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A
PROJECT REPORT
ON
SUPER BICYCLE
JUNE, 2014
Submitted to te !e"#$tme%t o& 'EC(ANICAL EN)INEERIN)
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UTTAR PRA!ES( TEC(NICAL UNI:ERSITY
0LUC5NO;1
CERTIFICATE
Ti3 i3 to .e$ti&ied t#t VIJAY KUMAR SINGH Roll No. 1042831107 o& &i%#* /e#$
Electronic & Communication Engineering, #3 3u..e33&u**/ .om"*eted tei$
"$o7e.t 8o$4 e%tit*ed GSM BASED SECURITY SYSTEM #%d 3ubmitted tei$
"$o7e.t i% te "#$ti#* &u*&i**me%t o& b#.e*o$ o& te.%o*o-/ de-$ee "$e3.$ibed b/
te UTTAR !RADES" TEC"NICA#UNI$ERSITY% #UC&N'( i% /e#$
)*+,-)*+.6 Te m#tte$ i% ti3 "$o7e.t i3 # $e.o$d o& te 3tude%t<3 o8% 8o$4 .#$$ied
out u%de$ m/ #b*e -uid#%.e #%d 3u"e$2i3io%6 Te m#tte$ embodied i% ti3 $e"o$t
#3 %ot bee% 3ubmitted b/ #%/o%e &o$ #8#$d o& #%/ de-$ee6
;e 8i3 tem #** te 3u..e33 i% &utu$e e%de#2ou$36
0(EA! O+ !EPART'ENT1 0INTERNAL E=A'INAR1 0E=TERNAL E=A'INAR1
5AS(I IT 5AS(I IT UPTU LUC5NO;
AC&N'(#EDGEMENT
At the outcome of the present report, I would like to take the privilege to
express m hum!le gratitude to those who have !een associated with m
work"
In m prior list, I would like to express m profound sense of gratitude to
the authorities of #$A%&I I'%(I()(* +, (*-&'+.+/01, 2 3r" 'agar4un
whose guidance and supervision the present stud has !een carried out"
I am ver grateful to 3r" 3ano4 $umar 5wivedi, 3r" Amita!h %ingh 2 3r"
6a4esh 3ishra 2 3r" 5aa %hankar 0adav who alwas spread their
valua!le time to steer me through this pro4ect work with smiling face"
(he list also contains m colleagues 2 friends for helping me in
preparation of rough sketches for the pro4ect 2 inspired me throughout m
pro4ect"
At last !ut not least, I thank m institute for providing me with this
opportunit that helped me to get an exposure into real life financial
practices"
ABSTRACT
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.om"#$ed 8it %o$m#* -e#$ bi./.*e #2i%- m#Bimum -e#$ $#tio C60A te% it i3 @6D4
time3 mo$e t#% t#t o& it6
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C'NTENTS
Introduction7777777777777777777777777777""
77777"1
-ompound /ear 3echanism7777777777777777777"77777"2
-ompound /ear (rain 7777777777777777777777""
77777""8
3aterial )sed777777777777777777777777777""77777
14
3anufacturing 9rocesses77777777777777777777777777"16
3achines 2 (ools
used777777777777777777777777777""24
:raking %stem777777777777777777777777777"
77777;1
%uspension777777777777777777777777777777"
7777"42
Accessories777777777777777777777777777777"
77774<
Advantages 2 5isadvantages77777777777777777777"777760
Industrial Applications7777777777777777777777777"777
61
INTR'DUCTI'N
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C'M!'UND GEAR MEC"ANISM
In a compound gear train at least one of the shafts in the train must hold two gears.
Compound gear trains are used when large changes in speed or power output are needed and
there is only a small space between the input and output shafts.
The number of shafts and direction of rotation of the input gear determine the direction of
rotation of the output gear in a compound gear train. The train in Figure has two gears in
between the input and output gears. These two gears are on one shaft. They rotate in the same
direction and act like one gear. There are an odd number of gear shafts in this example. As a
result, the input gear and output gear rotate in the same direction.
Since two pairs of gears are involved, their ratios are compounded, or multiplied
together.
Example- The input gear, with 12 teeth, drives its mating gear on the counter-shaft,
which has 2 teeth. This is a ratio of 2 to 1.
This ratio of !"#$E% over !"#$E" at the #nput - 2 to 1 - is then multiplied &' the
(utput ratio, which has a !"#$E% to !"#$E" ratio of ) to 1.
This gives a gear ratio of * to 1 &etween the input and the output, resulting in a speed
reduction and a corresponding increase in tor+ue.
*A compound gear train is one which has two or more gears attached to the same
shaft. In actual fact it is a combination of two or more gear trains.
*You can combine as many gear pairs as you want in a compound gear train. There is
no limit. By combining gears you can make almost any gear ratio that you want!
*Gear trains have many applications in rotating machinery, including transmission units
in automobiles and trucks.
*compound gear ratios can reduce or increase the torque of the transfer gear, and the
effects that has on power and speed.
*When laid out properly, this arrangement can often make for a somewhat more
compact gearbox. In particular, if a very large gear ratio is required, this type of gear
train can separate this ratio into more manageable factors. For example, an analog
watch display requires a ratio of 1:3600 between the second hand and the hour hand,
so it makes sense to split this up into two factors of 1:60
S"AFT DESIGNING
C'M!'UND GEAR TRAIN
, gear train is called a simple gear train, if the axes of the gears are
connected &' revolute -oints to the fixed lin.. The geometric representation of
a gear train with one gear pair is shown &elow. #n the figure the solid model of
the gear train /and its simulation0 is also shown. The circles drawn as
centerline is the .nown as the pitch circle of the gear. The linear velocit' of
the point of contact 1, is the point where the relative velocit' &etween the two
lin.s is 2ero /there is pure rolling and no sliding &etween the toothed
surfaces0. The gear ratio "
2)
is defined as3

4here n
1-
is the angular speed of lin. - with respect to the fixed lin. 1
expressed in rpm. $elocit' of point 1 is3

5ence3
Geometric Representation of Gears in External Mesh /1 in &etween
centers0
4here d
-
and r
-
are the diameters and radii of the pitch circles of the gears.
6rom the law of gearing for the gears to &e in mesh, the diametral pitch,
which is the ratio of the num&er of teeth over the pitch diameter must &e the
same for two mating gears3 e.g.3
!iametral
pitch
4here T
-
is the num&er of teeth on gear -. #n European countries rather than
the diametral pitch, Module, m , which is the ratio of the pitch circumference
to the num&er of tooth /pd
-
7T
-
0, is used. 8nit for diametral pitch is in 17inch and
the unit for module is mm.
we define that the gear ratio as positive when the two gears in mesh are
rotating in the same direction and negative if the' are rotating in the opposite
direction. ,s seen in the figure a&ove, if 1 is in &etween the fixed centres, the
gear ratio will &e negative and such gear pairing we shall call external
mesh. #f the pairing is as shown &elow., The point of contact is outside the
fixed centres and the gear ratio is positive. Such gear pairing will &e called
internal mesh.
Gear train with Internal Mesh /1 outside the centers0
Therefore, the gear ratio of a gear train with one gear pair can &e expressed
as3

9 if internal,
- if external mesh.
Simple Gear Train with more than one ear pair
Simplest gear trains have one gear pair on each lin.. , simple example is ,
shown in 6ig. *.). The overall gear ratio of the gear train, "
2
, will &e3


5ence, for such gear trains, the intermediate gears have no effect on the gear
ratio, except the sign of the gear ratio. These intermediate gears are usuall'
called idlers. The' are used either to change the direction of rotation or the'
can &e used to transmit motion &etween two shafts that are far apart while the
gear si2es are .ept small.
! "ompo#n$ Gear train
, gear train is called a compound gear train if there is more than one gear
on each lin.. ,n example is shown a&ove. #n a compound gear train there
ma' &e some idler gears. The gear ratio for the whole gear train can &e
determined &' considering the gear ratio for each gear pair.
4e can write3



Then

%ote that the gears that appear in the numerator are all driving gears and
those that appear in the denominator are all driven gears. ,lso, each external
gear mesh changes the sign of the gear ratio once. #f the num&er of external
gear meshes is odd, the gear ratio will &e negative: if it is even, the gear ratio
is positive. 4e can generalise the a&ove result and define the gear ratio for
an' simple compound gear train as3

where . refers to the num&er of external gear pairs.
The gear ratio is a constant. Therefore, the angular displacements and the
angular accelerations are also related with the same gear ratio /e.g. if lin. i is
rotated &'
1i
the corresponding angular rotation of lin. -,
1-
, is3

1-
;"
i-

1i
.
4e can generalise what we have o&tained for simple gear trains to other
linear mechanical s'stems. #n case of &elt drives the pulle' diameters must
&e used instead of the tooth num&ers. #n roller drives one can use the roller
diameters. 6or chain drives, one can either use the num&er of teeth on the
sproc.et or the sproc.et diameter. ,ssuming that there is no slippage, for the
friction drives we can write3

#n this case, . will refer to the num&er of externall' meshed rollers or in case
of chain and pulle' drives, it will refer to the num&er of crossed chains or
&elts. ,n example is given &elow.
(pen &elt3

<rossed &elt

,nother t'pe of simple gear train is the gear train that is used to change the
output speed for a constant input speed. =ost common examples are the
transmission &oxes in cars or in machine tools. #n general, the' are
called speed-change gear trains and the' are made up of compound gear
trains in which the output speed can &e changed &' meshing different gears
in the train. 6or each speed ratio one can treat the gear train as a different
compound gear train and thus o&tain the gear ratio for that particular
arrangement. Two examples are given &elow a four speed manual gear &ox
is shown. 6ive speed gear &oxes can also &e seen in most cars that use the
same principle /to increase the fuel efficienc'0. 8sing the gear shift lever one
of the gears is engaged to the output shaft with one of three clutches. These
clutches permit engagement while the shafts are rotating and are .nown
as %s&nchromesh cl#tch'. This t'pe of clutch permits some amount of
slippage &etween the two mating parts in the first phase of engagement while
the shafts rotate at different speeds and when the two shafts are at the same
speed, a positive engagement is reali2ed. #n these figures the side view of
the gear trains are shown, since in the front view there will &e several
concentric circles.
4 spee$ ear (ox fro a car
(ne other future of the gear &ox is that all the mating gears have the same
centre distances, or the sum of the radii of two mating gears /,->, 6-<, ?-!0
since the distance &etween the output and the intermediate shaft is constant.
#f the gears are to &e made with the same pitch or module, than the sum of
the num&er of teeth of an' two mating gears must &e the same /in 6ig. *.@3
1@9): 29)*: ))92@ are all e+ual to *A0. Such a gear train arrangement is
also .nown as %re)erte$ ear*.

+o#(le "l#tch Gear ,ox -. spee$s/
#n 6ig.*.B a new t'pe of car gear &ox .nown as %+o#(le cl#tch
transmission* is shown schematicall'. This s'stem is also a compound gear
train. The main difference from the classical car transmission is that there are
two intermediate shafts each used for even and odd gear speeds. The
advantage is while one clutch is engaged, the next gear shift can &e set in the
other shaft so that the elapsed time during gear shifts is lowered. The s'stem
was first developed for race cars and nowada's are used as &oth manual or
automatic gear &ox in standard cars.
/There is a
sliding
.e'wa'
&etween
gears !,6,5
and the
output shaft0
0o#r spee$ Gear ,ox in machine tool /note that the speed is changed after
the input is stopped.
Example
#n the figure shown &elow a six-speed gear &ox used in machine tools is
shown. ,ll the six speed ratios are to &e determined.
(ne can have two different gear meshes &etween shafts # and # # and three
different gear meshes &etween shafts ## and ### thus 'ielding * different
compound trains /,-<-6-#, ,-<-E-5, ,-<-?-C, >-!-6-#, >-!-E-5 and >-!-?-
C0. "ather than solving for the gear ratios separatel' one can utilise a speed
ratio diagram as shown in figure /&0. The shafts #, # # and ### are drawn and the
two different speed ratios &etween shafts # and ## are determined /D*7@ ;
A.@D*B, )*7E ; A.)B)A0. >etween shafts ## and ### since gears 6-#, E-5 or ?-F
can &e in mesh, the three different speed ratios are D)7D ; A.EB1D,
@7*A;A.@B)), 27*A ; A.**2. =ultiplication of the speed ratios &etween #
and ## with the speed ratios &etween ## and ### will 'ield the overall speed
ratios. #f the hori2ontal axis is used to represent speed ratio in a certain scale,
the final diagram thus o&tained will indicate the difference &etween the speed
ratios and the speed steps in such a gear &ox.
MATERIA# USED
, spur gear is the most &asic t'pe of gear availa&le. #t consists of nothing more than a
c'linder or dis. with radicall' pro-ecting teeth aligned parallel to the rotational axis. The
simplicit' of spur gears means that the' are commonl' used in num&er of machines,
from cars to household appliances. >ecause the' are used often, spur gears must &e
&uilt of materials, li.e plastics and metals, that are easil' fa&ricated and molded, &ut
also strong and dura&le.
Acetal
Acetal is a plastic polymer that is used either in its pure state or slightly altered state---
e.g. Derlin---for a number of spur gears. The acetal polymer is much stronger than
common plastic, though it can be easily molded to any shape, including a spur gear.
Once acetal has hardened in the shape of a spur gear, it is stif, strong and resistant to
abrasion. The malleability, strength and resilience make it an ideal material for spur
gears.
Ca/t Iron
Cast iron is, like acetal, an easily molded material. It is also highly resistant to rust. Cast
iron is not pure iron, and because of this, any given batch of cast iron ill have different
ingredients. These different ingredients cohere for different degrees of strength and
durability. Cast iron is used in machine parts because it is relatively ine!pensive, rust
resistant and easy to mold, though it may be either incredibly strong or incredibly eak,
depending upon the admi!ture.
Stainle// Steel
"tainless steel is a metal alloy commonly used in the casting of spur gears. A metal alloy
is a metal composed of to or more distinct elements that are melted together. #ike cast
iron, it is highly resistant to o!idation, and like acetal, it is resistant to abrasions and
other eakening blemishes. "tainless steel$s resistance to rust and scarring is due to the
infusion of chromium. The strength, durability and corrosion resistance make stainless
steel a popular material for spur gears.
MANUFACTURING !R'CESS
TURNING
Turning is a form of machining, a material removal process, which is used to create
rotational parts &' cutting awa' unwanted material. The turning process re+uires a
turning machine or lathe, wor.piece, fixture and cutting tool. The wor.piece is a piece
of pre-shaped material that is secured to the fixture, which itself is attached to the
turning machine, and allowed to rotate at high speeds. The cutter is t'picall' a single-
point cutting tool that is also secured in the machine, although some operations ma.e
use of multi-point tools. The cutting tool feeds into the rotating wor.piece and cuts
awa' material in the form of small chips to create the desired shape.
Turning is used to produce rotational, t'picall' axi-s'mmetric, parts that have man'
features, such as holes, grooves, threads, tapers, various diameter steps, and even
contoured surfaces. 1arts that are fa&ricated completel' through turning often include
components that are used in limited +uantities, perhaps for protot'pes, such as custom
designed shafts and fasteners. Turning is also commonl' used as a secondar' process
to add or refine features on parts that were manufactured using a different process.
!ue to the high tolerances and surface finishes that turning can offer, it is ideal for
adding precision rotational features to a part whose &asic shape has alread' &een
formed.

