Geek cyclists, eat your heart out: engineering students at UPenn have reached inside your collective consciousness and pulled out the stuff of dreams to create Alpha, a concept bike so sleek and tech'd out you'll gladly cut off a pinky just to take one ride on it.
Alpha: Possibly the Most High-Tech Bike Ever from Core77 on Vimeo.
The student team has created a showcase website for Alpha with so much detail you could probably build one yourself, but the basic idea was "to create a bicycle that would push the boundaries of integrated systems": a fully enclosed drivetrain, an electronic clutch to flip between freewheeling and fixed-gear configurations on the fly, and an onboard computer for tracking cycling stats, all encasedwithin a custom-machined carbon fiber and aluminum frame. Practically nothing on the bike is exposed to the elements except the pedals.
First, the frame. Carbon fiber ensured minimum weight (in fact, Alpha weighs less than a standard steel frame bike, even with all the specialty gear they packed into it) and the students fabricated the frame and handlebars on campus using CNC machining, laser sintering, and 3-D printing.
Next, the electronics suite. Alpha's onboard computer, handlebar-mounted LCD screen and LED lighting all need juice, which is provided courtesy of a drum brake and dynamo on the front wheel hub, as well as two capacitors charged by the spinning wheel. The LCD screen displays real-time data on cadence, distance, speed, and gear status. If you're into personal datavis, you can pop out an SD card from under the Alpha's handlebars and download the info onto your PC.
Finally, the SWIFT drivetrain (which stands for Switchable Integrated Free-Fixed Transmission). This is the magic between the pedals that lets the Alpha be all things to all riders: a take-any-grade-in-stride freewheeling geared bike, or a quadricep-punishingfixie. (Or both during the same ride, as your mood or company changes.) I'm not enough of an engineer to understand exactly howthis little knot of bronze, steel, and titanium actually pulls off such a feat, but the fact that these students designed it into a package that doesn't look like a hairball coughed up by Optimus Prime is impressive enough.
The UPenn team had nearly 30 corporate sponsers and manufacturing partners backing them up, so I'd be surprised if we didn't see ideas from Alpha gracing bike shops in a few years.
[Read more (way more) at the Alpha website]
COMMENTARY: As a former bike rider, mountain and road, I have seen some fantastic bikes in my riding days, but nothing like the Alpha Bike. I appreciate the Alpha bike's unique fully-integrated design, carbon fiber composite frame tubing, fully integrated and encased drivetrain, shifter and brake wires concealed within the frame tubing and its ultra-sleek high-tech look. Sort of reminds me of my old trusty Treak carbon fibre road bike. That was one sweet bike. I can easily see Lance Armstrong riding this bike to victory in the Tour de France. The Alpha Bike is just a prototype, but how much does it weigh, how fast can it go and how much does the darn thing cost. It has to be one ridiculously expensive bike.
Courtesy of an article dated May 3, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design
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Posted by: marlborolights.co | 07/19/2012 at 02:43 AM
carbon fiber composite frame tubing, fully integrated and encased drivetrain, shifter and brake wires concealed within the frame tubing and its ultra-sleek high-tech look. Sort of reminds me of my old trusty Treak carbon fibre road bike. That was one sweet bike. I can easily see Lance Armstrong riding this bike to victory in the Tour de France. The Alpha Bike is just a prototype, but how much does it weigh, how fast can it go and how much does the darn thing cost. It has to be one ridiculously expensive bike.
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how cool is that. I have drooled over this sandal style every since I saw it. I always enjoy wearing clogs but, do not like giving them up in the summer. It was to my chagrin that they only go up to 42. Would they look good on a man as well? May be you can influence them to make them in larger sizes for men. Funkis only sells larger sizes in a couple of plain styles.
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how cool is that. I have drooled over this sandal style every since I saw it. I always enjoy wearing clogs but, do not like giving them up in the summer. It was to my chagrin that they only go up to 42. Would they look good on a man as well? May be you can influence them to make them in larger sizes for men. Funkis only sells larger sizes in a couple of plain styles.
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