Autobike

Autobike is an automatic shifting bicycle.

The original Autobike was equipped with centrifugal weights on the rear wheel and a Low-Normal rear derailleur that was attached to said weights, the rider would start pedaling causing the weights to spin outwards which in turn shifted the derailleur to a harder gear. Stop pedaling and come to a stop, the weights would return shifting the bike into an easier gear to get started.

The new Autobike has three main components to the automatic shifting puzzle. In order to provide the system with power, the front hub features a SRAM dynamo that provides continuous juice to the system so that the rider never has to plug it in. Wires lead from the front hub, through the frame, to the bottom bracket area where it joins the brains of the system – or the small onboard computer and sensors that detect your speed and cadence. With this info, the computer then tells the shifter mounted on the rear hub how to shift the “gears” and a small motor carries out the shift.

The hub used is the Nuvinci N360 CVP (continuously variable planetary). The Nuvinci hub has continuously variable gearing and can be shifted smoothly at any time, under any load.