1E23!2S "4TTI5G
Keyways and splines are most commonly used to transmit power between 2
drive components. Examples of this for a keyway is a gear or sprocket
keyed onto a drive shaft or a pulley keyed onto a driven shaft. Splines can
be used for static drives but are more commonly used where an axial sliding
of the drive components is required. Examples of this are splines gear box
shafts which allow the gears to slide axially to move in and out of mesh.
Keyways in shafts are commonly cut using woodruff cutters, slot mills, end
mills and slitting saws. Keyways in bores or internal diameters are typically
cut using slotters, broaches and rotary broaches.
Splines on shafts are typically cut using form tools, hobbing techniques or
rotary broaching techniques. External splines can also be cold rolled.
nternal splines are typically cut using slotters, broaches or rotary broaches.
T4R5I5G
, single-point turning tool moves axiall', along
the side of the wor.piece, removing material to
form different features, including steps, tapers,
chamfers, and contours. These features are
t'picall' machined at a small radial depth of cut
and multiple passes are made until the end
diameter is reached.
0!"I5G
, single-point turning tool moves radiall', along the
end of the wor.piece, removing a thin la'er of
material to provide a smooth flat surface. The depth
of the face, t'picall' ver' small, ma' &e machined in
a single pass or ma' &e reached &' machining at a
smaller axial depth of cut and ma.ing multiple
passes.
GR667I5G
, single-point turning tool moves radiall', into the side of
the wor.piece, cutting a groove e+ual in width to the
cutting tool. =ultiple cuts can &e made to form grooves
larger than the tool width and special form tools can &e
used to create grooves of var'ing geometries.
"4T 600-partin/
Similar to grooving, a single-point cut-off tool moves
radiall', into the side of the wor.piece, and continues
until the center or inner diameter of the wor.piece is
reached, thus parting or cutting off a section of the
wor.piece.
T8RE!+ "4TTI5G
, pointed nose, moves axiall', along the side of the
wor.piece, cutting threads into the outer surface. The
threads can &e cut to a specified length and pitch and
ma' re+uire multiple passes to &e formed.
I5TER5!9 6:ER!TI65S
+RI99I5G
, drill enters the wor.piece axiall' through the end and
cuts a hole with a diameter e+ual to that of the tool.
,6RI5G
, &oring tool enters the wor.piece axiall' and cuts along
an internal surface to form different features, such as
steps, tapers, chamfers, and contours. The &oring tool is
a single-point cutting tool, which can &e set to cut the
desired diameter &' using an ad-usta&le &oring head.
>oring is commonl' performed after drilling a hole in
order to enlarge the diameter or o&tain more precise
dimensions.
RE!MI5G
, reamer enters the wor.piece axiall' through the end
and enlarges an existing hole to the diameter of the tool.
"eaming removes a minimal amount of material and is
often performed after drilling to o&tain &oth a more
accurate diameter and a smoother internal finish.
T!::I5G
, tap enters the wor.piece axiall' through the end and
cuts internal threads into an existing hole. The existing
hole is t'picall' drilled &' the re+uired tap drill si2e that
will accommodate the desired tap.
(E#DING '!ERATI'N
The manufacture of virtually all sophisticated modern products involves oining
together many individual components. !here a permanent oin is re"uired, welding is
often a good option. #ther possible processes such as bra$ing, soldering, and use of
adhesives will are considered in the %esign module.
!elding processes can be split into two broad categories&
Fusion
processes
The surfaces of two components to be oined are cleaned, placed close
together and heated while being protected from oxidation. A pool of
molten metal forms and connects the components, a filler rod may be used
to add metal to the oint.
This category covers a very wide range of processes, some of which are
considered in more detail later
'olid phase
processes
The metals to be oined do not melt, they are heated, usually by friction
heating generated by sliding the parts together under a normal load, this
softens the metals and removes surface contamination. The sliding is then
stopped, the normal load is increased and the two surfaces oin together.
Friction welding is the main process in this class and is widely used to
oin axisymmetric components in two different types of steels. (xamples
include engine valves where a heat resistant alloy head is re"uired, but a
steel that will slide well in the guide is needed for the stem.
Joint Orientation
As most welding processes rely on a weld pool being formed between the parts to be
oined, the process is most straightforward when the weld pool is stable, that is when
it is hori$ontal. This will not be the case when vertical and overhead oints are
re"uired. These re"uire much more skill and special electrodes)coatings may be used.
2.2 Oxy Acetylene Welding
In this process heat is provided by the combustion of Acetylene in #xygen which
gives a flame temperature of about *+,,
o
C. This can be used to weld steel with a
thickness up to about - mm. A filler rod is normally applied to assist in making the
oin. The process is widely used in obbing shops with manual operation and re"uires
a fair bit of skill, particularly when welding aluminium and thinner gauge steel.
ARC WELDING
'everal welding processes are based on heating with an electric arc, only a few are
considered here, starting with the oldest, simple arc welding, also known as shielded
metal arc welding .'/A!0 or stick welding.
In this process an electrical machine .which may be %C or AC, but nowadays is
usually AC0 supplies current to an electrode holder which carries an electrode which
is normally coated with a mixture of chemicals or flux. A earth cable connects the
workpiece to the welding machine to provide a return path for the current. The weld
is initiated by tapping .1striking10 the tip of the electrode against the workpiece which
initiates an electric arc. The high temperature generated .about 2,,,
o
C0 almost
instantly produces a molten pool and the end of the electrode continuously melts into
this pool and forms the oint.
GRINDING
?rinding practice is a large and diverse area of manufacturing and toolma.ing. #t can
produce ver' fine finishes and ver' accurate dimensions: 'et in mass production contexts it
can also rough out large volumes of metal +uite rapidl'. #t is usuall' &etter suited to the
machining of ver' hard materials than is GregularG machining /that is, cutting larger chips
with cutting tools such as tool &its or milling cutters0, and until recent decades it was the
onl' practical wa' to machine such materials as hardened steels. <ompared to GregularG
machining, it is usuall' &etter suited to ta.ing ver' shallow cuts, such as reducing a shaftHs
diameter &' half a thousandth of an inch or 12.@ um.
?rinding is a su&set of cutting, as grinding is a true metal-cutting process. Each grain of
a&rasive functions as a microscopic single-point cutting edge /although of high
negative ra.e angle0, and shears a tin' chip that is analogous to what would conventionall'
&e called a GcutG chip /turning, milling, drilling, tapping, etc.0. 5owever, among people who
wor. in the machining fields, the term cutting is often understood to refer to the
macroscopic cutting operations, and grinding is often mentall' categori2ed as a GseparateG
process. This is wh' the terms are usuall' used in contradistinction in shop-floor practice,
even though, strictl' spea.ing, grinding is a su&set of cutting.
Similar a&rasive cutting processes are lapping and sanding.
FILE
0ilin is a material removal process in manufacturing. Similar, depending on use, to &oth
sawing and grinding in effect, it is functionall' versatile, &ut used mostl' for finishing
operations, namel' in de&urring operations. 6iling operations can &e used on a wide range
of materials as a finishing operation. 6iling helps achieve wor.piece function &' removing
some excess material and de&urring the surface. Sandpaper ma' &e used as a filing tool
for other materials, such as glass.
MACHINES & EQUIPMENTS USED
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LATHE MACHINE
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BENCHVISE
CENTRE PUNCH
ANVIL WITH HAMMER
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The earliest &ic'cles with pedals such as the &onesha.er were fitted with a spoon &ra.e
which pressed onto the rear wheel.
I1J
The &ra.e was operated &' a lever or &' a cord
connecting to the handle&ars. The rider could also slow down &' resisting the pedals of the
fixed wheel drive.
The next development of the &ic'cle, the penn'-farthings, were similarl' &ra.ed with a
spoon &ra.e or &' &ac. pedaling. !uring its development from 1B@A to 1B@B, there were
various designs for &ra.es, most of them operating on the rear wheel. 5owever, as the rear
wheel &ecame smaller and smaller, with more of the riderKs weight over the front wheel,
&ra.ing on the rear wheel &ecame less effective. The front &ra.e, introduced &' Fohn Lean
in 1B@), had &een generall' adopted &' 1BBA &ecause of its greater stopping power.
I2J
Some penn'-farthing riders used onl' &ac. pedaling and got off and wal.ed down steep
hills, &ut most also used a &ra.e. 5aving a &ra.e meant that riders could coast down hill &'
ta.ing their feet off the pedals and placing the legs over the handle&ars, although most
riders preferred to dismount and wal. down steep hills.
I2J
1utting the legs under the
handle&ars with the feet off the pedals placed on foot-rests on the for.s had resulted in
serious accidents caused &' the feet getting caught in the spo.es.
I1J
,n alternative to the spoon &ra.e for penn'-farthings was the caliper &ra.e patented &'
>rowett and 5arrison in 1BB@.
I)J
This earl' version of caliper &ra.ing used a ru&&er &loc. to
contact the outside of the penn'-farthingKs small rear tire.
The 1B@As and 1BBAs saw the development of the safet' &ic'cle which roughl' resem&les
&ic'cles toda', with two wheels of e+ual si2e, initiall' with solid ru&&er tires. These were
t'picall' e+uipped with a front spoon &ra.e and no rear &ra.e mechanism, &ut li.e penn'-
farthings the' used fixed gears, allowing rear wheel &ra.ing &' resisting the motion of the
pedals. The relative fragilit' of the wooden rims used on most &ic'cles still precluded the
use of rim &ra.es
J
#n the late 1BEAs came the introduction of rim &ra.es and the freewheel.
I
4ith the introduction of mass-produced pneumatic t'res &' the !unlop T're <ompan', the
use of spoon &ra.es &egan to decline, as the' tended to +uic.l' wear through the thin
casing of the new t'res. This pro&lem led to demands for alternative &ra.ing s'stems. (n
%ovem&er 2), 1BE@, ,&ram 4. !uc. of !uc.Ks <'cler' in (a.land, <alifornia was granted
a patent for his Duck Roller Brake /8.S. 1atent DE,2)0.
IJ
The duc. &ra.e used a rod
operated &' a lever on the handle&ar to pull twin ru&&er rollers against the front tire,
&ra.ing the front wheel.
IDJ
#n 1BEB, after the advent of freewheel coasting mechanisms, the first internal coaster
&ra.es were introduced for the rear wheel. The coaster &ra.e was contained in the rear
wheel hu&, and was engaged and controlled &' &ac.pedaling, thus eliminating the issue of
tire wear. #n the 8nited States, the coaster &ra.e was the most commonl' fitted &ra.e
throughout the first half of the 2Ath centur', often comprising the onl' &ra.ing s'stem on
the &ic'cle.
+isc (ra;es
, $isc (ra;e consists of a metal disc attached to the wheel hu& that rotates with the wheel.
<alipers are attached to the frame or for. along with pads that s+uee2e together on the
disc. ,s the pads drag against the disc, the wheel - and thus the &ic'cle - is slowed
as .inetic energ' /motion0 is transformed into thermal energ' /heat0. /#n &asic operation,
disc &ra.es are identical to rim &ra.es.0 , &ic'cle disc &ra.e ma' &e mechanicall'
actuated, as with a >owden ca&le, or h'draulicall' actuated, or a com&ination of the two.
!isc &ra.es are used mainl' on mountain &i.es ridden off-road, &ut sometimes on h'&rid
&ic'cles and touring &ic'cles. , disc &ra.e is sometimes emplo'ed as a drag &ra.e.
!$)antaes an$ $isa$)antaes
!isc &ra.es tend to perform e+uall' well in all conditions including water, mud, and snow
due to several factors3
The &ra.ing surface is farther from the ground and possi&le contaminants li.e mud
which can coat or free2e on the rim and pads. 4ith rim &ra.es, the first point that mud
&uilds up on a mountain &i.e ridden in thic. mud is usuall' the &ra.es. , mountain
&ic'cle with disc &ra.es is less suscepti&le to mud &uildup provided the rear frame and
front for. 'o.e have sufficient clearance from the wheels.
!isc &ra.es are less prone to fading under heav' or prolonged &ra.ing compared
with rim &ra.es, and the heat is not dissipated into the t're.
!isc &ra.e pads when full' retracted ride much closer to the &ra.ing surface than
rim &ra.e pads. >ecause of the shorter lever arm, a disc &ra.e re+uires more
mechanical advantage &etween the lever and the pad than a rim &ra.e. >ut the
distance that a &ra.e lever can travel and the amount of force a rider can provide are
fixed. The result is that the disc pad is a&le to move a shorter distance than a rim pad.
This &etter prevents a &uildup of water or de&ris under the pad.
There are holes in the rotor, providing a path for water and de&ris to get out from
under the pads.
4heel rims tend to &e made of lightweight metal. >ra.e discs and pads are harder
and can accept higher maximum loads.
!isc &ra.es do not create wear on the rim unli.e rim &ra.es, especiall' if grit
&ecomes em&edded in the &ra.e pads.
#t is possi&le to ride a &ic'cle with a &uc.led wheel if it has dis. &ra.es, where it
would not &e possi&le with a rim &ra.e &ecause the &uc.led wheel would &ind on the
&ra.e pads.
The use of ver' wide t'res favours disc &ra.es, as rim &ra.es re+uire ever-longer arms to
clear the wider t're. Monger arms tend to flex more, degrading &ra.ing. !isc &ra.es are
unaffected &' t're width.
DERAILEUR
Preamble
?ears. ,ma2ing things. The com&ination of two different si2ed cogs and a chain lets 'ou
power down hills, cruise on the flat and clim& up a gradient. 4hat a great invention. %ot that
#Km .noc.ing single speeds - which we all ride here in the wor.shop - &ut the multi-geared
&ic'cle is a formida&le invention.
<hanging gears, though, is another matter. =ost modern &i.es are e+uipped with a
derailleur gearing s'stem - sta' with me, weHll get to the terminolog' - where the chain runs
&etween man' different cogs. These cogs are &oth turning &etween 'our feet and attached
to the rear wheel, giving the rider a sometimes &ewildering num&er of gears to choose
&etween, the most common &eing 21, 2 or 2@.
Tr'ing to avoid a massivel' technical &rea.down of the ph'sics of how &ic'cle gearing
wor.s, this article focuses more on the practicalities of changing and operating gears.
<lic. for illustrations wherever 'ou see text in this colour. 4here there are multiple images,
'ou can navigate them with 'our mouse, or &' using the left and right arrow .e's on 'our
.e'&oard. 8se the escape .e' or clic. on the N to return to the article.
Introduction
"iding a &i.e with gears can &e +uite a daunting experience. 4ith practice and
understanding, though, the relationship &etween 'ou and 'our steed can &ecome a trul'
satisf'ing experience. 4hen 'ou press that shifter7lever, twist 'our wrist or change gear with
'our newl' invented, helmet mounted, laser guided unit, it reall' helps to have some
understanding of what is actuall' happening &ac. there.
#f 'ou would li.e it to &e reall' eas', thin. a&out getting a &i.e with an internal rear hu&.
4ith these, the chain runs on -ust one cog and all the gear changing action ta.es place in
the hu& - ver' clever. >ac. in the da' these generall' had -ust three gears and were found
mainl' on traditional and ladies &i.es. Toda' there are some excellent modern internal hu&s
with @, B and even 1 gears. 4e regularl' convert our customersH &i.es to use these.
#f 'our chain moves &etween different cogs on the rear wheel, then 'ou have a derailleur
gear s'stem. ,t least EDO of the &i.es we see in the wor.shop are fitted with these. The'
are more complex to use than an internal hu&, &ut have a lot of advantages.
1lease note3 Throughout this document it is assumed that 'our &i.e is in good wor.ing
order and that 'our gear s'stems are correctl' set-up and in tune.
Definitions/Terminology
Tr' not to &e daunted &' 'our gears. , little understanding can go a long wa'.
Cour derailleur gear s'stem consists of3
Shifter P The device 'ou use to change gear, that is to ma.e the chain move &etween cogs.
This ma' &e a lever, twist grip or other. =ost &i.es will have two shifters.
<hainrings P These are the one, two or three cogs that are &etween 'our feet and on which
the chain runs. <om&ined the' are .nown as a Qchainset.H The left hand shifter moves the
chain &etween these cogs using aR
!erailleur P These are the ver' clever devices that move the chain &etween the cogs. So
called &ecause the' KderailK the chain - not as # thought for man' 'ears named after a
6rench man called K=onsieur !erailleur.K >i.es have &oth front and rear derailleurs.
4hereas 'our front derailleur moves the chain &etween 'our chainrings, the rear derailleur
moves it &etween 'ourR
<assette7>loc.7/=ulti06reewheel P These are the rear cogs attached to 'our &ac. wheel.
There can &e an'where &etween D and 1A of these. /#n fact on the da' # t'pe this # have
learned that an 11 Speed version is &eing released P madness. # mean, reall'S0
Sproc.et P (ne of the cogs ma.ing up the a&ove.
<hain P 4ell, #Km sure 'ou .now what this is.
<ran.s P These are the two arms into which the pedals fit. The "5S /"ight 5and Side0
cran. is attached to 'our chainset.
Transmission P This is a collective term for 'our chain and the cogs on which it runs /the
<hainset and <assette0. The transmission QtransmitsH 'our pedalling action into movement
of the rear wheel and then off 'ou go.
<omponents P 1rett' much an'thing that attaches to 'our frame that is essential for the
operation of 'our &i.e. /,n'thing attached that is not essential, we would generall' refer to
as an accessor' rather than a component.0
M5S or "5S P QMeft 5and SideH or Q"ight 5and SideH
Mow75igh - , common pro&lem when discussing peopleHs gears and their operation is
var'ing terminolog' for which gear the' are in. #t doesnHt wor. in ) and , for example can
&e +uite am&iguous. #t is more useful to tal. a&out low and high gears. Mow gears ma.e
pedalling easier and are used for setting off and going up hills. 5igh gears are used when
'ou have &uilt up speed and are travelling faster. (n 'our rear, wheel the low gears are the
&igger cogs and the high gears are the smaller cogs. <onversel' at the chainset, the
smaller cog /often .nown as the grann' ring P can 'ou guess wh'S0 is 'our low gear, whilst
the &ig cog is 'our high gear. <omplicated, isnHt itS
Cour point of contact with 'our gear s'stems is a QshifterH of some t'pe.
#n the olden da's, to change gear with a derailleur, 'ou had to -udge how far to pull a lever
to ma.e the chain move &etween the cogs, .nown as Qfriction shift.H These da's most
shifters are Qindexed,H so 'ou Qclic.H to change gear. #ndexed shifting is a super& invention,
&ut it does not ma.e changing gear foolproof, far from it.
6irstl' - and this reall' is one of the most important pieces of advice that # can offer - if 'our
shifters have a visual displa' of what gear 'ou are in, a num&er or the li.e, tr' not to loo. at
itT "iding a &ic'cle with derailleur gears means that 'ou are operating a mechanical linear
machine. #t is not li.e using a T$ remote control, cash point, computer or the li.e.
4hen 'ou move 'our shifter, 'ou are pulling an inner ca&le that is sliding under resistance
through an outer ca&le and forcing a derailleur to change shape, thus pushing a chain
sidewa's and hoping that it will move on to another sproc.et. Cou are in charge of this
action. #t is a complicated s'stem and re+uires s.ill, timing, anticipation and concentration.
(nce 'ou have &ecome confident operating them, 'ou will instinctivel' .now which gear 'ou
are in. Tr' to understand when and how to operate 'our shifters and thus QfeelH 'our gears
change, rather than -ust push a &utton, loo. at a dial move next to it and hope that
something happens
The two systems
(., as outlined a&ove, 'ou pro&a&l' have two sets of gears on 'our derailleur-e+uipped
&ic'cle.
The Rear Derailleur / R! !hifter
The right hand shifter is on the right of 'our handle&ars /as 'ou loo. forward whilst on the
&i.e0 and controls the rear derailleur, which moves the chain &etween the sproc.ets on 'our
rear wheel. This is the shifter 'ou will use the most and can ver' roughl' &e approximated
to the gears on a car. The lower gears /in use when the chain is on the &igger sproc.ets0
are easier to pedal in and are used for setting off from stationar' and riding up hills. Then
wor. through the gears /from the low to the high0 as 'ou &uild up speed and travel along the
flat or go down hills. <hanging gears with the "5S shifter should &e ver' clean and over
time &ecome second nature - -ust a clic. and then a smooth transfer of the chain from one
cog to the next. <onstantl' assessing what lies ahead and how to respond to it, 'ou find
'ourself changing gear automaticall' to deal with an' eventualit'. This ma' sound a &it
wistful7idealistic, &ut it reall' can &e li.e this.
The "ront Derailleur / #! !hifter$
This is the &ig one and if the truth &e told the reason &ehind m' writing this article. #f 'ou
have two or more chainrings /the most common is three0 then 'ou will have a M5S shifter
that moves the chain &etween these chainrings using 'our front derailleur. Smaller
chainrings are easier to pedal in, &ut less power is transferred to the rear wheel. <onversel'
the largest chainring provides more power to the rear wheel, &ut is harder to pedal in. 4hich
to use and when depends on man' different factors. #f 'ou onl' ride on the road and donHt
tac.le an' extreme hills 'ou ma' never need to use the smallest chainring. # would suggest
using the middle chainring for setting off, casual riding and most hills: the largest one for
riding fast, pushing the &i.e hard on the flat and down hill.
#ssues with shifting the chain &etween the chainrings using the M5S shifter are pro&a&l' the
most common pro&lem we see. ,ll is not lost, though: it is not some .ind of weird and
wonderful &lac. art. 5owever, it is the most difficult part of operating the gears on a
derailleur s'stem. The -ump in the num&er of teeth &etween the different si2ed chainrings is
far greater than &etween the sproc.ets on the rear wheel. The front derailleur is a ver'
different device to the rear and the advice to ignore the num&ers on the shifter holds even
truer for this. 4hereas the rear derailleur holds and guides the chain ver' specificall', the
front derailleur essentiall' -ust uses two plates either side of the chain to push it sidewa's.
The rest of the wor. is done &' the rotation of the chain and chainset /through 'our nice
smooth pedalling action0 and the Qhoo.H effect of the cogs on the chainring that is &eing
changed. The idea is that the hoo. pic.s up the chain and engages it on the new cog.
?enerall' changing down /from &igger to smaller chainrings, so the chain is moving from
right to left0 is easier as once the shift is made, the derailleur pushes the chain sidewa's
and it drops down through the space onto the smaller chainring, where the teeth will pic. it
up. 5arder is the shift upwards to a higher gear /from smaller to &igger chainrings, so the
chain is moving from left to right0. 4hen 'ou operate 'our M5S shifter to move into a higher
gear, often two extra things are needed over and a&ove a normal shift. These are the Qextra
pushH and the Qpregnant pauseH.
QExtra 1ushH P #t is a hard tric. for 'our chain to move up to a &igger chainring and it often
needs a &it of extra encouragement. #f 'ou -ust gentl' clic. 'our left hand shifter into a
higher gear often it will cause the front derailleur to push the chain sidewa's, &ut it will not
engage with the &igger chainring and instead will -ust rattle around in a .ind of state of lim&o
- tr'ing to move to the &igger chainring &ut still actuall' on the original one. The impetus of
the shift has gone as the Qclic.H has &een made, &ut without a corresponding shift. This is
wh' the Qextra pushH is needed. 4hen 'ou operate 'our left hand shifter to change to a
&igger chainring, depending on its t'pe, give it a &it of extra QpushH or QtwistH. This will push
the chain slightl' further and give added encouragement for it to &e pic.ed up &' the teeth
on the larger chainring. !onHt release the lever straight awa' &ut wait P this is theR
Q1regnant 1auseH P 4hen changing to a higher gear /&igger chainring0 using the left hand
shifter, donHt -ust Qclic.H and then let go. 8se the QExtra 1ushH and then wait for a short
moment P this Q1regnant 1auseH this will give the chain a moment to engage with the teeth
on the larger chainring and then settle onto it. (nce 'ou have felt7seen this happen, and
then let go of the shifter. 4ith the chain happil' moved onto the &igger chainring, the front
derailleur will now settle in its normal position.
This ma' all sound ver' complicated &ut once mastered 'ouHll hardl' feel that 'ouHre doing
these two things. The' reall' can &e ver' su&tle &ut have a &ig impact on 'our gear
changing experience.
%hain line
#f 'our &i.e is correctl' set up, then when 'ou are in the middle chainring /if 'ou have three0
and the middle sproc.et of the rear wheel, the chain will run in a perfect straight line,
parallel with the wheels and direction of the &i.e. ,s 'ou use different com&inations of
gears, the chain will flex from side to side to accommodate the difference &etween the
lateral positions of the front and rear cogs on which it is travelling. This angled line that the
chain follows is .nown as the chain line.
=an' riders are unaware that certain com&inations of gears should not &e used. #n the
most extreme com&inations of gears - either running the chain on the largest chainring and
the largest sproc.ets on the rear wheel, or the smallest chainring and smallest sproc.ets -
the chain line will &ecome ver' severe. This results in extremel' poor operation, rapidl'
increased component wear and potentiall' the chain coming off and -amming, even on an
otherwise correctl' set-up and maintained &i.e. >' not attempting to select these gear
com&inations, 'ou will en-o' improved performance, greater relia&ilit' and increased
component and, in particular, transmission life.
The following three images illustrate normal variations in chainline, demonstrated on a &i.e
with a single front chainring. <lic. on the images for larger versions and further detail.

The next three images show the effect on the chainline of selecting the most extreme
com&ination of gears. ,s &efore, 'ou can clic. on the images for larger versions and further
detail.

ints and tips
1edalling P <hange gear when 'ouHre not straining the chain with effort, &ut when 'our legs
are -ust smoothl' rotating. =odern cogs have little ramps and ridges &uilt into them to aid
the smooth transfer of the chain from one to the next. , naturall' flowing chain will follow
these, giving that satisf'ingl' smooth shifting feeling.
<hange through the gears one or two at a time - #t isnHt a simple as -ust Qclic.ingH 'our
shifter. =a.ing the chain ride up and engage with another cog is a com&ination of 'our
smooth pedalling action and a crisp clean shift. Sometimes 'ou need to press 'our lever or
twist 'our wrist -ust that little &it more &efore 'ou release it. ,im for a good firm shift rather
than a cautious hesitant one. Ever' shifter7derailleur com&ination is different: develop a feel
for 'ours.
,nticipation is .e' P 4ith derailleur gears, 'ou cannot change gear when 'ou are stationer'
and changing out of the wrong gear whilst 'ou are going slowl' or pedalling up a hill for
example can &e ver' difficult. Cou need to &e in the right gear for the moment. ,lwa's
remem&er to change down to a low gear &efore coming to a stop or hitting a hill. This will
.eep 'ou ahead of the game and help 'ou to avoid the dreaded QcrunchH. 6or example, tr' to
lin. seeing a red light up ahead with changing down. CouKll soon find 'ourself doing it
automaticall'.
<runch P Cou .now that nast' noise that comes from 'our gears when 'ou tr' to change
gear when the chain is under excess strainS #t hurts 'our &i.e. #f # said excruciatingl', #Hm
sure 'ouHd thin. # was exaggerating, &ut when 'ou hear it, it means 'our &i.e is in pain. #Hm
not tal.ing a&out odd clic.s and tic.s that are a normal part of riding nearl' all &i.es: #Hm
tal.ing a&out the crunch. # rec.on # crunch m' gears a&out once a month. /=a'&e on a &ad
month three times.0 #f 'ou can eradicate the QcrunchH from 'our time in the saddle, then 'our
relationship with 'our gears will &ecome a &eautiful thing.
,void tr'ing to change gear when 'ou are Qout of the saddleH /i.e. not sitting on 'our saddle0
when 'our weight is &eing &orne &' the pedals. The pedals are &eing held &ac. &' the
resistance of the gear s'stem and rear wheel, as transferred &' the chain. Cour chain is
under full stain and not in a position to smoothl' change gear.
8se a good selection of 'our gears and spread the wear. Tr' to avoid the temptation -ust to
cane it around in top gear. #f 'ou spend most of 'our time in -ust one gear it will soon wear
out. >' var'ing the gears 'ou use, 'our transmission will last much longer.
>ac.pedalling P 4hen in gear, &ac.pedalling is usuall' fine, &ut whilst changing or if 'our
gears are not properl' in tune, it can +uic.l' throw the chain off - with potentiall' serious
conse+uences. #Hd .eep it to a minimum.
Practice
%ow this ma' all sound li.e -ust too much effort. >ut reall' it is not, what is needed is +uite
simple3 1",<T#<E.
Fust li.e operating virtuall' an' other mechanical device, riding a &ic'cle e+uipped with
derailleur gears is a s.ill. The more 'ou do it and the more concentration and focus 'ou put
into learning to do it, the &etter 'ou will get and the more natural it will &ecome. #n addition,
ever' &ic'cle has its own particular foi&les. Cou need to get to .now 'our &ic'cle and how it
wor.s and responds to 'ou.
4e regularl' see customers who have gone out and &ought a new &i.e /often a cheap and
poorl' set-up one0 and with little or no experience as how to operate it, set off to use it. The'
+uic.l' &ecome frustrated and dissatisfied with their riding experience. >ut little wonder P
should someone drive off in a car with no real .nowledge of how to operate itS (r perhaps
attempt to operate a machine in a factor' with no trainingS #tHs true that man' people do
have experience of riding a &i.e from their childhood, &ut this is rarel' enough to &e a&le to
successfull' set off into the traffic on a modern adult &i.e.
4hat is needed is practice. 1ic. a +uiet da' and go to an empt' car par. or similar flat,
paved, open space. "ide around and practise changing gear. 4or. 'our wa' through them,
stop and start, develop a feel for how 'our &i.e and its gears operate. Start to &uild that
relationship P where 'ou are in control. (nce 'ou feel comforta&le on the flat, progress to
some more challenging roads.
Even &etter, go for some lessons. There is an excellent charit' &ased here in 5ove
called >i.e for Mife that does adult c'cling lessons &oth one-on-one and in groups. These
can &e invalua&le in helping 'ou develop a good relationship with 'our &i.e and 'our road
use as a whole.
SUSPENSION SS!E"
,ic&cle s#spension is the s'stem, or s'stems, used to suspend the rider and &ic'cle in
order to insulate them from the roughness of the terrain. >ic'cle suspension is used
primaril' on mountain &i.es, &ut is also common on h'&rid &ic'cles.
>ic'cle suspension can &e implemented in a variet' of wa's, and an' com&ination thereof3
6ront suspension
"ear suspension
Suspension seat post
Suspension saddle
Suspension stem /now uncommon0
Suspension hu&
>ic'cles with onl' front suspension are referred to as har$tail and &ic'cles with
suspension in &oth the front and rear are referred to as f#ll s#spension (i;es. 4hen a
&ic'cle has no suspension it is called rii$. >ic'cles with onl' rear suspension are
uncommon.
Even a rigid &ic'cle has some suspension as the tires, wheels, and even the frame a&sor&
some shoc.s. ,lthough a stiffer frame is usuall' prefera&le, no material is infinitel' stiff and
therefore an' frame will flex a little &it. Some &ic'cle designers intentionall' ma.e frames in
such a wa' that the frame itself can a&sor& some vi&rations.
>esides providing comfort to the rider, suspension s'stems improve traction and safet' &'
helping to .eep one or &oth wheels in contact with the ground.
Front suspension
T'pical suspension for. with 1AA mm travel on a cross-countr' mountain &i.e
6ront suspension is often implemented using a telescopic for.. The specifics of the
suspension depend on the t'pe of mountain &i.ing the for. is designed for and is generall'
categori2ed &' the amount of travel. 6or instance, manufacturers produce different for.s
for cross-countr' /N<0,downhill /!50, freeride /6"0 and enduro /%!0 riding which all have
different demands for amount of travel, weight, dura&ilit', structural strength and handling
characteristics.
Suspension for. design has advanced in recent 'ears with suspension for.s &ecoming
increasingl' sophisticated. The amount of travel availa&le has t'picall' increased. 4hen
suspension for.s were introduced, BAP1AA mm of travel was deemed sufficient for a
downhill mountain &i.e. This amount of travel is now common for cross-countr' disciplines,
whereas downhill for.s t'picall' offer 2AA mm of travel for handling the most extreme
terrain.
(ther advances in design include ad-usta&le travel, allowing riders to adapt the for.Ks travel
to the specific terrain /e.g. less travel for uphill or paved sections, more travel for downhill
sections0. =an' for.s feature the a&ilit' to loc.-out the for.. This completel' eliminates or
drasticall' reduces the for.Ks travel for more efficient riding over smooth sections of terrain.
The loc.out can sometimes &e remotel' controlled &' a lever on the handle&ars actuating
the loc.out via a mechanical ca&le, or even through electronics.
,s with all shoc. a&sor&ers it usuall' consists of two parts3 a spring, and a damper. The
spring ma' &e implemented with a steel or titanium coil, compressed air, or even an
elastomer. !ifferent spring materials have different spring rates which have a fundamental
effect on the characteristics of the for. as a whole. <oil sprung for.s .eep an approximatel'
constant spring rate throughout their travel and act linear. The spring rate of air sprung
for.s however increases with travel, ma.ing them progressive. Titanium coils are much
lighter &ut also come at a significantl' increased cost. ,ir sprung for.s are generall' lighter
still.
,ir springs wor. &' using the characteristic of compressed air to resist further compression.
,s the spring itself is provided &' the compressed air rather than a coil of metal it is much
lighter: this ma.es their use popular in cross countr' designs. ,nother advantage of this
t'pe of for. design is that the spring rate can easil' &e ad-usted &' changing the air
pressure within the for.. This allows a for. to &e effectivel' tuned to a riderKs weight. To
achieve this in a coil sprung for. one would have to swap out different coils with
different spring rates. 5owever air pressure naturall' controls &oth spring rate and preload
at the same time, re+uiring air for.s to have additional s'stems to ad-ust preload
separatel', adding to its complexit'. ,nother disadvantage of air sprung for.s is the
difficult' in achieving a linear spring rate throughout the for.Ks action. ,s the for.
compresses, the air held inside is compressed. Towards the end of the for.Ks travel, further
compression of the for. re+uires ever greater force. This results in an increase in spring
rate and gives the for. its progressive feel. #ncreasing the volume of the air inside the
spring reduces this effect &ut the volume of the spring is ultimatel' limited &' the need to &e
contained within the for.. The use of two air cham&ers within the s'stem has allowed a
more linear feel to air suspension, this is achieved &' having a KreserveK cham&er that
&ecomes connected to the main cham&er when it reaches a certain amount of
compression. (nce achieved, a valve opens and effectivel' ma.es the cham&er larger. >'
lin.ing the two, the force needed to compress the air in the cham&ers is reduced which
reduces the exponential spring rate feel traditionall' associated with air s'stems when
approaching the end of the suspensionKs travel.
The amount of preload on coil sprung for.s can generall' &e ad-usted &' turning a .no& on
top of one of the for. legs. ,ir sprung designs have various wa's of dealing with preload.
Several s'stems have &een designed to influence preload such as separatel' pressuri2ing
different cham&ers or s'stems that automaticall' set sag after changing the air pressure.
I2J
, damper is usuall' implemented &' forcing oil to pass through one or more
small orifices /also called ports0 or shim stac.s. (n some models the damper ma' &e
ad-usted for rider weight, riding st'le, terrain, or an' com&ination of these or other factors.
The two components are often separated &' housing the spring mechanism in one of the
for.Ks legs and the damper in the other. 4ithout a damper unit the s'stem would re&ound
excessivel' and would actuall' give the rider less control than would a rigid &i.e.
Some manufacturers have tried other variations to the telescopic for.. 6or
example <annondale designed a shoc. a&sor&er &uild into the steerer tu&e called
5eadSho., and a single-sided for. with -ust one leg, called Meft'. The stanchions of &oth
s'stems are not round &ut have flat faces machined onto them which slide on needle
&earings instead of &ushings, this prevents the wheel from rotating in relation to the
handle&ars. >oth of these s'stems claim to offer greater rigidit' and &etter feel, with lighter
weight. (thers such as 1roflex /?irvin0, 4h'te and >=4, have made &i.es utili2ing
suspension for.s that emplo' four-&ar lin.age s'stems instead of rel'ing upon telescopic
for. legs, much li.e >=4Ks!uolever. The Suntour Swing Shoc. for. is &ased on a coil
cantilevered swing set-up, and suspension is given &' a coil spring which is located within
the steerer tu&e and can &e accessed from the top, technolog' which was originall' used
for suspension on earl' motorc'cles.
To prevent water and dirt from damaging the suspension, gaiters have &een used to cover
the for.Ks stanchions. 5owever even when properl' sealing the stanchions and sliders, the
gaiters have to have small openings in them to allow air to move in and out of the cavit'
&etween gaiter and stanchion as the for. moves through its travel. Some water and grit
ma' find its wa' in through these holes, sta'ing trapped inside and accumulating over time.
Since modern dust wipers and seals .eep out water and dirt ade+uatel' enough &'
themselves, and since gaiter-less stanchions are generall' regarded as more aestheticall'
pleasins, gaiters have fallen out of favor.
Rear suspension
>ic'cles with rear suspension t'picall' also have front suspension, recum&ent &ic'cles with
suspension are an exception and often emplo' rear-onl' suspension.
=ountain &i.e suspension technolog' has made great advances since first appearing in the
earl' 1EEAs. Earl' full suspension frames were heav' and tended to &ounce up and down
while a rider pedaled. This movement was called pedal &o&, .ic.&ac., or mon.e' motion
and too. power out of a riderKs pedal stro.e U especiall' during clim&s up steep hills. #nput
from hard &ra.ing efforts also negativel' affected earl' full suspension designs. 4hen a
rider hit the &ra.es, these earl' suspensions compressed into their travel and lost some of
their a&ilit' to a&sor& &umps. This happened in situations where the rear suspension was
needed most. 4hen &ra.ing efforts cause the suspension to compress it is referred to as
&ra.e s+uat when &ra.ing causes the suspension to extend it is called &ra.e -ac..
1ro&lems with pedal &o& and &ra.e -ac. &egan to &e controlled in the earl' 1EEAs. (ne of
the first successful full suspension &i.es was designed &' =ert Mawwill, a former
motorc'cle champion. 5is &i.e, the ?ar' 6isher "S-1, was released in 1EE2. #ts rear
suspension adapted the ,-arm suspension design from sports car racing, and was the
firstfour-&ar lin.age in mountain &i.ing. This design reduced the twin pro&lems of unwanted
&ra.ing and pedaling input to the rear wheel, &ut the design wasnKt flawless. 1ro&lems
remained with suspension action under acceleration, and the "S-1 couldnKt use traditional
cantilever &ra.es since the rear axle, and thus rim, moved in relation to the chainsta's and
seatsta's. , lightweight, powerful disc &ra.e wasnKt developed until the mid-1EEAs, and the
disc &ra.e used on the "S-1 was its downfall.
5orst Meitner &egan wor.ing on the pro&lem of chain tor+ue and its effect on suspension in
the mid-1E@As with motorc'cles. #n 1EBD Meitner &uilt a protot'pe mountain &i.e
incorporating what &ecame .nown later as the G5orst lin.G. The 5orst Min. is a t'pe of four-
&ar suspension. Meitner formed a mountain &i.e and research compan', ,=1 research,
that &egan &uilding full-suspension mountain &i.es. #n 1EEA, ,=1 introduced the 5orst lin.
as a feature of a Gfull' independent lin.ageG rear suspension for mountain &i.es. The ,=1
>-) and >- N< full-suspension &i.es featured optional disc &ra.es and 5orst lin. rear
suspension ver' similar to the =acpherson strut. %ote that the sliding piston in the shoc.
a&sor&er represents the fourth G&arG in this case. , later model, the >-D, was e+uipped with
a revolutionar' four-&ar front suspension for., as well as the 5orst lin. in the rear. #t
featured up to 12D mm /D inches0 of travel on a &ic'cle weighing around 1A.D .g /2)
pounds0. 6or 1A 'ears ,=1 "esearch manufactured their full-suspension &i.es in small
+uantities in Maguna >each, <alifornia, including the manufacture of their own hu&s, rear
shoc.s, front suspension for.s and ca&le-actuated-h'draulic disc &ra.es which the'
pioneered.
Soft tail
, soft tail /also softail0 relies on the flexing of the chainsta's of a regular diamond frame to
create suspension travel, sometimes incorporating a specific flexing mem&er within the
chainsta's. , shoc. a&sor&er /or elastomer0 is placed in line with the seat sta's to allow
the chainsta's to move up and down, and for shoc. a&sorption. ,s the suspension moves
through its travel the seat sta' and shoc. a&sor&er move out of alignment. This
misalignment creates a mechanical lever for suspension forces, causing tor+ue on the -oint
&etween chain- and seatsta's. This is an inherent structural disadvantage of the soft tail
design and severel' limits the amount of travel possi&le, t'picall' around 1 to 2 inches. Soft
tails have few moving parts and few pivot points ma.ing them simple and re+uiring little
maintenance. Some nota&le examples include the L5S Team Soft Tail, Tre. ST1 and
the =oots C>>. The <annondale Scalpel is a four-&ar suspension design where one of the
pivots is replaced &' a flexing lin. and has inches of travel.
4nifie$ rear trianle
The unified rear triangle or G8"TG for short, .eeps the &ottom &rac.et and rear axle directl'
connected at all times. Suspension action is provided &etween the rear triangle, which
unites rear axle and &ottom &rac.et, and the front triangle, which unites seat and front axle.
This design uses onl' one pivot, which .eeps the num&er of moving parts down. The fixed
length &etween &ottom &rac.et and rear axle gives the 8"T the advantage of 2ero chain
growth and consistent front derailleur shifting. ,dditionall' the &i.e is easil' modified into
a single-speed. 5owever as the 8"TKs suspension moves, the distance &etween seat and
pedals changes, detracting from pedaling efficienc'. 6urthermore, when the rider shifts an'
weight from the seat to the pedals, he or she is shifting weight from the sprung part of the
&i.e to the unsprung parts. ,s such, part of their weight would not &e suspended &' the
suspension s'stem an'more. Since pedaling itself is a shift of this weight, the design is
ver' prone to suspension &o&.
%ota&le examples of &i.es with this t'pe of suspension include
the #&is S2a2&o, Llein =antra, Schwinn S-1A, and Tre. C.
Sinle pi)ot
Single pivot suspension with 1*A mm travel on a 2AAB =orewood =&u2i
The single pivot is the simplest t'pe of rear suspension. The rear axle is held &'
a swingarm which is connected to the frame via a single pivot located near the &ottom
&rac.et. 4hen the suspension moves through its travel, the path the rear axle descri&es is
a circle around the pivot point. The rear triangle can &e directl' attached to the rear shoc.
for a fairl' linear leverage ratio &etween wheel travel and shoc. a&sor&er travel.
The main advantage of the single pivot design is its simplicit'. #t has few moving parts, few
pivot points, is relativel' eas' to design and has good small &ump compliance. <hallenges
with this design are &ra.e s+uat and chain growth.
!ue to its simplicit', man' inexpensive department store &i.es use this design.
9in;ae $ri)en sinle pi)ot
Min.age driven single pivot rear suspension
,nother implementation of the single pivot design attaches the swingarm to the shoc. via
additional lin.ages, t'picall' creating a four-&ar lin.age actuating /GdrivingG0 the shoc. to
create a more progressive leverage ratio &etween wheel travel and shoc. a&sor&er travel.
This designs is referred to as lin.age driven single pivot, collo+uiall' called faux-&ar. #t
emplo's a four-&ar lin.age &ut the rear axle is held in a swingarm and still descri&es a
circular axle path. The four-&ar lin.age serves onl' to actuate the shoc. and has no role in
governing the axle path. =anufacturers of the lin.age driven single pivot often use the word
Gfour-&arG in their mar.eting campaigns, which gave rise to the designKs nic.name Gfaux-
&arG.
%ota&le manufacturers well .nown for their long-time use of this suspension design
include Lona, Famis, !iamond&ac. >ic'cles and olderTre. 6uels.
8ih sinle pi)ot
This variation of single pivot suspension places the pivot in front of and a&ove the &ottom
&rac.et, at a height a&ove the smallest chainring or higher. This gives the design a
significant amount of anti-s+uat when pedaling in smaller chainrings, which helps reduce
loss of energ' due to s+uat. This is particularl' of importance on steep clim&s, when one
would use the smaller chainrings. 5owever, this is a trade-off since the pivotKs placement
causes the design to suffer more from pedal .ic.&ac.. %ota&le examples are Santa <ru2K
Superlight and 5ec.ler frames.
Split pi)ot
The split pivot design is a special case of lin.age driven single pivot in which one of the
four-&arKs pivot points coincides with the rear axle. This allows for the disc &ra.e caliper to
&e mounted on the floating lin.age /also called coupler0 instead of on the swingarm. ,s a
result of this the &ra.ing tor+ue now interacts with the suspension via the floating lin.age.
The lin.ages can &e designed such that this has a positive effect on suspension
performance under &ra.ing, t'picall' reducing &ra.e -ac.. 6urthermore, the relative rotation
&etween &ra.e disc and &ra.e caliper as the suspension goes through its travel is different
from that in single pivot designs. The four lin.ages in a split pivot design influence how
&ra.ing tor+ue is transmitted, how the &ra.e caliper moves in relation to the disc and
influence the leverage ratio &etween wheel travel and shoc. travel. Since these influences
ma' have a different optimum lin.age design, the &i.eKs design has to stri.e a &alance.
!ave 4eagle designed a split pivot which he named GSplit 1ivotG. Tre. >ic'cle
<orporationalso released a version of the split pivot design called G,ctive >ra.ing 1ivotG
/,>10 in earl' 2AA@. <'cles !evinci has released a licensed implementation of the GSplit
1ivotG design which !ave 4eagle managed to patent.
8orst lin;
6our-&ar rear suspension
G5orst Min.G suspension is a t'pe of four-&ar lin.age suspension. #t is characteri2ed &'
having &oth connecting lin.s pivot on the seat tu&e, with the lower pivot located a&ove the
center of the &ottom &rac.et, and the rear axle &eing located higher than the pivot
connecting floating lin. and lower connecting lin..
Speciali2ed has &ought several of MeitnerKs patents which the' use for their G6S"
SuspensionG. Several manufacturer have licensed the design from Speciali2ed. Some
European manufacturers, such as <u&e and Scott, do use the same suspension design,
&ut can not import it to the 8nited States.
Short lin; fo#r<(ar
,lthough not necessaril' sharing an' general suspension characteristics, these designs all
share a certain structural &enefit. >ecause the connecting lin.s are so short, the floating
lin. comes in the form of a rigid rear triangle &ig enough to encompass the rear wheel. This
allows the rear triangle on &oth sides of the wheel to &e rigidl' connected together as one
piece, &efore attaching to the connecting lin.s of the four-&ar. This significantl' increases
lateral and torsional stiffness of the rear, often a wea.ness of four-&ar designs, and
reduces the load on the pivots, connecting lin.s and -oint &etween rear axle and frame.
7irt#al :i)ot :oint
$11 suspension on a 2A1) Santa <ru2 Tall&o'
The G$irtual 1ivot 1ointG or $11, is the name given to a four-&ar lin.age suspension with
relativel' short lin.s connecting the rear triangle to the frame. #t is characteri2ed &' having
a chainsta' lengthening effect and an KSK shaped axle path. Some variations ma' have the
lin.s rotate in opposite direction as the suspension moves. The instant centre of rotation,
as found in all lin.age s'stems, is also called virtual pivot point. The G$irtual 1ivot 1ointG
suspension was developed &' (utland >ic'cles in the nineties
I11J
and the associated
patents are now owned &' Santa <ru2 >ic'cles. $11 suspension is also licensed to
#ntense <'cles.
+3<lin;
!iagram of the !4-lin. suspension, as implemented on an #ron 5orse Sunda', showing the location of
the instant center at top-out
DW-link
!ave 4eagleKs G!4-lin.G is another four-&ar suspension s'stem with two relativel' short
lin.s, here the' t'picall' co-rotate. #t is characteri2ed &' an anti-s+uat response that varies
with suspension travel and is designed to reduce loss of energ' resulting from s+uat during
pedaling. #t t'picall' has higher anti-s+uat at the &eginning of suspension travel, and less
thereafter. The !4-lin. was originall' used &' #ron 5orse &ic'cle compan'. ,fter the' went
out of &usiness in 2AAE, the !4-lin. suspension design was up for gra&s.The !4-lin. is
now licensed to #&is, #ndependent 6a&rication, Turner Suspension >ic'cles, and 1ivot
<'cles.
Giant Maestro
,nother variation using short, co-rotating, lin.s is emplo'ed &' ?iant >ic'cles called
G=aestroG.
Switch lin;
Cet another variation of short lin. design is the GSwitch lin.G, found on some Ceti &i.es li.e
the S>-** designed &' !ave Earle. The rear triangle is connected to the frame using
an eccentric pivot, effectivel' creating a ver' short lower lin. whose length is that from the
center of the eccentric to the attached pivot. The lin.s counter-rotate.
Tre; 0#ll 0loater
Tre. &ic'clesK G6ull 6loaterG is a s'stem where the rear shoc. is onl' attached to the rear
triangle. The chainsta's pivot on the seat-tu&e, and then extend into the front triangle, and
the lower shoc. &ushing attaches to the chainsta's. The seatsta's are attached to an GEvoG
lin., which then attaches to the shoc. top &ushings. This s'stem ena&les finer tuning of
suspension .inematics, as the shoc. angle relative to the lin.ages during the travel
changes in a more linear fashion. Tre. also com&ines G6ull 6loaterG with its G,>1G rear
axle, where the rear suspension pivot is the rear axle, which reduces pedal feed&ac. and
prevents the &ra.ing forces on the wheel form altering the suspension movement.
E=#ilin;
The GE+uilin.G suspension s'stem was developed &' 6elt >ic'cles for their full suspension
line. The s'stem emplo's a GStephenson-st'leG six-&ar lin.age suspension s'stem.
I
E+uilin.
gets its name from the dog &one shaped &ar that ties the upper and lower lin.s together.
Earl' models included a pivot &etween chain- and seatsta' whereas in later, car&on fi&er,
models the chain- and seatsta's are one piece, creating pivoting action &' flexing. 6elt
contends that the s'stem holds its pedaling efficienc' in an' gear com&ination.
Floating drivetrain
>i.es with a Kfloating drivetrainK or Kfloating &ottom &rac.etK can use an' t'pe of suspension
s'stem to suspend the rear wheel from the frame, &ut use lin.ages to connect the cran.
assem&l' to the frame and rear suspension. Since the lin.ages are connected to the rear
suspension, suspension movement causes the cran. assem&l' to move as well. The
floating drivetrain is often emplo'ed to compensate for the disadvantages of a particular
rear suspension s'stem so the design can ma.e &etter use of its advantages.
In$epen$ent +ri)etrain
The G#ndependent !rivetrainG /or G#!riveG0 is a four-&ar suspension s'stem for &ic'cle cran.
assem&lies, the rear wheel itself is suspended as single pivot suspension. #t was developed
&' mountain &i.e suspension designer Fim >us&' Fr. and was a direct result of the
limitations encountered with the ?T MTS /?T >ic'clesK GMin.s Tuned Suspension0 four-&ar
lin.age design used &' ?T >ic'cles from 1EE) to 1EEB. The #!rive attempts to maximi2e
the efficienc' of the transmission of energ' from the rider to the rear wheel. The &ottom
&rac.et is placed eccentric in a &earing within the swingarm, the distance &etween the
center of the &earing and the &ottom &rac.et effectivel' creating a ver' short lin., and the
swingarm itself creating another. , lin. &etween &earing shell and frame then completes
the four-&ar lin.age with the &ottom &rac.et on the floating lin. and the lin.age as a whole
actuated &' movement of the swingarm.
Monolin;
The G=onolin.G made &' =averic. >i.es and designed &' ex-"oc.Shox founder 1aul
Turner, is a licensed variant of the #ndependent !rivetrain suspension, and is a variation of
the =ac1herson strut. #t uses three pivot points and the sliding action of the shoc. to
provide the fourth degree of freedom. The =onolin. places the &ottom &rac.et on the lin.
connecting frame and rear triangle. ,n' load on the cran.s is partl' unsprung since it is
also a load on one of the suspensionKs parts itself, and activel' wor.s against the
suspension. 5owever, &ecause of this there is less &o& during out-of-the-saddle sprints.
(nce again it is an attempt at maximi2ing drivetrain efficienc', compromising other areas,
%ota&le &i.es using this design are the =averic. =M@, =M@.D, =MB and the Llein 1alomino.
:en$(ox
The G1end&oxG is found on several of MapierreKs lin.age driven single pivot &i.es in which
the cran. assem&l' is hung from the frame using a Kmini-swingarmK: the 1end&ox. , lin.
connects the swingarm and 1end&ox such that the' form a four-&ar lin.age.
Seat suspension&
, >roo.s leather suspension saddle mounted on a suspension seatpost.
Suspension ma' &e implemented at the saddle either using a suspension saddle or
a suspension seatpost.
The effectiveness of saddle or seatpost suspension depends on the rider placing their
weight on the saddle. 6or this reason, this st'le of suspension is most popular on more
upright st'les of &ic'cle, where the rider spends the ma-orit' of time seated.
Suspension hub
Suspension ma' &e provided in the hu& of a &ic'cle wheel.ne manufacturer offers 12 mm
to 2 mm of travel.
#n mountain &i.ing the term Ksuspension hu&K was used in the EAs to descri&e hu&s with
oversi2ed axle ends and a thic.er axles than were customar' at the time. These hu&s were
designed to stiffen up suspension for.s, which were still somewhat of a novelt', &' rigidl'
holding the for. legs in position relative to each other once the wheel was fitted, improving
steering response in the for.. This term is no longer used as this function is no longer an
exceptional re+uirement for mountain &i.e front hu&s, so all current mountain &i.e hu&s are
suspension hu&s.
Terminology
Several terms are commonl' used to descri&e different aspects of a &ic'cle suspension.
Tra)el
Tra)el refers to how much movement a suspension mechanism allows. #t usuall'
measures how much the wheel axle moves.
:reloa$
:reloa$ refers to the force applied to spring component &efore external loads, such as
rider weight, are applied. =ore preload ma.es the suspension sag less and less preload
ma.es the suspension sag more. ,d-usting preload affects the ride height of the
suspension.
Re(o#n$
Re(o#n$ refers to the rate at which the suspension component returns to its original
configuration after a&sor&ing a shoc.. The term also generall' refers to re(o#n$
$ampinor re&ound damping ad-ustments on shoc.s, which var' the re&ound speed. =ore
re&ound damping will cause the shoc. to return at a slower rate.
Sa
Sa refers to how much a suspension moves under -ust the static load of the rider. Sag is
often used as one parameter when tuning a suspension for a rider. Spring preload is
ad-usted until the desired amount of sag is measured.
9oc;o#t
9oc;o#t refers to a mechanism to disa&le a suspension mechanism to render it
su&stantiall' rigid. This ma' &e desira&le during clim&ing or sprinting to prevent the
suspension from a&sor&ing power applied &' the rider. Some loc.out mechanisms also
feature a G&low offG s'stem that deactivates the loc.out when an appropriate force is
applied to help prevent damage to the shoc. and rider in-ur' under high unexpected loads.
,o( an$ s=#at
,o( and s=#at refer to how a suspension, usuall' rear, responds to rider pedalling. S+uat
usuall' refers to how the rear end sin.s under acceleration, and &o& refers to repeated
s+uat and re&ound with each pedal stro.e. >oth are undesira&le characteristics as the' ro&
power from pedalling. =an' suspension s'stems incorporate anti-&o&, anti-s+uat, or
GplatformG damping to help eliminate &o&.
:e$al fee$(ac;
:e$al fee$(ac; descri&es tor+ue applied to the cran.set &' the chain caused &' motion of
the rear axle relative to the &ottom &rac.et. 1edal feed&ac. is caused &' an increase in the
distance &etween the chainring and rear cog, and it can &e felt as a tor+ue on the cran.set
opposite to forward pedalling.
"ompression $ampin
"ompression $ampin refers to s'stems that slow the rate of compression in a front for.
shoc. or rear shoc.. <ompression damping is usuall' accomplished &' forcing a h'draulic
fluid /such as oil0 through a valve when the shoc. &ecomes loaded. The amount of
damping is determined &' the resistance through the valve, a higher amount of damping
resulting from greater resistance in the valve. =an' shoc.s have compression damping
ad-ustments which var' the resistance in the valve. (ften, loc.outs function &' allowing no
or ver' little compression.
4nspr#n mass
Main article: Unsprung mass
4nspr#n mass is the mass of the portions of &ic'cles that is not supported &' the
suspension s'stems. ,t one extreme are road &ic'cles with no suspension in the frames,
ver' little in the tires, and none in the saddles. >' raising themselves off their saddles,
riders ma' provide suspension with their .nees, ma.ing their mass &e spr#n mass, &ut
all of the mass of the &ic'cles remains #nspr#n mass. ,t the other extreme are full
suspension mountain &i.es. 4ith front and rear suspensions the onl' parts unsuspended
are the wheels and small parts of the front for.s and rear chain-sta's. Even then, as
mountain &i.es have large low-pressure tires which allow much more travel than small
high-pressure road tires, the wheels are sprung to some extent as well.
#n general, &i.es are so light compared to their riders that travel is a much &igger motivator
than unsprung mass in determining where to put the suspension and how much to use.
The exception to this is that on recum&ent and tandem &ic'cles where the riders are either
una&le to lift themself out of their seat or una&le to see in advance when that will &e
needed, the ridersK mass can no longer &e expected to &e supported &' their .nees over
road irregularities. These &ic'cles generall' have some sort of suspension s'stem to
reduce unsprung mass.
Mountain bikes
"ear suspension of a Tre. 6uel EA, a low single pivot with roc.er lin.age design.
=an' newer mountain &i.es have a full suspension design. #n the past, mountain &i.es had
a rigid frame and a rigid for.. #n the earl' 1EEAs, mountain &i.es started to have front
suspension for.s. This made riding on rough terrain easier on a riderKs arms. The first
suspension for.s had a&out 1V to 2 inches /)B to DA mm0 of suspension travel. Soon after,
some frame designers came out with a full suspension frame which gave riders a smoother
ride throughout the ride.
%ewer suspension frame and for. designs have reduced weight, increased amount of
suspension tra)el, and improved feel. =an' loc. out the rear suspension while the rider is
pedaling hard or clim&ing, in order to improve pedaling efficienc'. =ost suspension frames
and for.s have a&out -* inches /1AAP1DA mm0 of suspension travel. =ore aggressive
suspension frames and for.s made for downhill racing and freeriding have as much as B or
E inches /2AA or 2)A mm0 of suspension travel.
=an' riders still prefer to ride a har$tail frame, and almost all mountain &ic'cle riders use a
suspension for.. %ota&le suspension for. manufacturers include =ar2occhi, 6ox "acing
Shox, "oc.Shox, and /to a lesser extent0 Suntour and =agura. Some &ic'cle
manufacturers /nota&l' <annondale and Speciali2ed0 also ma.e their own suspension
s'stems to full' complement and integrate the &i.e set-up.
Road bikes
,lthough much less common, some road &ic'cles do incorporate suspensions, particularl'
the Soft Tail variet' mentioned a&ove. (ne example is Tre. >ic'cle <orporationKs s.p.a
/Suspension 1erformance ,dvantage0 rear suspension, offered on some of their 1ilot
models, &ut the s'stem was removed for the 2AAB model 'ear. $irtuall' all &ic'cles
produced &' ,lex =oulton &ic'cles also have ver' effective full suspension, due to the low
unsuspended mass of the small wheels and high pressure tires, a characteristic of the
unconventional design of these &ic'cles. , recent design is the cantilevered Kswing shoc.
on some modern h'&rid &i.es.
Recumbent bikes
The (ptima Stinger recum&ent with rear suspension
=an' recum&ent &ic'cles have at least a rear suspension &ecause the rider is usuall'
una&le to lift themselves off of the seat while riding. Single pivot is usuall' ade+uate when
the pedaling thrust is hori2ontal - that is, forwards rather than downwards. This is usuall'
the case provided the &ottom &rac.et is higher than the seatKs &ase height. 4here the
&ottom &rac.et is significantl' lower than the seat &ase, there ma' still &e some pedalling-
induced &ounce.
Short-wheel&ase recum&ents &enefit from front suspension more than long wheel&ase
recum&ents &ecause the front wheel /often small diameter which further magnifies the
need for suspension0 is ta.ing a much larger portion of the loads than in a long wheel&ase
recum&ent.
Softride and Zipp
The Softride Suspension S'stem was launched at the #nter&i.e 1EBE &i.e show. The
original S"S s'stems consisted of two foam filled fi&erglass &oxes &onded together with a
viscoelastic la'er. (riginall' intended for the use in mountain &i.es, Softride produced its
first full-fledged mountain &i.e, the 1ower<urve, in 1EE1. !uring 1EE* Softride released its
first aluminum frame road &i.e, the <lassic TT. The Softride Suspension S'stem is used
almost exclusivel' for triathlon racing. Softride ceased &ic'cle production in 2AA@ after the
design was &anned from 8<# races.
, ver' closel' related suspension design to the Softride is the Wipp 2AA1, a contemporar'
competing &eam &ic'cle, where the suspension was in the hinge, rather than in flex of the
&eam itself.
AD$ANTAGES
If ou are hesitant a!out em!racing ccling @!ikingA as a mode of transport, then the
following are 10 pertinent reasons ou should set our dou!ts aside and start riding a
!iccle"
1" It is an environmentall friendl mode of transport"
2" 0ou save mone on fuel @/as, 9etrol, 5iesel or what ever ou call it in our
countrA ! riding a !iccle"
;" A !iccle reBuires compara!l less maintenance"
4" 6iding a !iccle is good for our health" 0ou develop a strong heart and
muscular lim!s"
8" 0ou can weave in and out of traffic"
6" 6iding a !iccle is a Buicker wa of getting around the cit" I have found that
inside cit, while driving automo!iles, ou can hardl go a!ove ;8 $mChr" And man
times ou are forced to move at a crawl"
D" (here are no parking pro!lems" And ou do not have to pa a toll for parking in
special spots"
8" 6iding a !iccle to work everda, ou do not have to set aside time for exercise
as this in itself is an exercise" (hus the time saved can !e used for other tasks"
<" (he slow pace of travel helps ou !e receptive of the sights around ou, which
ou might in all pro!a!l have missed while riding an automo!ile" And finall 7
10" At the end of the da, ou feel much !etter E 9hsicall and 3entall"
DISAD#AN!AGES
Though man' people en-o' c'cling as a ho&&' or as a wa' to get around, it does have
disadvantages, which ma' &e influenced on the safet' of 'our area or 'our ph'sical
state while riding, for example. Thus, this form of transportation ma' not &e suita&le for
ever' person for several reasons.
Dangero$% Dri&er%
!hile some areas have wide shoulders and bike lanes, drivers fre"uently disregard bicyclists
and are at fault for causing cyclist inuries and even deaths. !ith only clothing and a helmet for
protection, bike riders have a significant safety disadvantage in case of an accident. /any of the
bicycle crashes caused by motorists go unreported, so it1s almost impossible to determine the
exact number of cyclist inuries per year. The dangers of sharing a road with cars has made
some cyclists decide that the risk of biking is too high and they instead turn to driving cars or
other forms or transportation.
APPLICA!IONS
To pull the heavy weight
Increase the speed as well as decrease the speed of the output shaft.
4educed gear ratio can be obtained.
#btained speed more than normal cycle.
8ear ratio is 9.:2 times greater than normal cycle.
CONCLUSION
Something we often hear goes along the lines of, oh, # donKt use m' gears, # donKt
reall' need7understand them.
6air enough, not ever'one needs the latest 2@ Speed high specification machine.
>ut gears are there for ever'one. ,lthough the' can &e +uite daunting at first, with
focus and practice, this will soon pass. >' using them 'ouHll find that 'our c'cling
experience will &e much improved and 'our &i.e will than. 'ou for it. Smooth,
regular use of 'our gears will result in a &etter-wor.ing, longer-lasting and more
relia&le ride.
The relationship &etween 'ou and 'our &i.e should &e of master and servant. Cou
are in control: it does what 'ou tell it. Mearn how it wor.s, treat it well and it will give
'ou much &enefit and pleasure.
Than. 'ou.
RE'ERENCES
;. Automotive (ngineering< =ietner
*. Automobile (ngineering < >ripal 'ingh.
?. Automobile (ngineering < 5arang.
:. Automotive /echanics< Crouse
-. Automobile (ngineering < 5ewton and 'teeds.
2. Theory of /achines < Thomas @evan
+. Theory of /achines and /echanisms< 'higley
9.Theory of /achines < '.'. 4attan

A. Theory of /achines B 4.>. @ansal
;,./echanical (ngineering %esign B Coseph (. 'higely
;;. %esign of /achine /emebers<Alex 3alance and 3I %oughtie