Re: Suspension losses

On 1/10/2025 8:01 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/10/2025 5:18 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

>
This makes me reflect on the criticism of electronics in bicycles. ... But what about measuring the
amount of power applied to the pedals, what about telling the cyclist
who balanced he splits the power between left and right, by
instrumenting the pedal or the bottom bracket?

 Yes, that can be done with enough sensors and electronics. But it seems like useless information to me. As with much computer software, it seems like "feature bloat." Why would anybody but a racer care?

One doesn't need to be a racer to be interested in those types of metrics. I know plenty of "former" racers, and "sport" cyclists that keep diligent track of their workouts.

 

What about replacing
those awkward cables and complicated brifters with simple electric
switches and an encrypted wireless channel? Is that bad, because a
blacksmith can't repair it with his tools, like giving a horse a new
pair of horse shoes?

 Of course, you're welcome to use electric shifting if you like. (Or brifters, which I don't!) But my life experience with electronic devices makes me suspicious. I've seen too many examples of electronic devices that simply stopped working, with no possible way of diagnosing the problem - at least, not by me. And while I'm far from an electronics expert, I'm better than the average citizen.

I'm no fan of electronic shifting - it would be just my luck to be on planed 4-6 hour ride, and have something crap out at the furthest point from the car/house. That said, I'm never going back to discrete shifters.

 Two days ago, my kid asked me to figure out why an electric blanket wasn't working. The controller refused to turn on. I opened it and confirmed that it was getting supply voltage. Beyond that, the pile of dozens of surface mount electronic components was incomprehensible to me. I suspect Jeff might have been able to diagnose it, but not me. Here's a photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16972296@N08/54259119364/in/dateposted- public/
I know electric blankets are old technology. I know they functioned well for decades with maybe a rheostat and perhaps a couple of other components. Why add unrepairable complexity?

Becasue it's quite a bit cheaper to produce, and generally works just as well.

 Similarly, a good friend recently told me about her adventure with her relatively new washing machine. During an expensive service visit, a repairman told her the problem was somewhere in the main circuit board, and that the only solution was to replace the expensive board. Our washer is something like 35 years old, uses an electro-mechanical timer, and will probably work well for whichever grandkid inherits it.
 I'm positive my shifters are also going to be working for whichever grandkid inherits them.

I'm just as optimistic about my Sram integrated system, but the idea that they would see anything a=of value in my collection of bikes...I'm kinda skeptical about.