NoMoreGears

Different ways of testing

Hundreds and hundreds of people must have tested the NuVinci equipped bikes around Eurobike. As you know, some do it different then others. One of the more different styles of testing is Jens Berberich, the German champion bike trialing. Every year at Eurobike, close to the Univega booth, he is doing his tricks, jumping from bolders to tree trunks and more. For many a highlight of the show.

He took the Raleigh NuVinci, lady’s bike for a spin and it was quite a sight. I don’t know how many single handed wheelies and hops he did. In the end there was quite a crowd. What I liked most is that quite a few other testers kept riding the other Raleigh bike, oblivious to it all. Jens reaction? He liked it. Thought it was smooth. Although he spends more time in under drive than the typical rider.

The Human Engine & NuVinci: an experts view from SRM

As you might know, we are working hard on a video about what riders think about the NuVinci. We are especially interested what experts on the human engine have to say about always of being in the right gear. As anyone knows who has ever studied a car catalogue or magazine. Every motor spins at its most efficient at only one RPM. Same for our body. So we started with Ex Pro Joona Laukka who is in charge if the Cycling segment of Polar Heart rate monitors to explain this more. Last week we travelled to Germany to talk to Uli Schoberer. Uli founded SRM 20 years ago. SRM is now the ergo meter of choice for athletes the world over to measure their power output and find out the most efficient way to ride a bike. There are not many people who understand the ‘human engine’ more than Uli. So we are happy to have him ride an ATC NuVinci bike.

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Hi Voltage drag racing

I am highly interested in anything which is powered by an electric motor. Obviously the NuVinci CVT should play a big role there, as it always allows the motor to spin at its most efficient RPM. For me Electric Vehicles are the future of transport. There are so many advantages. No wonder that any modern train is electric. Also electric cars and scooters are about to electrified, some as hybrids, some as plug-ins.. Yet there is this stigma that Electric Vehicles don’t have brute HP, or Oomph. If you still think this, have a look at the KillaCycle, a battery powered drag racer: The Quarter Mile in just over 8 seconds. Enough spark for you?

Questions and motives behind ARD / ZDF pullout

Standing at the finish in Marseille the whole ruckus with the German pull out unfolded. The next day at the start it continued. In the meantime the army of cars and staff (somewhere between 150 and 200 people) just set up again, business as usual, at the finish in Montpellier. Was it all bluff? Instead of German TV reporting, they were reported themselves. Instead of pointing their cameras on the outside world, the cameras were pointed on them. I don’t believe that is the place for a TV station to be. That is not what they are paid for. Other broadcasters thought their moves ridiculous and false. TV is there to report and sometimes to bring up subjects. But not to judge said one reporter. The Tour De France organization was perplexed. Riders were saddened as no TV coverage hurts their livelihoods. Eurosport, which saw a jump in their viewer-ship in Germany, did not know what the fuzz was about. Afterall the system worked and a cheater was caught. That was a good thing not? Others were far more damming and crude and I better not repeat what was being said.
I agree with all these sentiments. It seems that the over political correctness by some in Germany (in politics) was getting out of hand. If there was another case of cheating in say soccer or F1, would they also have puled the plug?
Yet I have many more questions?
Continue reading Questions and motives behind ARD / ZDF pullout…

Vall d’ Isere start

Crazy day yesterday. Seems already like a week ago. Went to the start with the ATC NuVinci bike and bumped into lots of old friends and contacts. They all wanted to ride it, find out more about it and sometime photograph or film it. They technical guys from the Astana team rode it and liked it a lot. Same for the T-Mobile team, some TV commentators, and journalists. All riding rounds in the paddock just before the start. The bike with no more gears, or endless gears as you want, was rather popular amongst the race crowd.

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Tour de France TV implosion

Cycling is big news in Germany, The German TV stations run a very professional show during the Tour de France. With little expense saved. I don’t know how many camera crews they have running around the Tour and in the media village their trucks occupy a fair chunk of space. They also take a hard line against doping. With all the stories with doping, - some never proven- they said that if there was one more case of doping in this Tour they would pull out . No more broadcast. Maybe a bit far fetched, but perhaps necessary aswell after the Ullrich rumors and the penance of Zabel and Aldag more than a month ago. This morning, minutes befoer the start in Tailard, the shit hit the fan.

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Watt’s that

One of our bikes here at the Tour is equipped with the excellent SRM ergo meter. We are using that for our testing program together with a Polar Heart rate monitor. The SRM is great fun as it tell you you power output. Or maybe that is fun for some, less for me. Yesterday Joona managed to pull 560 watts just during filming. Today I cycled back after the start at Val d’ Isere to Tignes. I only managed 411 for a short period. Still it is good to know where you are and to get a wake up call to get fit again. Time to get back into the saddle.

Something only NuVinci can do…?

Today was a rest day at the Tour de France. Perfect for us to get to work and do some filming. Joona Laukka, ex Pro -he used to ride as the Lieutenant to Richard Virenque- took the ATC NuVinci bike for a spin in the mountains around Val d”Isere. Joona who now is manager of Polar’s cycling division knows a thing or two about the human body, especially the heart and the need of efficient cycling. Something the NuVinci hub brings in spades as it always allows you to ride at your optimum cadence. No more gears which are to high or to low. No more problematic gear changes.
Our camera man was also no slouch. Ex record holder of the world hour record before Induran. Both really enjoyed riding the bike and kept discovering new and amazing things about it. So I uploaded this little clip about Joona still having fun and discovering new things after nearly two hours of cycling in the full sun. Enjoy.
PS, obviously this was shot with our own camera. The real version will be available in a few weeks. I will try to show more in the next few days.

Tignes, will the favorites show their colours today.

So I am in the media park at the finish in Tignes. A few more hours before we expect the finish. Hope to find a screen to watch the last couple of climbs on. In a way it was predictable that yesterday the favorites stayed together. Watching each-other, trying to find out how they compare to the rest. So all favorites came over the finish more than three minutes behind the leader. What I did find strange is that they did not attack more on Vinokourov and Kloden. Each day they wait these two get a little bit better. Still despite all the negative publicity, it is here as packed as ever. People camping on the roadside, complete parties going on. Some bring their own beer tap and disco system. For some a climb is hell, for others it is party time. Time for me to go and find a screen. Enjoy the race.

skipping chains

Obviously I look now at different things then I used to. So this Tour I see different things. What I notice is how much a wrong gear change, a skipping chain changes the results of a race. it happened in the Tour de Suisse. it happened a few days ago with Kloden and then Vinokourov: “”I think that my chain skipped, and as a result I lost my balance.” So there goes to favorite of the Tour de France, because of the fragility of the current system. That is a real shame. I will do some more investigating and will write more about this later. Hopefully we can get some more people riding the bike.