Harmony automatic shifting system ?

[funkylyn]

Anyone know any more about this new system that is apparently coming out later this year ?

Lynda

 

[Mussels]

Not here but I suspect it will cost more than a whole ebike.

 

[funkylyn]

Is it just going to be in the far east then ?
I dont really understand the benefits of it ?

Lynda

 

[carpetbagger]

try this
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

 

[banbury frank]

Hi I have already posted this

electricbikemag.co.uk::New e-bike brings together Gates, NuVinci and Bosch

Frank

 

[funkylyn]

Thanks for the links....so is this another type of hub gearing then ?
Lynda

 

[Mussels]

try this
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

So really it's nothing new at all apart from a motor and looking at this quote from your link it's for people who don't know how to ride a bike.

It’s designed as a solution for the common problem of e-bike riders leaving their bikes in one gear causing the electric motor to work harder than necessary.

 

[flecc]

Hi I have already posted this

electricbikemag.co.uk::New e-bike brings together Gates, NuVinci and Bosch

Frank

That doesn't include the Harmony automatic shifting system that Lynda asked about Frank.

 

[funkylyn]

Can someone just take pity on me and explain in laymans terms just exactly what it is ?
Lynda

 

[flecc]

Thanks for the links....so is this another type of hub gearing then ?
Lynda

Yes, it's a set of large ball bearings on tilting spindles that run between two side plates Lynda. By tilting the spindles the faces presented to the side plates can be varied continuously to represent different size "gears" to each side, depending on the ball bearing tilt degree and the radii presented to the faces. At all times when the balls are tilted with the spindles away from horizontal, the face radius of the balls against the side plates will be larger on one side, smaller on the other, so simulating small to large gear wheels or the opposite, large to small. With one side plate being the input and the other the output, gearing can be changed continuously from reduction to increase, low to high gears.

To maintain the friction for grip between the balls and side faces, the whole unit runs in a special fluid that compresses between ball and side plates and solidifies under the pressure to give the friction grip. The system has been around for a few years, first with a heavy model and now with a lighter one. Many have said how it needed automatic changing to complete it's convenience, and the Harmony system at last answers that.

 

[funkylyn]

Thankyou Flecc.
So does this mean it is, or has the potential to be, a viable better system than the nexus for example ?
What do you think of it in principle ?
I am presuming that you havent already seen it 'in the metal' so to speak ?

Lynda

 

[flecc]

I've ridden the original one and seen the later one as well Lynda. It's very robust and can take more power than any hub gear on the market, and the continuous gearing is beguiling with the shifting twistgrip able to dial in any ratio you like. It's a wide range system too. Member Fecn has fitted the later one on his Kalkhoff Agattu

The downsides are that it's less efficient than hub gears and the central point of gearing between reduction and increase has a momentary coarseness which disturbs the otherwise silky smooth shifting.

 

[funkylyn]

It sounds a really interesting developement.......why am I not surprised that you have already ''been there'' LOL
Surely there must be some way of reducing the momentary coarseness to make it totally smooth ?
So, are we going to be seeing this being fitted to a lot of new models in the near future ?
I had understood that it wouldnt be available as a retro fit, but obviously thats wrong.

Lynda

 

[flecc]

I doubt that coarseness can be designed out since the new model is a revision with every improvement their clever designers could achieve. It's not a serious problem though, just a pity that it has this small flaw, but let's face it, nothing can be perfect.

The hub gear has always been freely available, it's the new Harmony automatic shifting system that can only be built in with the hub by e-bike manufacturers onto their new e-bikes. That's because of the implications of wiring the system into the e-bikes battery system and wiring.

This webpage describes the system with a diagram and video.

 

[funkylyn]

Thanks Flecc...I will read up on it.
Lynda