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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.
Due to Winter.
This is a pretty decent development compared to what they usually have at gyms for their cycling.
My local one is currently using heartbeat assisted cycling, where everyone is using a wireless heartbeat monitor and the results are displayed on the wall via a projector.
I have long been wondering why the cycles cannot be used to do real routes, by automatically controlling the bike magnets to reduce or increase the effort based on the distance you have so far gone, and maybe even showing everyones location on the route on a map also projected to the wall. It sounds so simple to me..
Huh? What? Here's a hint.
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
When I read the summary I thought it might have gone side to side and projected streeview on the wall. Whilst I'd much rather be outside on a real bike I do spend a lot of time in crank classes. I'd love to be able to load up a classic bike ride from Europe and get going without worrying about idiot drivers or bike riders who have more expensive equipment than me.
Cogito, ergo sig.
Why not link this with Google StreetView, so you can get a real impression of where you are 'virtually' 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.
I cycled to work during the last winter and actually found it somewhat enjoyable. Just make sure you have a good headlight. The output of some types of batteries breaks down when they get cold. The AA LiPo ones I finally bought work ok at -10C.
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.
I cycled to work during the last winter and actually found it somewhat enjoyable. Just make sure you have a good headlight. The output of some types of batteries breaks down when they get cold. The AA LiPo ones I finally bought work ok at -10C.
Much will depend on your definition of winter, which I guess depends on where you live :)
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
How does an ordinary mortal like me access this info?
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
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 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
Well there are a few advantages to being in the gym.
1. You have 365day 24 hours access, without problems of weather getting in the way. Biking in even an inch of snow is very tough and dangerous.
2. Not all roads are safe for bikers. I happen to live on some high volume county roads where there isn't much of a breakdown lane (if any) and a lot of large trucks drive by.
3. When biking you need to bike until you are Half warn out so you can turn around and go back the other way... Judging when you are half warn out is tough. A gym bike you can go on for a long time. Once you can't go any further you can stop without trying to figure out how to go back home.
4. You can increase your distance every day, normal biking (if you travel in a loop to prevent #3) you go the same distance.
5. You can try different methods, after a while you get use to your ride and once you switch you are off guard and realize you weren't as good as you thought you were.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
-10C what do you live in the tropics or something? Where I live you need to be wary of driving into Bose–Einstein condensate, well I exaggerate but -30c days are common during the winter.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I have seen bikes where you peddle to power a fan that blows on you, the faster you peddle the more the fan blows.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
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)
Wouldn't it be possible to hack together some kind of system with a propeller connected to the bike? The faster you go the faster it spins. The only problem would be the added resistance.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
Temperature for me really isn't a problem. Remember, cross country skiers deal with this kind of weather all the time. Once you get moving, your body generates its own heat. The reason that I don't ride in the winter is the sheer amount of snow we get. Start with a layer of freezing rain, add a bit of snow on top, and you are asking for trouble. Not to mention the salt they put on the roads. That's terrible for your bike.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I live in sunny, flat Tampa. I have to drive half an hour (or ride an hour or more) to get to anything remotely resembling a decent hill. Increasing resistance on my trainer is one thing, but raising the nose of the bike at the same time would really help me practice climbs. It's not perfect, but it better simulates the necessary change in posture.
I recently returned to northern Virginia, where I first rode (what we then called) a ten-speed, and I thought, "I rode these hills?" Of course, fifteen miles was a really long ride for me then.
You save only 59 seconds over 8 miles by going 75 instead of 65. Do you really have to pass that guy? Do the Math!
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.
Although I agree with most advantages you list for biking in the gym, we should also list the advantages of real biking outside:
1. The fresh air and/or the lack of sweaty people right next to you.
2. You can see your surroundings. You can check out the scenery and you get a chance to get to know where you live.
3. It can actually get you from A to B. Like from home to work. And back.
4. You do not have a contract for 1 year with your bicycle. You just own it forever. And you can use it as much as you like.
5. Did I already mention that you can see new places? A route of 100 km can really give you endless possibilities... and it takes forever to exhaust all of them.
p.s. I disagree with your points 3 and 4. You can choose your route so that you stay relatively close to home in case you're getting too tired. In the most simple scenario, you can just drive circles around your house. You can also just bring lunch with you, and stop and rest when you get too tired. You can add small loops, or small sideroads to your route, you can make it just slightly longer quite easily.
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.
Biking in even an inch of snow is very tough and dangerous.
Very tough? Dangerous? You're a lightweight. :)
I use these during the winter. They work great.
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.
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.