Marc is famous, I saw him on TV awhile ago.That dude in the ad looks like Marc Tremain.
I don't have the slightest clue as to whatever this thing SRAM is working on but I find it hard to think that it would be wat you suspect it may be. Based on your description it sounds like what you've got there or at least what you are describing is effectively a wild front mech that is guaranteed to be less efficient. I don't see how that could be applied to either DH use where we only have 9 gears or XC where efficiency would play a greater roll.This was at Interbike in Las Vegas.
The theories behind the idea are pure speculation.
Basically its a internal planetary gearing system for all bikes with ISDG mounts to hook it up to.
You will still have a rear derrailler and chain.
Every gear RPM will be reduced by about 50% and you will need less gears in the rear due to maximizing your drive forces VIA internal gearing system.
i gave them the info...hope it's legit.....sram is becoming so huge and sprawled out, they may as well make a DH bike with a proprietary gearbox, and just dominate the entire market......they obviously have the capability......the only thing they don't make is wheels/tires and a few other things.....they should just buy DT swiss, and kenda or something while they're at it......
They own Zipp, so how does a nice carbon dh wheelset sound?they cant buy dt because dt is with magura i believe,
ps thats not marc
My conclusion exactly, I spent quite a while looking at it and twirling my fingers around thinking "I must be missing something here"Is it just me, or will the chainring move backwards when pedaling forwards? Or does the center sprocket counter-rotate?
Depends if the cranks are splined to the sun planet or ring gear...Is it just me, or will the chainring move backwards when pedaling forwards? Or does the center sprocket counter-rotate?
Sandwich is right, it'd need another planetary gear inbetween the crank and the chainring to work.My conclusion exactly, I spent quite a while looking at it and twirling my fingers around thinking "I must be missing something here"
FYI the article states that the magazine does not know anything about the system at the description is only their suggestion to what it could be inside the system after seeing Mr. Herbold riding around on the system fully enclosed.
What they have there, and what is described is more of an on/off design, where when its on, the unit will be locked and rotate as a whole, off it will go through its planetary gearing and reduce it by the amount the designer's want, prolly a small amount as to not create too wide of a gear range (if its for racing, if its for general biking, it may span 15% gear ratio change). What would be cool is if they could create a CVT out of it and allow it to have an on/off differential of 7-8% and then allow it to modulate infinately inbetween any of those settings, effectively eliminating the need for any rearward gears. Thats currently what im working on, and its funny cause from what you can see in the article, it looks similar to mine. creating the modulation is where the fun starts tho and i doubt they are messing with that. What they have there is epicyclic gearing (applied term of planetary gears) and has been around for close to 100 years, used on the exact same application. Scroll down like half way --> http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/Sunbeam.htm Its old news, but its still efficient, and whats cool is you get 100% smoothness and feedback through the system (good for unicycles), unlike a ratcheting cvt.I would be disapointed if it only is a replacement of the front derailleur. Or am I missing something and is the planetary gear crankset replacing the derailleur set up?
Is it out yet? Has anyone ridden,seen or know anything more about it?
Same, I agree, I don't want one. I'd rather a hub mounted in the frame(GT IT1,Lahar)even on a hardtail.i got some stupid hype email today from sram with nothing more than a link to a hype website doing nothing more than, well....uh, build hype.
no images, no drawings...nothing but hype.
i'm getting rather sick of the mountain bike industry hypin' their sh!t over a year in advance. yeah yeah yeah, i want it and i'll most likely buy it, but this super-hype crap is getting old. it's almost like the mountain bike industry jumped the shark and is just as guilty of planned and percieve absolescence as any other industry draggin our plannet into a plastic waste land.
....i still want one, tho.
I think that evil made or drew a proto hard tail DJ gear box bike. That would be cool.Same, I agree, I don't want one. I'd rather a hub mounted in the frame(GT IT1,Lahar)even on a hardtail.
It may have some benefits, but at the end of the day, it'll weigh more than a front mech+two chain rings or a chainguide set up, for what benefit? Higher ground clearance? Better shifts(how often do you even use the front mech?,I don't know, haven't used one in ten years even on XC bikes).
It's still an interesting for other applications.
I guess it may be nice with my 5 or 6 speed rear wheels.
and you're so sure about this because...? and what parts of a bike do are you referring to with "traditional system"?I can guarantee that the hammerschmidt design is rad and works well. It will be well worth the wait. And to those worried about efficiency...don't be. It's smooth as hell and just as efficient as a traditional system.
I dunno... Somehow I've got it in my mind that they've made a revolutionary advancement in the use of the mostly ignored features of frontal gearing. I find the current setups crude and neanderthalic at it's best, yet I still run dual rings on all my DH bikes. I once read that the front rings are best used with this mentality: Front derailleur=happy legs, rear derailleur=a happy heart. So basically, use the front for a fast, obvious gearing change, fine tune it with the 8 or 9 rear gears. But slamming from a 36 down to a 22 in the front not only takes a few seconds to perform, but is also a fairly serious commitment of the legs and takes a lot of practice to time right. It SOUNDS like SRAM fingered out a way to make this smoother, more efficient, and the gear selection is changeable while the cranks are at idle! Which I guess I optimistically foresee as slamming into a berm at too high a rate of speed while simultaneously pre-selecting my exit gear??? COULD be sweet.... Dare I dream?idk seems like a lot of hype to me. initially I thought this would be a true transmission. Now, based on what i've been reading, I find myself a little disappointed...
Never thought about it that way... you make a really good point. I've never had a need to run more than a single chainring up front. Or maybe that was just how I perceived it. Also neither of the DH bikes I've ever owned could take 2 front chainrings...I dunno... Somehow I've got it in my mind that they've made a revolutionary advancement in the use of the mostly ignored features of frontal gearing. I find the current setups crude and neanderthalic at it's best, yet I still run dual rings on all my DH bikes. I once read that the front rings are best used with this mentality: Front derailleur=happy legs, rear derailleur=a happy heart. So basically, use the front for a fast, obvious gearing change, fine tune it with the 8 or 9 rear gears. But slamming from a 36 down to a 22 in the front not only takes a few seconds to perform, but is also a fairly serious commitment of the legs and takes a lot of practice to time right. It SOUNDS like SRAM fingered out a way to make this smoother, more efficient, and the gear selection is changeable while the cranks are at idle! Which I guess I optimistically foresee as slamming into a berm at too high a rate of speed while simultaneously pre-selecting my exit gear??? COULD be sweet.... Dare I dream?