Why we should keep traveling
But in a better way
Nothing beats meeting in person. And we all know we should travel less because climate.
We just got another stark reminder about why this is important from the horrible damages in the Valencia area:
But that is wrong - we should travel differently. By train. By bike. By e-bike :)
So let us keep traveling - but with a much much lower footprint. And let us keep moving locally using low-impact methods like bikes and the best type of EVs: e-bikes. Because meeting in person is always better.
Meet me at Electronica/Semicon in Munich
Tuesday, November 12 - at the messecenter in Munich.
If you want to meet in person - let me know and we can arrange a place to meet.
Meet Kristian and I at SPS in Nuremberg
Tuesday + Wednesday 12+13, November - at the messecenter in Nuremberg.
If you want to meet in person, I am there on the Wednesday and Kristian is there both days. We have the calendly set up to make it easy to book a meeting in advance as we are roaming around:
https://calendly.com/kl--sensitivus/meet-sps-with-rolf-kristian-sensitivus
Really looking forward to meeting real people face-to-face :)
And - yes, traveling by train+bike for this :) Messy as it is - it is also good fun.
SENSOR STUFF
You know we make torque and position sensors. For ebikes. And for lots of other applications including robots. Maybe also cute robots. Time will tell (more about that later - maybe).
And most customers will want to test the technology before committing to a custom sensor. Thoroughly. Somehow. But how do you test a sensor?
Well, you need something that is better to compare it to. This is the sensor we make so it is easy to do testing on the technology - we call it SG210:
This sensor can measure torque and angle on the shaft that goes through it. The angle of the shaft is then derived to get to the rotational speed - or rpm. This is what can be used on an e-bike to measure cadence. Typically in the range of up to 200 rpm.
Now our - smarter than average, and also more thorough than average - customer wanted to test that feature. As well as a bunch of other things :)
So they faced the question - what simple setup can you make that has a very accurate rotational speed to compare it to?
Here you go - simply genius:
A vinyl record player rotates at a VERY precise speed. 33, 45, or good old 78 RPMs. Easily within +/-0.05 RPM which is crazy good. So there you have it - a simple way to test a sensor by comparing it to something that is much better.
We will bring the sensor to demo it (but not the customer’s record player) when we go to SPS and Electronica.
NERD STUFF
For those of you following my DIY touring e-trailer project, here is the latest. The setup has been thoroughly tested from Copenhagen over Berlin to Dresen and Prague, ending in Nuremberg this summer.
The new wireless throttle is working well. The location I am testing out here on the drop bars is just perfect.
Stay tuned for more as I get more testing done and improve the concept further. Clearly far from the finesse you get from INGRID and the likes :) :) :) See the Bespoked video below for how to do *nice* stuff.
FUN STUFF
Look at some of the neat and cool bike bits Russ found at the Bespoked show:
We met Russ and Laura at Eurobike last summer and really love how they provide a different view into the whole bike world.
ABOUT
I have spent the last 10 years on sensors and technology for bikes. Both are things that I really enjoy. Technology for bikes can be many things - these are the types of products and technologies I can talk about from experience:
Power meters (to measure how hard you pedal for training purposes - but actually valuable for much more than just that). A product with a high retail price and a low BOM price. Mostly sold as after-market.
Case: Technology still on the market by THM - The Clavicula PM crankset.Brake sensors (for optimizing MTB downhill performance). Very niche product for elite riders, which may eventually slowly become more widely accepted. Pure after-market.
Case: Technology on the market from BrakeAce.
e-bike torque/cadence sensors (to make e-bikes feel more like “analog” bikes on a really “good leg day”). Super high volume product with a fairly low sales price - a pure B2B product for integration into a motor design or similar.
Case: Technology on the market from Sensitivus, but not quite out in stores yet.
Each of these examples has occupied a good chunk of my life over the last 10 years, but there is more. A lot more. This is a story for another day.
P.S.
If you found this interesting there is more in the back issues. And if you found it boring, maybe the previous issues were more interesting for you:
Why you should still get a new bike now - and why it is good that time is running out on the amazing deals
Why angle to start should be law - and what I even mean by that
Why you should go to Sea Otter - and why you need a brake sensor if you really want to go fast downhill
Why you should do a Kickstarter - or actually, why you should maybe not
Why you need a power meter - open source or not
Why hub motors are better - and how Miri may be just the writer/photographer you are looking for
Why you should ride a bike to work - maybe even an electric unicycle
Why you should buy a new bike now - and why you should know TwoTone :)
P.P.S.
Please help me crossing fingers for the US election on Nov 5. I really want the US to be on a path where we in maybe 10 years or so again can have fun discussing politics when we meet.
Thanks for reading along :)
[[ … AND LET’S KEEP UNF*KING THE PLANET - ONE EBIKE AT A TIME ]]