Groundbreaking Innovation On The E-bike!!

Sorry for the clickbait, but we need help! 
 
We are 5 Innovation Management students working on a new concept for the E-bike!

The idea behind the innovation is that we found that people who rides an e-bike or considers to have two primary needs: To get exercise and not sweating! – By measuring the body heat with smart earbuds it automatically reduces or increases the assistance, so you get the optimal solution for exercise and turning up to work, social events or studies with no sweat! The earbuds can furthermore play you favourite music playlist or give GPS navigation when connected to your phone or Smart device on your bike.
 
Please watch the video below and answer the following question: Would you want to pay for this innovation? and how much? - general feedback is also welcome! 
 
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHoPCkF3Wk 
 
Thank you for your time!

I would pay to not have that on my bike.
I want full control over the assist.

The earbuds will eventually break or get lost. Hopefully said system reverts to giving full assist in that case.

It's kind of a gimmick and there are much better things to put R&D money into for an ebike.

neptronix said:

It's kind of a gimmick and there are much better things to put R&D money into for an ebike.

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Agree, an ABS retrofit for fastest safe stopping would be interesting.

neptronix said:

I would pay to not have that on my bike.

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Same here.

Student1995 said:

The idea behind the innovation is that we found that people who rides an e-bike or considers to have two primary needs: To get exercise and not sweating!

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Not me. I ride

• to get from point A to point B,
• on a bicycle when I don't need a ton of gas-driven machinery,
• with an electric motor so I'm not slowed to a crawl on hills.

The exercise is a not inconsiderable side benefit, but I don't get on the bicycle for that reason. In Seattle's climate, sweating isn't often a major consideration, and the motor reduces it even further by keeping the speed up without heroic 300W physical output.

I wear hearing aids , with the volume amplified , so that I can be aware of vehicles rapidly approaching from the rear. It is safer than relying on rear view mirrors alone. The other objections above, also apply.

Redundant. I can tell how hard I am working by my speedometer.

Nope, there are so many other useful innovations that could be made instead.

Pedal assist is not my thing. My bikes are more like ULM, for Ultra Lightweight Motorcycle. And yes they fly, sometimes.

Apart of this, earbuds here could make confusion with the police, since earphones are forbidden on the street. I suggest that you pick up body temp elsewhere, if needed. Today my ears were frozen anyway, riding in freaking cold windy winter. :wink:

I hate clickbait.
I don't want to wear earbuds while cycling.

Actually sweating vs. apparently sweating are two different things. While riding the bike you frequently don't have the sensation of sweating because the air movement from riding increases sweat evaporation. It is only when you stop riding that you notice how much sweat your body is producing since the sweat does not evaporate in the relatively still air. So if you control for no apparent sweating while riding, you'll likely be sweating when you finish. If you control for no sweating when you are done with a ride, then you'll probably significantly limit how much exercise you are actually getting. It seems to me that trying to deal with this dynamic will be pretty difficult.

Often the thing(s) that causes you to sweat will be something your system won't be able to control. For instance steep hill climbs and high outside temperatures and humidities.

I watched your video. It looks like this is merely an idea and not something you've actually tried to make work. I suspect that the basic idea is not practical. I also find that I can manage these things pretty well on my own. For instance in cold weather, I encourage an increasing core temperature by making extra effort early in the ride. I do this to reduce getting cold from the moving air. Once my core temperature is a bit higher, I'll adjust zipper openings and effort manually so that I remain comfortable. And finally, as I near the end of my ride, I will sometimes reduce my effort and let the moving air cool me down in advance of stopping. Taking it easy during the last mile is often all that is needed to finish up without much apparent sweating in non-summer months.

The best way to ride e bikes is with a throttle. Only your brain can vary the assist that quickly and consistently.


But people take years, or even never learn to properly use their throttle. So easy to let assist creep up. Hand fatigue just means you don't grip the bars correctly.

1 select a speed you would like to go.


2 select the gear that lets you pedal at a comfortable cadence for you, at that speed. This is the no sweat cadence, about 50-75 watts of human effort. Judge by your heartrate, your breathing. If you could not talk and ride, you are getting too much workout for a ride an hour long. 50w effort for an hour will do wonders for your heart and lungs, including not letting clots form in your legs. Sprints are good too, but not mandatory. My illness made any kind of sprint impossible for years, yet my heart and lungs are top notch, from low effort miles on an e bike.


3 bring up the throttle assist, or lower it, so that your cadence never varies, uphill, down, into the wind, etc. Now you have perfect assist, always the same cadence and effort.( cadence varies too much with PAS) Better than PAS. Your body loves this constant, consistent level of effort, vs the typical bike ride, with its ride hard till you feel like puking at the hill top.

4 don't death grip your throttle. or the other bar either. ride with palm pressure more than finger grip. Same thing you do on a motorcycle. It just takes some practice to get it.

It will take some miles before its automatic, but its no worse than learning to drive without cruise control. but it will become automatic.

project needs help but not the help your group thinks it needs

how many of these 5 im students significantly ride ebike on regular basis?

answer that question before moving on to the more advanced stuff

What I would like for ebike innovation, is a mind controlled throttle. Yet it would probably feed full throttle all the time with my twisted mind, but that wouldn’t be so much different from my actual twisted wrist.

dogman dan said:

The best way to ride e bikes is with a throttle. Only your brain can vary the assist that quickly and consistently.

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Hm, I sort of like the brain-to-throttle idea, if only because I have enough other things to do with my hands, but let's be careful about how it's wired up. Ha ha.

I agree, about the throttle and how to use it. I think a lot of people have this idea that a throttle means you have something like a scooter, which is understandable in view of the way a throttle works, as normally applied to an internal combustion fuel system device. I guess an e-bike throttle more less controls voltage, which is a bit different from "fuel", and the behavior - coasting with no power when the wheel reaches throttle speed - is way different than a scooter. It totally works with pedaling.

It will take some miles before its automatic, but its no worse than learning to drive without cruise control. but it will become automatic.

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Speaking of cruise control - I just started using my controller's cruise control feature, and I love it! It kicks in after a few seconds of steady throttle, and then I can just relax and pedal.

I would pay to not have that on my bike. One of your first problems is the wearing of earbuds while riding. Anything that interferes with situational awareness (hearing) is a major safety problem. The rest of it seems unnecessarily complicated. My two cents.

Wolfeman said:

One of your first problems is the wearing of earbuds while riding. Anything that interferes with situational awareness (hearing) is a major safety problem.

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That's my first and primary objection to the idea. Stuffing your ears while riding is demonstrably unsafe and often illegal. I believe reduction in quality of hearing is one of the primary reasons that helmets don't reduce overall cyclist injury and fatality rates, even though they provide physical protection.

Don't you get better data on body temperature from rectal measurement anyway? Stealthy!

MadRhino said:

Pedal assist is not my thing. My bikes are more like ULM, for Ultra Lightweight Motorcycle. And yes they fly, sometimes.

Apart of this, earbuds here could make confusion with the police, since earphones are forbidden on the street. I suggest that you pick up body temp elsewhere, if needed. Today my ears were frozen anyway, riding in freaking cold windy winter. :wink:

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In Denmark it is not illegal to listen to music while riding the bike as it can be seen as using a bluetooth call device in the car

Again
Stuffing your ears with whatever makes my ride unsave for sure because you less aware of
What around you
It is mandatory to warn other riders.when you want to pass