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Tilting Bike Uses Google Maps To Simulate Routes
cylonlover writes "One of the differences between real cycling and indoor training is the fact that when riders are on the road, the topography of the area determines the pedaling effort required. By contrast, when on a stationary bike, riders usually just vary their output as they feel like it. In an attempt to make indoor training more like the real thing, Pro-Form's Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle lets users choose or create real-world routes using Google Maps, then adjusts the angle of the riding platform to replicate the experience of riding up and down those roads."
At first I thought they were talking about left/right tilting for fast cornering... Now THAT would be hard to replicate on a stationary bike.
Spoken like someone who apparently has ridden neither exercise bikes, nor real bikes. You can vary the resistance of exercise bikes, and you are also free to vary gears and/or pedalling effort on a real bike. The news here is the Google Maps routes for exercise bikes bit.
which is totally what she said
Just tilting the bike would not increase the effort required by the user, unless they had some variable system in it that would make peddling more difficult, and then they could even simulate gear changes needing different peddling power for different situations.
with the amount of money and effort involved in creating this, and I'm sure, passed down to the gym that owns the hardware, and is passed on to the gym member, why not just ride a bike?
Why not link this with Google StreetView, so you can get a real impression of where you are 'virtually' riding?
The single biggest difference with any indoor riding vs outdoor is the lack of air flow as a result of the riding.
Years ago while working on ergonomics we got a request to speed up traffic through tunnels. Drivers had no reference enough to the environment and pushed the gas pedal only when the car slowed down on the climb out. Lines on the tunnel walls that represented the actual level and even inclined a bit against the actual level did wonders. Drivers anticipated and pushed the gas pedal earlier.
What about simulating pot-holes, sleeping policemen, traffic lights, etc. You set it to Hard Core Bike Courier mode and have buses pull out or car doors swing open in front of you and if you don't swerve or stop the bike ejects you forward like Buck-a-Roo.
Oh, and also integrate that smell-producing machine that was on Slashdot a few weeks ago so you can smell what the route would have smelt like (flowers, fruit trees, landfill, whatever).
And also hook in the sprinkler system and HVAC for virtual weather (heat/cold/humidity up/down), so you can experience exactly the kind of weather you'd have if you were really outside.
And also hook in street/trafffic cams so you can hear the sounds you would have heard if you deigned to go into the big room with the blue ceiling
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
The use of automobile are causing pollution everywhere, so the bike should be given more preference.
http://black1blue.blogspot.com/
How does an ordinary mortal like me access this info?
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
WTF. Is the news day that slow?
I guess the only newsworthy thing is that you can use Google maps. I already tried out an exercise bike back in the 90s which used a video/large TV combo together with a course profile which was used to vary the resistance of the bike. So you could choose from a variety of recorded courses (e.g. Tour de France stages, etc.), put the video plus the course profile into the machine, and then when e.g. you saw a climb on the video, the resistance of the bike increased accordingly. So the only difference between that old thing and this news is that now you can choose whatever you want from Google maps (and the difference "tilting bike" vs. "simply increasing the resistance".
Why do you need Google Maps to simulate hills and valleys?
Why not go get a push bike and actually go outside and cycle? Hell, if you really must go to the gym, cycle to it and back.
multi-player where you cut off other bikes, crashes, noises, etc
...for the HoloDeck version. Meanwhile, I'm sticking with the real thing.
I notice this walking through tunnels between underground stations. One of the tunnels between different lines at King's Cross St Pancras (London) is very steep, but the tiles/lines/decor is all parallel with the floor. It's quite disconcerting.
Equivalent functionality has been available for years. For example: Computrainer from http://www.racermateinc.com/ (popular in the USA) or Fortius from http://www.tacx.com/ (popular in Europe)
I think the big thing here is that Google Maps' topography is more likely to be up-to-date as opposed to that used in a recording on a large TV in front of the bike. This is a pretty cool application of Google's technology if you ask me.
Josh Loomis
http://maidenmedia.com/
The technology has been around for years, when I was in college they had bikes there where you would pick a course and the course would project on the screen looking like a video game with other riders. The pedaling resistance would increase and decrease as you would go up and down hills and you have to turn the bike and shift gears as well. Only difference here is the Google maps, which just seems like it is more advanced technology that would cost more, with no real upgrade to the training.
Just because you are wrong and I called you out on it doesn't mean I am a Troll.
That way you can see the actual surroundings. Also, periodically the street view car comes by, the bike forces you to slow down so you can get off, turn your back and cover your face while waiting for it to pass.
or, perhaps:
http://www.computrainer.com/rm_inc/IRCVideos.htm
Both products have been available for many years. The Tacx unit has an available steering head, so while you can' t lean the whole bike, you can turn and interact with the course. While the forward/backwards tilting is a new innovation, the interactive virtual trainer certainly is not. Both calculate wind resistance based on height and weight, resistance, etc. Both offer both birds-eye and immersive views.
Chris Knight is my hero.
I want to see it simulate a pot hole in NYC
Around here the city has been giving away trees for planting in the parking strip along city streets. Part of the reason why is the effect they have on pollution, but the other reason is that it tends to cause traffic to slow a bit and obey the speed limit.
I was somewhat skeptical myself, but I noticed that although I'm not one for speeding, that I would want to speed along streets with long stretches of nothing along one or both sides. It just seemed like I was getting nowhere even when I was going precisely the speed limit.
Oh FFS just get on a real bike and go outside and ride on real streets! Even professional cycling coaches will tell you that riding indoors on any sort of trainer or stationary bicycle should be a last resort because it burns you out much quicker mentally than being outside on a real bike!
The tilt thing is a nice feature I guess, but the real value is the computer controlled resistance on the trainer. The people at RacerMate Inc., Tacx, ErgVideo and RideRunRow / Fitcentric have been doing VR cycling for years now, with computer controlled resistance and either computer generated "VR" graphics or POV camera footage linked to the workout profile. Tools for creating routes from GPS files (and converted Google Maps routes) have also been readily available for some time. In the case of RideRunRow's Netathlon, you can even ride / race against others online in real time on VR courses. Talk to them, draft behind them, the whole bit. With a good trainer like RacerMate's the experience is VERY realistic. Not saying this new development isn't good, but it's probably worth checking out the mature, stable technology first.
While that's cool and all, why stop with real-world environments? You can ride in the real world any day. Instead, load up Google Mars and cycle up to the summit of Olympus Mons. Or ride Mario Kart's Rainbow Road. Or heck, glide through the air on a vaguely steampunk-ish ornithropter popping balloons for points. Reality is for people with tiny imaginations.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
Computer monitored Indoor training has replaced road work for many riders to the extent that they can produce the wattage to ride fast, but are incompetent in basic driving skills. This can be seen even at the elite levels with crashes in the straight aways and cornering without the slightest calculation of the apex.
Admitted, I am an old bastard who raced in wool shorts, toe straps, leather shoes, leather helmets and analog gearing where a ten speed meant 5 cogs and two chain rings. An American, I was racing in Luxembourg before the Schleck brothers were born. My first race in Belgium over half the guys at the start line were on cross bikes partly because it's all they could afford and partly because it was raining so hard there was corners with water levels over the bottom bracket.
In general there wasn't the road furniture that takes out so many. And I wouldn't dare imply that the very top riders are in many ways better riders than back in the day due to the more challenging course features. But the rest pedal squares and corner like they're sitting on a sofa.