CeramicSpeed DrivEn drivetrain

[AUbicycles]

Update.. this has been sent now and a bit of time will be needed to get the responses which I will publish on BNA.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for these MichaelB

In the Eurobike article I touched on their comments about redesigning / rethinking the hub and wheel.
https://www.bicycles.net.au/2019/09/eur ... rivetrain/

One of the most interesting suggestions from Jason Smith is that the concept of the cassete, hub, spokes and wheel can be reimagined.

Let me ensure that I have this covered...

I was although thinking about quick wheel changes for pro cyclists. When the Mavic neutral service already have to think about rim and disc brakes, different rear cassettes and even different skewer/axles... would they even add one of these?

My thinking is that it won't even get to that point , but more of how is the strength going to be built in and what will the weight weenies think ?

[Duck!]

The only real advantage I can see - once (if ever) all the glaring design flaws are overcome - is rear wheel stability/stiffness/durability. Having all the gears on a single plane rather than a stacked cassette means the wheel doesn't need to be dished - different spoke brace angle, spoke lengths & tensions - to fit the gears on. Brake disc on one side, drive disc on the other = symmetrical wheel build -> balanced spoke tension -> strongest possible wheel for the collective parts.

- Historically they driveshafts on bicycles have not been adopted... what has changed that make the ceramic speed viable.

Basically nothing....

- Motorcycles use shaftdrives in some high powered bikes, they use bevel gears and there is some torque inefficiency but are a robust solution... the disadvantages (weight, torque loss) make it less suited to low powered motorbikes, how do Ceramic Speed resolve the efficiency issue

Motorbikes have a gearbox between the engine and driveshaft, so the shaft drive part of the system is in effect a single-speed, unlike the DrivEn system which tries to make the shaft also shift gears. Secondly, motorbike engines connected to a shaft-drive output have the crank aligned longitudinally, which eliminates any lateral flex of the frame induced by each piston/leg stroke that would alter the load through the system.

[AUbicycles]

The Interview with Jason Smith - CTO of Ceramic Speed has now been published.

Tech Talk – Six Tough Questions for Jason Smith from Ceramic Speed about the ‘Driven’ Drivetrain

Were your queries answered? Are there still unanswered questions?
I think we can sit back and watch and wait - beyond the tech the other component is getting the right partners to actually get it into production so it will be a journey.