideal.  You can generate the most braking power by riding in the drops with your index finger near the tip of the lever blade, the farthest point from the pivot.  I flipped things around so that you have the most modulation control while riding on the “hoods.”  Also, the “drops” can be angled outward to the user’s discretion.  One more benefit is that the “drops” are ergonomically shaped like a pistol grip, fantastic for tough sprints.”

You can see more renderings, and a specification chart, for the Rael concept below. For more information, contact Evan directly at evan (at) 6ixdesign (dot) com.

Comments

16 responses to “Rael: a road bike concept by Evan Solida”

  1. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    Interesting, but you are going the fastest when you are in the drop position. This concept provides less leverage for the brake lever precisely when you need it the most (when you are going the fastest)!

  2. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by James@BicycleDesign and others. James@BicycleDesign said: New post at Bicycle Design: Rael: a road bike concept by Evan Solida http://bit.ly/e5wIC9 […]

  3. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    “One more benefit is that the “drops” are ergonomically shaped like a pistol grip, fantastic for tough sprints.”

    This guy has never been in a sprint. The exact part of the bar you grip when sprinting (the last 5” or so) is the least ergonomic element of this design, and the brake lever attachment is right in the way of where most people’s first finger would be.

    “The seat-tube is split diagonally and fitted with a dense elastomer. Doing this essentially turns the seat-stays and top-tube into an enor­mous leaf-spring, resulting in a limited amount of suspension. ”

    So you put a dampening element in the middle of the common leg of the two triangles that are the whole reason that a traditional diamond frame bicycle is able to be so rigid with so little material? That strikes me as a bad idea — what does the FEA say? I’d be more interested in a similar design that brought the stays in under the dampener, making the whole top tube like a mild version of a Softride frame. You’d of course need to beef up the joint between the top and head tubes, but probably not much more than you would need to in order to make the design work as proposed.

  4. latron Avatar
    latron

    Like that you can change the geometry of the “drops” by sliding the attachments up and down the “ends,” but worry that there’s a physical connection there — what happens if a bolt pops loose while you’re sprinting in the drops? You lose the very part of the bar you’re holding on to, and it’s face-plant time.

  5. Ross Nicholson Avatar

    These all look like great ideas. “Most people” prefer their own bikes and aren’t looking for anything new. The integration of his genius rearview system seems top notch, and I believe I see an LED headlight system shaded underneath. We simply must stop looking at traffic lighting of bicycles as some kind of afterthought. Flat copper or silver wires can be ‘taped’ onto any bicycle invisibly, but carbon can integrate ultralight LED wiring throughout the machine adding strength to the frame and, yes lighting it up like a Christmas tree/Hanukkah bush. Extensive LED wiring should be standard on all frames meant for traffic.

  6. andy Avatar
    andy

    “lightweight training wheels” made me giggle. How much weight do I save if I use streamers?

  7. […] }else{ $(‘#dd_ajax_float’).hide() }
    }); });A friend of ours James over at Bicycle Design shot
    Road.Bike198 a link to this Rael concept road bike by Evan Solida.
    For those of you that […]

  8. […] it’s available, you can bet I’m
    gonna be sizing it up for my tandem bike collection. [Bicycle
    Design via Wired] […]

  9. […] policía tus oponentes de competición te pisan los talones. — Javier G. Pereda [Cervellum vía Bicycle Design] […]

  10. Ray Avatar
    Ray

    The ‘cow-horn’ bits on the bars won’t be UCI-legal for mass start races.

    Re- the brake lever design – you can achieve the same good leverage with cow-horn bars, TT brake levers and buttons for the electronic shifters, but the bars wouldn’t be legal as noted above.

    Not that I’ve found my baking leverage deficient when I’m in the hoods, except when using cantilever brakes on my cyclocross bike. And the UCI have solved that by making disc brakes legal in ‘cross races.

  11. Jordan Avatar
    Jordan

    Good luck making any adjustments to those brakes.

  12. […] | bicycledesign.netArticole similare:Ciclocomputer cu camera videoBiciclete Norco 2011 la Eurobike5,4 kg Made in […]

  13. Apple Avatar
    Apple

    I Love The Design…Awesome!!!! Where can you buy them and how much are they…???

  14. tuning scooter Avatar

    The old AMP linkage forks may not have survived, but I don’t think they were nearly as bad as you describe. Don’t you remember other forks from that era? Certainly Horst Leitner knew a thing or two about suspension. Without his innovative AMP Research designs, full suspension mtb technology would not be where it is today.

  15. […] you can bet I’m gonna be sizing it up for my tandem bike collection. [Cervellum via Bicycle Design via Wired] This entry was posted in Blog by The Hub Pisgah. Bookmark the […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *