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Even more suspensiony shit - finally!

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
Weird, as the automotive industry continues to move away from using leaf springs and towards coils, the bike industry takes a step backwards from not only air suspensions, nor coils, but all the way back to the turn of the 20th century and leaf springs.
 

Arkayne

I come bearing GIFs
May 10, 2005
3,738
15
SoCal
I remember seeing a big name use that design before on the lower triangle years ago. I think it was on an xc bike.

 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,928
14,450
where the trails are
Warning, thread drift ...

I recently talked somebody who was studying biomechanical engineering. I was challenged to pick apart their concept for a functional articulating prosthetic foot. The design was super complex, heavy, etc. was surgically attached, yadda yadda...

I sketched out a slip on foot comprised of a simple pivot structure like a tank tread, what where effectively leaf springs and a concept for a few dampers all sharing the same fluid so that the compression of one would result in the expansion of the alternative. (To aid the
natural walking motion)

I was told "that probably wouldn't work, it's not that simple". When I asked why not I got "well first off you aren't a biomechanical engineer." :rofl:

I know, cool sorry bro.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
There was a guy who made a titanium version of a dual link bike that used flex plates instead of short linkages. Can't seem to find it.

Edit: for both linkages, not just the lower
 
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hmcleay

i-track suspension
Apr 28, 2008
117
116
Adelaide, Australia
DW-Link Ripoff (HD3 and M6) with a small flex plate to avoid Pattents...
Yep.
The thing with the DW-Link layout, is that the lower floating pivot (the one which is the leaf spring in this particular design) rotates only a very tiny amount anyway.
In fact, as the IC passes through the lower fixed pivot (the one on the seat tube), the floating pivot becomes stationary as its rotation changes direction.
At a wild guess, I would say that the leaf spring flexes less than +/-1 degree throughout the range of travel.
I suppose it depends whether it's preloaded or not, but I can't see that this would provide the necessary characteristics to create a more linear wheel rate.
 

no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
KHS soft-tail and others just had the chainstays flexy with shock on seat tube.
Didn't you once order and actually receive a Lahar?
The Lahar actually had a pivotless point between the stay too. The chain stays are built to flex instead. So vaguely similar to the Merlin below.
 
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Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,224
2,537
The old world
This has nothing to do with Sandwich's original post and the feasibility of a leaf spring as both a pivot and a spring, but somehow i never came across this particular leaf sprung Merlin:



Checker Pig fork:



CPX with additional damper: