Cannondale has pulled out the old-fashioned mechanical suspension inside its famous Lefty front-fork and stuffed in some electronics. The internal skunkworks project, called Simon, uses accelerometers and electromagnets to give a fast-responding, almost infinitely adjustable suspension.
Still a prototype, Simon essentially computerizes the ride of your bike. You can dial in various stiffnesses using a joystick and small computer up top on the handlebars — a softer ride for downhills and a rock-hard, stiff ride when on the smooth asphalt. This can, of course, be done with mechanical suspension, but introducing electronics makes things faster and smarter.
The electromagnets that control where and how much the fork can move act almost instantly, in around six milliseconds, and allow the fork to collapse from its maximum length right down to zero. These are informed by the accelerometers – from Analog Devices – and this is where the magic comes in. For instance, you could have the suspension dialed-up to act like a solid road fork. If you were to hit a bump in the road, though, the accelerometer would detect this before you even feel it and soften things up, allowing the bike to completely cushion the impact and return you to a good hard ride before you realize there was a pothole.
More, the response curves can be tuned to push back just how you like it, and you can switch configurations at the flick of a thumb. The Simon does add some weight, but as you are also tossing out a tube full of mechanical components the net gain is just a couple pounds (and this is a prototype, so that should improve). The other problem is battery life. Riding on the road you should be good for all day, but if you’re riding hard down a mountainside you could be out of juice in as little as two hours. Still, an extra battery pack could nestle next to the energy bar and the “emergency” hip-flask in your jersey pocket.
No pricing yet, nor even a launch date, but Cannondale seems pretty stoked about this tech, so we expect to see something soon. To see a somewhat in-depth and nerdy demo of the tech (the kind of demo we like), watch this video from bike blog Cycling Dirt:
Post a Comment