cant_ride

Reach adjustment isn't about how far the pads are actuated, its about how far away the lever blade is from the bar. The X-Flow has a reach adjust of 15mm for tiny girls hands up to massive man paws. It also has a pad travel adjust screw (does same job as TPA on Maguras) so you can change the pad travel distance of each brake separately, without affecting the reach. Don't worry, its all in there, I know my stuff. Its not patentable unfortunately as I used focus groups and medical practitioners from day one so it was technically 'public' before it even existed. I do however have a design registration on the extended lever blade surface. The actual prototype (£1475) is right side specific but you only need to change the shaped lever blade.. every other part is ambidextrous. Anyway, Luke would only break it!! It's a been tested by an XC rider with minor paralysis in his left arm and he loves it, even offered to buy the prototype off me. http://olisparrow.co.uk/HTML/Xflow.html as I have already posted about 8 replies ago... bit of reading goes a long way. Oli

Well, linked to the ideas of the book that Psycholist mentioned (below) the whole thing was designed taking into consideration the tactic aspects of regular brakes. This is as close as I could get to the absolute normal operation but keeping the functionality I wanted. I rode it half way across london then for the photo shoot you can see on my website. Its almost second nature within minutes. You do lose a degree of control for the secondary brake but you just need to slightly adapt your riding style and carefully consider what movement operates which brake when you're setting it up. It was of course designed specifically for people with certain disabilities and at the end of the day compromises have to made. It is also there to cater to the widest selection of bike riders, which would be more oriented toward XC or general transport/leisure use. That book is great and Donal Norman is a bit of a legend when it comes to putting successful design in its place however you can't take everything he says too literally. I've really adopted his idea of the Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective levels of design, I used that a lot with this project. Thanks again for all the comments and as I said, come along to the cycle show and try it out for yourselves. Oli It is for whatever you want to use it for.. although my prototype is specifically designed for magura use. I'm a designer.. marketing comes up with the names haha. At least it actually means something as when you pull the lever, the two hydraulic column's flow direction crosses. It's also meant to latch onto the common terms used in mountain biking i.e. Cross-Country becomes X-Country or XC. You're meant to read it as Cross Flow whereas there are a few motorsport products called XFlow that just have an X in there for the hell of it. Cheers for the complement.. I do my best, make sure you do too ho bag. Oli

Ay up .. Just thought I'd update you all on the project.. I managed to get a fully working prototype, a First and an award for the project and a First and an award for my design degree. Nice. I have been invited to exhibit at the cycle show in London 8-11 October so come along and see it working and if you promise to be gentle... have a go with it! For the latest info and pictures go to http://olisparrow.co.uk/HTML/Xflow.html Oli

- The extended top surface of the lever blade makes it act exactly as existing blades in the secondary braking plane. If you have the lever set at the correct angle of 45 degrees to vertical the action of pushing the brake down is almost the same + you actually have more modulation. You'll just have to trust me and my tester on that one. - There is indeed a chance of pulling the wrong brake. If you run two levers on one side or if you ride an american bike there is exactly the same danger. Its called adaptation! + The user originally defines which brake is which upon installation. - Congenital limb deficiencies, amputees (plenty of handlebar attachments on the market for arm amputees) Rheumatoid Arthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Muscle Wastage due to vitamin deficiencies etc. Also, some people might just prefer to only have their controls on one side... everyone's different but constrained by the same products. There are also a shit load of people that convert bikes into mopeds and have to give up a brake or bodge a double lever due to the clutch. - The third and fourth fingers used for pulling or crushing operations can cause massive physiological damage over long periods of time, remember road cyclists use the levers at different angles and not half as much os other cycling disciplines. Also if you're using all four fingers to pull both brakes simultaneously, then you havn't got a good enough grip of the bar for balancing on a wall, riding over bumpy XC trails, flying down a hill on a 40lbs bike. You may be right but my testers, Occupational Therapy, manufacturers and the people that have already ordered one tell me otherwise. I'm not saying its a perfect product. I know where and what all the flaws are and I'm discovering new ones all the time however, its my degree project and I'm working to a brief... for a grade.. so thats whats important at the end of the day. Oli

Hi Danny, Absolutely incredible stuff. I've been out of the loop for a few years and trials vids don't really interest me that much anymore but this (well, not exactly trials) is so creative and progressive its definitely worth a comment. Also, more coverage Core 77 Industrial Design BLOG Well done Oli

