The industry is currently buzzing with product news and speculation on the powermeter front – pedals in particular. Much of the talk stems from recent mergers and acquisitions, including those already selling wattage measurement but are looking to expand offerings. Power measuring pedals are burdened with plenty of challenging constraints. Both pedals need to house [...]
Do Campagnolo wireless shifting patents answer the burning question from the tech tifosi: Will Campagnolo soon have wireless derailleurs? Patent applications can give a sneak peak of what’s in the development pipeline, and a perusal of what Campy has on file with patent offices worldwide shows plenty of wireless technology. It’s certainly no surprise that [...]
New Mountain Bike Technology Recently published Fox Racing patents show that the company may be adding crankarm sensors to its super-techy Live Valve suspension system. With cranks in the Fox portfolio under the Race Face brand, this suggests the company is angling to bolster its presence as a wide-ranging OE supplier through component bundling. Current [...]
Blending Clothing and Bicycle Componentry Wearable technology is nothing new to cycling apparel – from heart rate and fitness trackers to jackets illuminated by LEDS. But lurking in R&D departments of bicycle component manufacturers is something altogether different. Bicycle shifters: wearable technology -- designs that meld clothing with shifters. Namely, gloves and other handwear that [...]
Shimano Wireless Shifting One of the biggest questions on the minds of cycling’s technology-minded types: will the next generation of Dura Ace include Shimano wireless electronic shifting? Shimano was of course the first major player to market with electronic shifting (aside from Mavic’s early short-lived attempts), when they introduced Di2 in 2009, using wires to [...]
SRAM's eBike Shifting Patent shows that bikes and batteries are becoming deeply intertwined. With ebikes surging in popularity both in the US and globally, manufacturers have been considering what else a large-capacity ebike battery could power in addition to propelling a bike. Headlights and taillights are obvious accessories to draw juice from an ebike battery, [...]
Yamaha's e-bike frame patent belies that the Japanese industrial giant Yamaha may not yet be a prominent name in US bicycle retail shops, but the company’s patent filings suggest strong interest in the US ebike market. Yamaha ranked fifth for bicycle industry patent grants in the US in 2019 with 15 total, ahead of [...]
Campagnolo 13 Speed Patent, 9 to 44 Tooth Cogs Rumors and leaks about a forthcoming Campagnolo 13 speed shifting system have been flying recently. Thanks to two US patent applications published on July 30, we now have a few more details of what Campy has been working on. The patent filing titled COGSET WITH INCREASING [...]
Patent filing shows rotating front derailleurs integrated with the crankset Is bicycle shifting about to get some entirely fresh technology? A recently patent application shows that SRAM has been hard at work designing a wireless front derailleur system unlike anything seen before – with three separate gear-changing mechanisms that rotate with the crankset. Made [...]
New patent application shows movable stem as part of an array of sensored components that can communicate and control each other. Dropper seatposts have become standard equipment for performance-level mountain bikes. Could the same concept … altering the position of a bike-fit component while riding … also work for a handlebar stem? A fresh patent [...]
