Anti Lock/ skid Bicycle brake VIEWS NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lmace]

Hello to all I am currently developing a anti lock braking system for bicycles and would like some feedback from users any thoughts would be very helpful. please votes on the poll if you think the idea is good and is something you as a bicycle user would be interested in.

In the current market there is not a device that is capable of recognising when bicycle wheel locks up (skidding) and stops this from happening.
The problem with bicycles is that a user’s general reaction to emergency stop scenario is to pull the brakes as hard as possible. In most circumstances this causes the wheel to lock up and the tyres run out of grip and the bike skids a large distance until it is stationary it also becomes very difficult to steer the bike in a skid and greatly reduces the stability of a bicycle. if the users pulls on the front brake to hard as well without shifting their weight back the user will tend to go over the handle bars.

The product will eliminate the chance of the user locking the brakes of a bicycle. the product will be designed so that it can be retro fitted to existing bikes with ease and a very small amount of tools. The design will be light weight and will require as small amount of maintenance as possible. The design will work in all weather conditions and will be very reliable. The product must be easy to use and not deferrer in user interaction from already existing non anti skid brakes.

any thoughts would be brilliant whether they are negative or positive


cheers LMace

 

[Radius]

Well sounds like a great idea, but you haven't said how exactly it would work, so I can't really say anything except "I have to see it to believe it"...

 

[barq]

Ok, I'll bite. Among less experienced mountain bikers locking up the wheels can result in less control, and it can damage trails by ripping up the soil.

Doubtless you'll keep specifics to yourself, but what is the estimated price range (two figures or three)? The reason I ask is that if expensive it appeals to more serious riders, who I guess tend not to lock up their wheels. If wheel locking is more of a novice problem, then how much will a casual rider pay for this device? My hunch is that mountain bikers would be the most obvious target because many/most have already bought into technologies like suspension which provide rider assistance. But I don't know anything about what type of brakes this device could work with.

Personally I'm interested, but I'd need a lot of convincing about safety critical components like brakes. Good luck though.

 

[Hilldodger]

In the current market there is not a device that is capable of recognising when bicycle wheel locks up (skidding) and stops this from happening

I'd be asking myself why? These have been designed and produced before but have not be either reliable or successful.

The bicycle is a wondefully simple machine refined over a century - why do you want to make it complicated?

t sounds to me as though you are designing a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist.

 

[Steve Austin]

......
In the current market there is not a device that is capable of recognising when bicycle wheel locks up (skidding) and stops this from happening.....

Not meaning to take this comment out of context, but you seem to be ignoring the very obvious user atop the bike. I rarely skid and i ride cross, road and MTB. Part of the beauty of riding bikes for me is the control i have over my ability to slow down, go faster, jump off stuff etc.
A simplified anti-brake system could work, but isn't this a solution looking for a problem?

 

[HF2300]

Would this work with hydraulic or cable brakes, or both? Discs or cantilever brakes or both? V brakes or centre pull or both?

 

[domtyler]

There is, potentially, a huge market for this idea. If you can produce it cheaply enough I can see it fitted to every cheap, full susser you can buy on the high street or on the net. Go for it!

 

[RedBike]

There already is such a device. (sort of).
http://www.bikeparts.com/search_results.asp?ID=BPC318009

They've never taken off because most people don't want the power of their brakes to be capped. They could achieve a very similar effect by just buying cheaper brakes!

Anti-lock brakes in a car work by pulsating (quickly applying then releasing the brake) Such a device would be highly advantagous on a bike provided you could invent some way of powering it without adding loads of additional weight / resistance.

Perhaps it has a small battery that is only charged (via a dynamo) when the brakes are applied.

 

[Shaun]

please votes on the poll if you think the idea is good and is something you as a bicycle user would be interested in.

Erm ... you forgot to add a poll ... (if you're not sure how to add one, let me know and I'll give you a hand.)

Are you asking with a view to pursuing a commercial venture/enterprise?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[mickle]

There is a lovely example of an experimental anti lock cycle brake in 'Bicycling Science' (I think..).

A solitary brake lever activates the rear (caliper) brake which is attached to a spring loaded armature (like another set of seat stays) within the rear triangle which is attached to and can rotate around bushes located near the rear wheel axle. The front brake cable is attached to this armature. When the rear brake is activated the armature rotates, activating the front brake. The idea is that if the front wheel locks the rear wheel lifts and the resulting lack of load on the rear brake releases the front brake cable.

Dunno if it worked, I imagine that the mechanism wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to save a locked front.

 

[dodgy]

I recall years ago there was an anti lock braking mechanism marketed, don't think it got anywhere, though. Nothing wrong with trying again, technology has moved on and cyclists are generally more receptive of new ideas now. The biggest challenge (as someone has already pointed out) is the price point, experienced / enthusiast riders will have no need of it, novice riders tend to spend less on their bikes but are arguably more in need of the technology.

Good luck.

 

[GilesM]

I recall years ago there was an anti lock braking mechanism marketed, don't think it got anywhere, though. Nothing wrong with trying again, technology has moved on and cyclists are generally more receptive of new ideas now. The biggest challenge (as someone has already pointed out) is the price point, experienced / enthusiast riders will have no need of it, novice riders tend to spend less on their bikes but are arguably more in need of the technology.

Good luck.

The sort of person who doesn't do much cycling and buys a full sus from Halfords for £150 could well be interested, especially for kids bikes, but for this it would have to be cheap. I can't really see serious cyclists buying it unless it was amazingly good and very light, I quite like being the one who decides if my wheels will lock or not, with good brakes, especially good mtb disc brakes, this is very easy to control.

 

[BentMikey]

There's one serious flaw to this idea - that in the dry, on road, skidding the front wheel isn't a big risk, instead it's doing an "endo" over the handlebars and planting your head in the tarmac.

 

[Hilldodger]

Surly the skill of riding a bike involves learning to use the brakes to avoid doing this?

And what happens when a person learns to ride a bike with anti lock and then jumps on a bike without it?

 

[02GF74]

Anti-lock brakes in a car work by pulsating (quickly applying then releasing the brake) Such a device would be highly advantagous on a bike provided you could invent some way of powering it without adding loads of additional weight / resistance.

Perhaps it has a small battery that is only charged (via a dynamo) when the brakes are applied.

I would think a mechanical device would be simpler. Think of disc rotor but it has lumps on it that contact some device to release the brake cable tension but only when the brakes are applied.

... but going back to skidding; sometimes offroad the terrain is so steep that even when the rear is locked, you still keep sliding - I think the ABS would be counter productive as it will increase speed. In these situations you just got to balance and slide.

I cannot think of a case where I have locked the front wheel, but of all the times I lockedthe rear, mostly off but aslo on road, I never lost control - the back end weaved arond a bit but so what? would it have been better not to lock the rear? Dunno.