Same as Maguras

Two separate cylinders.. The easiest way to think of it is two completely individual brakes in one unit.. one of them perpendicular to normal. There is almost no situation where you would need both brakes on at the same time for competitive riding. Also, having one piston operating both brakes would require that the distance between the pad and rim be exactly equal otherwise one would bite at a point, then the lever would continue to travel until the other did, then they would both be capable of locking. Individual control is paramount for on cycling activity. Correct and correct Yes, very easily. And easily modulate between the two during use. Cheers Oli

Solidworks to model it and Hypershot to render. Oli

Thanks for the link, the more existing potential users the better! Its not for trials riding primarily, this has been mentioned quite a few times so far. I have normal brakes and I fly over the bars quite a lot of the time.. happens to the best of us. I'm not aiming it at a disability market, it was just inspired by people with disabilities. Either way you'd be surprised how many disability applications this has (Already have interest from SSAFA) And yes, a restraint I gave myself was that it was not to weigh more than 1.5 times the weight of an HS33 lever, it weighs approx 102grams without fluid in the cylinders. 82 grams with the carbon fiber lever blade. Also with CNC production, the product begins to make a profit at 231 sales at £65. I already have about 180 people saying they'd definitely buy one. Hi thanks for the interest.. would you be willing to answer a few questions and maybe send images that might explain your problem? The project was inspired by Luke as he rides incredibly well but the bigger picture in the commercial world means that it can not be directly catered to him, or trials riding, alone The levers operate whichever brake you want them, just a case of switching the hoses round. My speculation would be that XC and other would have the front brake as the regular operation and trials riders would have the back brake as the regular operation. With any braking system its about gaining a tacit knowledge of its operation and limitations and overcoming these might be a case of making mistakes in panic situations.. its impossible to tell without full scale testing. Thanks everyone!! Oli

Exactly! There's a period of anxiety present in any situation which requires forgetting old ways and learning new ways of doing the same task and this is a good example of that. At least half of my theoretical market will have at some point used a regular brake setup. The biggest problem will definitely be the user, which is a bugger because its the user I'm designing for, obviously. On the other hand it is designed for bike lovers and I trust their determination to spend a few hours learning the operation Oli

+ risk of Thrombosis, nerve damage, Carpal Tunnel Retractions and a host of other crappy ailments! These are all exaggerated but British Standards don't allow anything that can be potentially damaging (There are some ridiculously badly designed bits and pieces on the market but their manufacturers have awesome lawyers and a shed load of cash to get round these issues.. I don't) Ah also I video'd a ton of people using bikes and close ups of brake usage during XC riding.. you'd be surprised how much your thumb flails around when you're riding + your thumb accounts for about 65% of the grip on your handlebar.. take that away to use a brake and you're gonna get hurt! You can try a thumb brake with this simple set up.. I also reversed it simulate the braking motion of pushing down on the lever.. safely got my over a 3ft studio workbench. I know I've been a bit obsessive about this thread but I want to answer everyone's questions and discover loopholes in my project that you guys have come out with. Thanks again Oli

It takes a few hoes practice eventually gets very easy to operate both individually and precisely modulate between the two. It has been designed to allow any combination of braking activities.. Front on, back on, both on, either of both feathered, one locked one feathered and so on... Read about tacit knowledge if you don't believe it is effectively operable Oli Promise I'll get pictures of the proto up as soon as possible!

Haha you can get the hose from typing 'fibreglass mat' into google and setting is as a texture in your friendly local rendering software.. Closest I could get to braided hose. Thumb brake experiments proved really effective but there are alarming physical issues with using your thumb to push repeatedly. Keep em coming! Oli

Yeah why not.. Been partaking in a little design studio table trials when the staff are away lately! Probably. It is not meant primarily for trials bikes either way. XC and DH are huge markets compared to Trials and lucky for me, they don't do wheelswaps. I'll give one a go when I get my final prototype working and let you know how it works out. Oli

Hence the 'concept' can be adapted.. not this actual model. I've managed to route cabling on CAD and the theoretical model looks quite promising. But anyway, this project is concerned with hydraulics. Thanks Oli

