For those unfamiliar with the sport of mountain biking, it’s a wild hobby that is rife with hacking. It started in the early 70s when the first dedicated mountain bikers were hacking road bikes together to ride on trails to varying levels of success, but only in the last decade or so have there been a lot of electronics appearing in various bike parts that we can all tinker with as well. This video discusses some of the downsides with a very expensive electronic seat post on a mountain bike, and attempts to solve its shortcomings by cutting it in half.
This build involves a dropper seat post, which is an adjustable seat for mountain biking that functions like an office chair. By pushing a button on the handlebars, the seat post can be rapidly adjusted up or down on-the-fly. Normally these seat posts use a cable to actuate, but this expensive version is wireless. The only problem is the battery will occasionally fly off when hitting big jumps, so [Berm Peak Express] decided to cut the existing proprietary battery system out and create a new housing for it. The new housing has a wired extension for the battery in its new location under the seat instead of behind it, and this gives it the clearance it arguably should have had from the manufacturer.
While not the most involved project of all time, it does take a certain mentality to take a hacksaw to a bike part that costs more than a large percentage of bicycles. It’s a niche product to be sure, but it also shows that some of the biggest annoyances with proprietary parts are not too difficult to overcome. And, it is interesting to see the ways that some people are hacking bikes outside of admittedly clever ebike conversions.
>$800
>ooh! it’s WIRELESS!
CONSOOM
I’m guessing it was made by a military contractor.
B^)
Q: How many military contractors does it take to build a wireless bicycle seat?
A: [CLASSIFIED]
That’s government speak for “give me your wallet”.
Why would you think that? It’s made by SRAM, one of the large bike component manufacturers
That’s exactly what a PR rep from a military contractor shell company would say. Is the seat connected to the cloud? lmao
He’s a popular bike youtuber. He rides bikes for a living, and with all his industry contacts and sponsors there’s no way he even paid for that
The goal of these things is not for utility, but so you can brag to your coworkers that you can afford these kinds of luxury items without looking like an ass for bragging.
If this kind of thing interests you, check out A. Millyard and his MR001 bike
https://youtu.be/iUak9sqJmnM
I guess he has a new shock design as well. Amazing
I was thinking “Millyard? Isn’t he the custom motorcycle maker?”. Sure enough: bicycle with a single-sided swingarm.
Today we’re gonna do something different, but kind of the same.
How many 555 timers are in that seat post? Doesn’t sound like a hack to me!
kind of looks like would have been better to speak to someone with a 3d printer, and maybe skill with PCBs.
I came to say that. A new connector printed with a short lead to a new battery strapped on the front rails. Keep the warranty!
jeeze! i’ve built a few things that attach to the bike and i’ve always agonized over how to place them so they don’t interfere with anything. it’s a surprisingly difficult problem, because bikes are really pared down to a minimum (or my bikes are, anyways). i’ve attached things to the seat post but i’ve been surprised sometimes how even a small thing can be in the way in one scenario or another. and my seatpost doesn’t even move!
what a ridiculous product to exist at all, let alone to cost $800 and they haven’t thought it through
I have bought many cars that lasted me a great many years for less than the cost of this seatpost.
As with any tricked out area of expertise… What makes total sense the insider, looks completely odd from the outside.
Dropper posts are serious business – just check the market size. And this one specifically – one can exchange it quickly against a rigid post, depending on race track/conditions (weight!). Mind, this one is on the heavy side of the offerings, still it wins world cups.
“Not thought through”, I hear you say? Well, taking into account all odd-dimensioned-oddities on a bike results in… a compromise. There will always be cases at the end of the spectrum that don’t fit. Think/test before you buy (on the market for less than 800).
Really important for me is the 7.4V info and that the charging circuit is in the charging station (not shown). Seth also failed to nicely explain/diagram the actual connector polarity.