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From: Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Suspension losses
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:01:26 -0500
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On 1/10/2025 5:18 PM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
>  
> This makes me reflect on the criticism of electronics in bicycles. ... But what about measuring the
> amount of power applied to the pedals, what about telling the cyclist
> who balanced he splits the power between left and right, by
> instrumenting the pedal or the bottom bracket?  

Yes, that can be done with enough sensors and electronics. But it seems 
like useless information to me. As with much computer software, it seems 
like "feature bloat." Why would anybody but a racer care?

> What about replacing
> those awkward cables and complicated brifters with simple electric
> switches and an encrypted wireless channel? Is that bad, because a
> blacksmith can't repair it with his tools, like giving a horse a new
> pair of horse shoes?   

Of course, you're welcome to use electric shifting if you like. (Or 
brifters, which I don't!) But my life experience with electronic devices 
makes me suspicious. I've seen too many examples of electronic devices 
that simply stopped working, with no possible way of diagnosing the 
problem - at least, not by me. And while I'm far from an electronics 
expert, I'm better than the average citizen.

Two days ago, my kid asked me to figure out why an electric blanket 
wasn't working. The controller refused to turn on. I opened it and 
confirmed that it was getting supply voltage. Beyond that, the pile of 
dozens of surface mount electronic components was incomprehensible to 
me. I suspect Jeff might have been able to diagnose it, but not me. 
Here's a photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16972296@N08/54259119364/in/dateposted-public/
I know electric blankets are old technology. I know they functioned well 
for decades with maybe a rheostat and perhaps a couple of other 
components. Why add unrepairable complexity?

Similarly, a good friend recently told me about her adventure with her 
relatively new washing machine. During an expensive service visit, a 
repairman told her the problem was somewhere in the main circuit board, 
and that the only solution was to replace the expensive board. Our 
washer is something like 35 years old, uses an electro-mechanical timer, 
and will probably work well for whichever grandkid inherits it.

I'm positive my shifters are also going to be working for whichever 
grandkid inherits them. I wouldn't be confident about electronic shifters.

> What about LED lights, then? Shouldn't we get
> back to incandescent bulbs, powered by bottle dynamos?

I love good LED bike lights. And in some cases, the LEDs are direct 
replacements for incandescent bulbs. But I still use bottle dynos on two 
bikes. They can be more than fine, depending on service requirements.

> I think we should not and can not turn back the wheel, at least not like
> this.  I accept that there are reasons to keep bicycles simple, or to
> keep at least some biycles simple enough to long lived and usable even
> without much maintenance and without exotic stuff. But the question is,
> what makes a component or material exotic? Is a specific bowden cable or
> a gear hub or hub generator really less exotic and simpler to
> replace/recreate than, say, a LED light or a wireless shifter? I doubt
> it.

It depends on the LED light, I suppose. Some seem to have on board 
electronics as complicated as that blanket controller, and I don't know 
why. (I am curious about that, having opened up one Busch & Muller 
headlamp.) But I've opened and repaired both gear hubs and hub dynos 
from the 1950s. They now work perfectly. That won't be true of current 
electronic shifters 50 years from now.

-- 
- Frank Krygowski