Re: [CR]Where did the Bivalent design originate

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In-Reply-To: <052620041508.17450.40B4B2DF000884610000442A22007511509C0B020E049C0E0E030A089B@comcast.net>
References: <052620041508.17450.40B4B2DF000884610000442A22007511509C0B020E049C0E0E030A 089B@comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 11:02:24 -0700
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Where did the Bivalent design originate


>To properly understand the advantage of one single interchangeable
>wheel for either front or rear, you should ride in a team car when
>you see your rider signalling a flat tire. A mechanic can get out of
>the car with one free hand and a clear mind because he does not have
>to grab the 'correct' or multiple wheels. The mechanic's free hand
>is already sufficiently important to make the design worthwhile. You
>can get out of the car more quickly. The clear mind also allows the
>mechanic to concentrate solely on the repair at hand. For every
>second spent waiting on the side of the road, the rider must spend
>twice as long on the road riding with higher energy expenditure. It
>should also be pointed out that for any riders in a break that has
>less than 45 seconds of clearance from the peloton, as well as those
>riders in 'chase' groups caught between the lead group and peloton,
>they are generally only served by a motorcycle support vehicle that
>cannot carry 10 wheels. The major problems with the Bivalent hubs
>were: considerable extra costs of the hubs, extra weight,
>reliability problems and no widespread desire to try something
>unproven. Cino apparently got the Italian national team to ride on
>them but it was apparently not a resounding success.
>
>--
>Steven Maasland
>Moorestown, NJ

Don't you think all those concerns could have been overcome - if not then, at least today with so much superior technology - if the advantages were real? Cost - no problem for pro racers. Weight - how much, and I am sure you could get that down. Herse used "moyeux a broche" on their 7 kg bikes in the technical trials, so they must have been light. Reliability problems - could those be ironed out? Unwillingness to try something new - clearly, racers have, over time, tried new things when they thought it was worth while. Otherwise, they'd still race on Campy NR or wooden draisennes! (Or maybe Cino didn't pay enough to convince the riders that the hubs were worth trying?)

I completely understand the concerns of wheel changes in racing, which is why smart racers and their teams agree on hand signals to indicate which tire is flat - front or rear (usually one hand for one tire, the other for the other). Motorcycles with wheels, as far as I know, seem to be a more recent invention than Bi-Valent hubs. And even those motorcycles usually carry two wheels - a front and a rear.

(Yes, I have been in races where the neutral support ran out of wheels, or one type of wheels. The same guys who made fun of my tire savers at the beginning of the race suddenly were quite interested in the concept!)

I wonder how serious Cinelli really was about the Bivalents, or whether it was more of a publicity stunt to draw attention to his company, which just had introduced new alloy handlebars, etc.? (Sort of like certain Cannondale prototypes a few years ago.) I have no idea, but one wonders with a product that is the answer to a question nobody has asked, and that nobody seems to consider all that useful after it is presented. (Of course, the fact that they were made in some, albeit apparently small, numbers seems to indicate the contrary, that Cinelli was at least trying to sell a few.) Maybe the handlebars took off, and they/he didn't have time to pursue the project? Without any first-hand knowledge, I can only speculate. Does anybody know more?

Also, why are Cinelli Bivalent hubs sought after by collectors around the globe, yet the much more innovative clipless pedals go dirt-cheap and hardly anybody wants them? -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/