The mechanical look is intentional, not just because I'm a lazy designer. I have done a lot of research in semiotics and visceral responses. Hard edges and clean lines theoretically suggest precision, strength, accuracy etc. which in turn leads to feelings of comfort, safety and reliability; good things to include for those less able. I'm not too sure about the adaptability, it's not something I've factored into the design as such. The idea of course enables people with one sided disabilities (amputees, stroke rehabilitation, congenital deficiencies, RA, CTS etc.) to get into competitive cycling. In fairness my product is a dressed up, CNC'd high-tech, precision engineered solution and thats only because it is my degree project hence my last chance to design something the way I want to do it! It could be much simpler and operate both hydraulic and cable brakes on a range of machines other than a bike. I really believe that so many more people with physical disabilities would participate in activities they liked if only there were more people designing appropriate products for them. Thanks Oli

Hi, Thanks for all the discussion and comments. Its been really helpful so far. I'll try to answer all the questions so far: The leverage for the 'weak' brake (the one you push down) gives a mechanical advantage of 6.5 .. roughly the same as that of a regualr HS33. So the strong brakle has MORE leverage rather than the weak brake having less. Matt Rushton... It would make it exactly the same as two conventional brakes with only your own physiological operation changing the braking power. Luke Rainbird... All I can say is, it works. I have experimental rigs and a SLM prototype to prove it. PaRtz... Pretty much spot on with all of that. At the end of the day, the pushing down force is amplified by a factor 6.5 creating 128 lbs/in^2 on the rim... 12 less than a conventional magura (at the strength I pull it with anyways) Jamie_Neal... It has the same set up as hope and shimano disc levers where the pad travel is adjusted by a 2mm allen key.. no TPA im afraid. (Too many patents!!!) Finally, a general point: It is primarily a disability product and so some loss of braking power over existing systems is to be expected (although not very much in my case) It has been designed so that you may choose which motion operates which brake so that it can be used cross-discipline. I've sorted out legal issues with my manufacturer so I'm not 100% free to discuss everything if you needed to know more. Oli

Only a couple of low quality products for general use, and for cable brakes only. Hose splitting works but is bad news for competitive disciplines. We need pretty hot rear brake control where as DH and XC rely really heavily on front braking alone.. individual control was always a big factor. Believe it or not there's a huge demand for Anti-lock bicycle brakes - theres an engineering project.. pretty small scale though. God knows why people can't just squeeze the brakes a little less? Thanks for good comments so far! Oli

Tell me about it! I can't imagine how many times I've had to remove my grips during this project.. easily 50+ ( mainly due to my lack of sense) I'm not really allowed to discuss dimensions etc. BUT.. how 'short' do you think it is? Oli

This particular model is suited for HS33 (14 mm diameter cylinder) Piston stroke up to 20mm, optimal at 12mm. The concept itself can work equally well for Rim brakes, discs and even cable pull.. I just havnt bothered with any others yet (you can clearly see that there's a lack of reservoir) The product also uses a number of existing magura specific components negating the need to product more and it is suitable for retro-fitting to HS33, echo, etc. calipers. Keep the questions coming.. helps me see if I've got everything covered! Oli

Everything can be used on either side for that very reason (well noticed!!) except the lever blade which is quite a specialist and important shape. ta Oli

Operation of both brakes from one lever on one side of the bars. (Primarily designed for the disability market) Oli

Hi all, I posted up a few months ago asking for a bit of input on my project.. thanks to the 1 person that replied! Better than none! Here's another chance.. The project is getting pretty close to being finished and I have a few images of the lever unit as it is at the moment. Please, any comments or criticisms are welcome from everyone regardless of age, background, sexual preference etc. at the end of the, its people like you guys that it would have to sell to. Unfortunately I'm in negotiations with an undisclosed manufacturer so I can't actually legally tell you how it works, but if you figure it out for yourself thats fine. Just let me know what you think of the overall look of it.. imagine the colours and surface finishes exactly as you would have them as these have not yet been finalised. (Yes I know it looks a bit HOPEish but thats half the point of the project.. again.. not really allowed to explain) Cheers Oli

Hey all, I was ambling through Brighton last week and I saw some guys walking through the lanes with a nice couple of mods.. I didn't think there were any riders in Brighton? Either way I was going to head out to the rocks at portslade for a bit of a Sunday ride. If anyones up for that or a kick ass street ride let me know. Get back on here or email me Oli.sparrow@ntlworld.com Ta

Hey Dan, thanks for the reply thats exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Maybe 20 others and I'll be sorted! r2w cheers for the link.. I was looking at thumb brakes but unfortunately my product needs to suit all MTB disciplines and would get in the way of gear thumbshifters. Fine with gripshift but not everyone prefers that. In fact most of the XC riders of ive spoken to prefer thumb and index shifting.. I think because it feels a lot more positive. Oli KEEP THEM COMING!!