• This topic has 12 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by iolo.
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  • fUCI – Concept Bicycle. Smart Phone integrated.
  • jekkyl
    Full Member

    http://www.gizmag.com/fuci-specialized/39154/


    blurb from the fail:

    A bicycle that puts your smartphone at the centre of its design could revolutionise cycling as we know it. A concept bike that allows you to disable the entire system when locking up as well as generate power and offer routes while you pedal is being developed. And while the fUCI bike won’t abide by the official rules for racing bikes, it offers a tantalising glimpse into the future of cycling. The fUCI is an e-bike powered by a lithium battery to enable super-fast acceleration. It also uses a fly-wheel – a device that can provide energy even when you’re not pedalling – to increase efficiency.
    Robert Egger, creative director of California-based bike manufacturer Specialized, built the concept bike to revolutionises the design of the bicycle from the ground up, reimagining everything from the aerodynamics to streamlined integration using the latest technology.
    The fUCI comes with a smartphone docking station at the front with a built-in solar panel and a futuristic protective visor.
    Egger imagines a bicycle with all the smart functionality of modern cars, controlled by a centrally mounted smartphone.
    THE FUCI SMARTBIKE This concept vehicle uses a smartphone as a central hub to coordinate sensors that would bring the functionality of modern cars to the bicycle.
    This would include a motor for quick acceleration, GPS route suggestions and proximity sensors.
    The bike would know when it is day or night and be able to switch lights on or off accordingly.
    The battery would be powered by a solar panel and by its rider pedaling.
    .The bike would be able to deactivate completely when locking it up using the mounted smartphone as its central control system.
    Using the smartphone as its central hub, the bike would know when it is day or night and be able to switch lights on or off accordingly, and use proximity sensors like in modern cars to give cyclists a warning when other vehicles approach.
    Egger said the fUCI would utilize GPS and route suggestions to modernise the whole cycling excperience.

    Media coverage of the next generation of cars has gone into overdrive, with self driving vehicles and electric models stealing the headlines.
    But the basic design of the humble bicycle has remained largely unchanged for decades, and one designer wants to change that.
    Robert Egger has ditched official regulations imposed by the competitive cycling regulator UCI to put smart technology at the heart of a new design

    This is a bike all about what could be, not what it necessarily is right now, but what bikes could be,’ said Egger on the concept page of the bike.
    ‘We should embrace cars,’ he said ‘Let’s not hate on cars, let’s embrace the technology they have and where it makes sense, infuse that with bicycles.’

    The bike’s name is a playful poke at the competitive cycling regulator Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) which states that ‘the addition of mechanical or electrical systems that serve to assist the rider is prohibited.’
    The fUCI is not on sale but is intended to draw attention to the potential of technology to broaden the horizons of cyclists, and Egger worked on the bike for six months as a side project.
    ‘The idea would be that your smart phone runs the whole bike,’ said Egger. ‘Everything from disabling it if you want to lock it up, to being able to program in your ride route, or suggest alternative routes if you’re trying to get to a specific place.
    ‘It knows when it gets dark and turns the lights on, lets you know when tire pressure is low, or senses a car getting too close to you and warns you.
    ‘It’s infinite how many things digitally and electronically we could do with a bike like this. It’s like, you could program this bike and say, “I wanna burn this many calories” or “I wanna produce this many watts.”
    ‘Well, that could tell the motor only to work so hard, so that you’re producing on average 200 watts for the whole ride.’

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    I see wireless rear mechs aren’t part of their grand vision 😀

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    if you turned it over to repair a puncture you’d smash that lovely ‘windscreen’ or does it fix it’s own puncture?
    It hasn’t got bottle cage mounts either I see, Well I’m oot.

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    scaled
    Free Member

    No rear mud guard?

    I’m out

    CraigW
    Free Member

    If you want something aerodynamic, and don’t care about UCI regulations, just make a recumbent.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Still, top marks for the name.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    It’s in Strava Orange, I’m in…

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    how do you fit a dropper post?

    willard
    Full Member

    CraigW, I understand what you are saying about aerodynamics, but is pedalling efficiency that much better on a recumbant than that bike? I would have thought that the ability to add body-weight to a pedal stroke would be better on a “normal” bike than not.

    STATO
    Free Member

    CraigW, I understand what you are saying about aerodynamics, but is pedalling efficiency that much better on a recumbant than that bike? I would have thought that the ability to add body-weight to a pedal stroke would be better on a “normal” bike than not.

    Pulling and pushing with spd’s give greater force than just standing on the pedal, as does pulling on the bar with flat pedals, sit down with backrest to push off = way more ‘power’ available.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Possibly also to do with “power” being derived from your heart/lungs not your legs, a recumbent might allow you to develop similar FTP, but probably doesn’t accelerate quite so well?

    There’s also the issues with manoeuvrability and visibility.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    its called a fuci?

    iolo
    Free Member

    It knows when it’s night to put the lights on. Amazing.

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

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