Cannondale's Simon electronic supsension system

toby_winkler

Just came across this on the internet, I personally hadn't heard anything about it before so i thought I would share it with everyone on here.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/cann ... ystem-han/

Looks to be a bit on the weighty side for a race bike, and probably a bit too expensive for the average biker, so I cant see this becoming very mainstream right now. But once its been worked on a bit it could be the thing of the future!

redvee

Is this the system where you have to match the sequence of coloured lights to make it work?

toby_winkler

redvee wrote:

Is this the system where you have to match the sequence of coloured lights to make it work?

That would be a pretty complicated system to use while riding a bike.

lm_trek

There is a feature in next months mbr, got my copy in the post today, not read it properly yet but have seen the feature in the mag.

toby_winkler

lm_trek wrote:

There is a feature in next months mbr, got my copy in the post today, not read it properly yet but have seen the feature in the mag.

Fair enough, I haven't read next months mbr so I didn't know it was in it! You can't get videos in a magazine though can you!

fletch8928

Not seen anything about lights but I saw an article in a mag about being able to "dial" in the top mtbrs/dhrs set up for certain runs via a download.

I wonder how much that would add to the price of a Team Flash? let alone your everday (posh) (very) steed?

toby_winkler

fletch8928 wrote:

I wonder how much that would add to the price of a Team Flash? let alone your everday (posh) (very) steed?

Yeah it would be interesting to find out how much it costs. Anything about cost in mbr?

The Northern Monkey

is bicyclist a real word?

upinsmoke

It should be

toby_winkler

upinsmoke wrote:

It should be

+1

supersonic

I think I envisioned this a few months back in WMB ;-)

tri-sexual

yep, the infamous cannondale simon system
been in development for over 5 years and has yet to reach the market
cant wait
amazing bit of technology

hope it lives up to the hype and prove itself to be super reliable and be pretty maintenance free. hate to pay for the servicing costs though

anyone remember cannondale's electronic lockout - a damn complicated solution to a very simple problem.

loltoride

I was wondering where I have seen this before.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/i ... cept-23332

Duffer

As well as Supersonic's article on the "Future of mountain biking" there was also a standalone feature on this system a few months ago in WMTB (i think)

Tel39

redvee wrote:

Is this the system where you have to match the sequence of coloured lights to make it work?

I had one of those, 70s kids toys eh

Doombrain

meh

dave_hill

There's a huge article about it in this month's MBR.

I didn't read it.

But one question springs to mind - why?

supersonic

People asked why about sus and disc bakes ;-)

It was always going to happen.

bike-a-swan

I think it'll probably be fantastic. whether you like it or not, things like this drive the whole field forwards- they don't all get taken up, and you can choose if you use them or not, just like with suspension, gears, aluminium frames and so on...

i really don't see the problem

loltoride

Just natural evolution I think it is very exciting and I suppose electronics will one day find their way onto mountain what form who knows.

dave_hill

I just think that it's something else to go wrong and being electronic it will more than likely cost an arm and a leg to fix. I'd also question how reliable it's going to be in the typical Northern European climate - it might be fine in California where it rains for about three minutes every hundred years but what's it going to be like in a typical British winter?

I have no objection to progress - I'm an engineer FFS! But I do think that this is another case of a solution looking for a problem.

jairaj

I guess its like when F1 had active suspension and it made the cars faster as you could have a different setup for each corner. But im not sure how much difference this would make in MTB.

paulrockliffe

This thing is cool. If you think it's pointless, I assume you don't have pro pedal, never fiddle with the damping on your fork, don't use lock-down, keep your seat at the same height, etc etc. If you're going for adjustment, go all the way I say. Why would you not want your fork to do all it's own pissing about so you can just get on with your riding? When do we get auto-height adjust seat posts as well?

It's a fair point about reliability, but bikes break all the time, people just get on with it. I assume that this would default to a satisfactory setting if it stopped working and would therefore be less hassle than msot on-trail fox breakages. I don't really see that it would be less reliable anyway as there would be fewer moving parts, so long as everything is sealed. I would expect the processor to be inside the fork, so the only external stuff that could get damaged is the input and output bits, which you could live without.

I can't wait until someone finally integrates all this stuff so you have the rear shock adjusting based on what the front wheel has just gone over and the gears pick the right gear for the cadence you've chosen and the brakes have ABS if you pull them hard enough, will be mega.

supersonic

Of course we good just put an engine on too ;-)

The Northern Monkey

supersonic wrote:

Of course we good just put an engine on too ;-)

http://www.electricmountainbikes.com/

racefaceec90

any one remember the battery powered k2 proflex suspension units about 10? years ago.reading about the simon system bought memories of that.

biff55

like all new technologies , some take off and become the norm , others just dont work even if its a good idea.
but i'd rather embrace new developements with regards to bike systems and look at the positives it could bring.
i thought paulrockcliffes suggestion to have front and rear suspension interlinked was a
very interesting concept.
you can always argue that these products may be unreliable or heavy initially but that will
always improve and should not stand in the way of trying stuff.
why not have electronic forks ? cant be any worse than faffing with small dials and knobs at the side of the trail.

Shire

Can't see this being a common feature on bikes in my lifetime!

This technology has been around for cars for close to 10 years now, and it's still not comething you see on your average motor!

I see Supersonic's point about hydrolic brakes, but given the first disc brakes appeared on a car in the 1890's, with hydraulic brakes appearing in the 1950's. I still don't think it's something that will be commonly available in my lifetime.

Nice idea though!

supersonic

I'll give it 5-10 years and all the big players will have electronic suspension.

paulrockliffe

If have to say I'm surprised that no one has come up with an electric motor with easily swappable battery for Downhillers that can't be bothered to push back up between training runs.

I don't think you can compare these sorts of ideas with road cars just because the technology existed there first; the reason it doesn't exist on every car (it is available on most premium or sports cars) is that they're not about enjoyment or about getting around a course as quickly as possible, they're about practicalities. If you want to make the comparison, compare basic cars with commuter bikes, there the analogy stacks up. This sort of technology was becoming widespread in motorsport, which would be the comparative branch of car use, until it was banned by the regulators.

projectsome

For a £2500+ bke used for pro racing I can see this being benificial but for the everyday rider then I for one will steer clear.