- There is a lot of amazing cycling tech out there,
we've even got a whole channel
completely dedicated to it.
But, in this video we're gonna have a look
at some of the technology
from outside of the world of cycling
that can completely revolutionize our sport.
(upbeat music)
3D printing has obviously been around for a while now,
and although we've already seen some
amazing stuff from brands like Bastion,
or even the custom time trial parts
used by teams like Sky,
it's safe to say that we've only
touched on the surface of
what 3D printing could one day do.
For the main area that 3D printing could change
cycling is in frame production.
We've already seen a few 3D printed frames,
and it seems like it's only a matter of time
before we have commercially viable
3D printed frames in production.
We could see full carbon frames
being made in just hours,
allowing brands to produce in much higher quantities.
This in turn could lead to lower frame costs,
as brands would need much smaller factories
and would effectively eliminate waste
from frame production.
And finally, it could see the end
of frameset geometries.
Every frame produced by a 3D printer
could be made to the specifications
of the customer, as there would no longer
be any need for expensive molds.
Big data and Artificial Intelligence
almost seem like technology buzzwords these days.
They seem to crop up all over the place really.
But, I think they could actually
help improve cycling in a few major ways.
The first is through urban planning and cycle route choice.
It can be really hard to explain
why we choose to cycle certain routes.
Or, why you ride on the road instead of
the cycle lane for part of your commute, for example.
But, if we could get enough data
on all the routes all cyclists take through a city,
we could start to make some very accurate
predictions on why certain people use certain routes.
A company called Umotional has actually
used this with some very complex algorithms
to create what they believe to be
the first Artificial Intelligence
based route planning app.
The app can apparently tailor which route it suggests,
depending on your personal cycling preferences.
Or even, depending on things like the weather.
In quite a similar way, conceivably,
a piece of software could collect all of your training data
and tell you exactly what type of training
you should be doing to improve the most.
This method could really effectively
remove the guesswork from training.
You'd never over-train, never ride junk miles,
and, you'd just get way way stronger.
We just need to work out how to invent it first.
One of the big trends in technology at the moment
is wearable health tech.
I know what you're thinking,
smart watches, heart rate monitors,
we've got all of that stuff
and it's nothing new.
But I'm looking right at the cutting edge here.
So let's start by looking at
continuous glucose monitors.
These basically stick to your body to,
well, continuously monitor your glucose levels.
Obviously, these are aimed at Diabetes sufferers,
but it's easy to imagine these
being used in the future by cyclists.
I mean, you could ensure
that you never ran out of energy I suppose.
And then how about a sensor that can
manage your blood lactate when you're riding?
This could allow you to perform
super accurate threshold tests
without the need for going into a lab.
A company called BSXinsight actually
already make a wearable blood lactate sensor
in a calf sleeve.
This technology is obviously in its early stages,
and the actual monitors are only
going to get smaller and smaller.
This next bit of tech is something
that John featured over on the GCN Tech Show recently.
A team at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
have managed to weld a type of aluminium
that was previously believed to have been unweldable.
7075 aluminium is significantly stronger
than the 6061 alloy that has traditionally
been used in the production of bicycle frames.
But it would always crack when welded
due to something known as phase segregation.
The team at UCLA discovered that by introducing
titanium carbide nano-particles into the weld,
they could stop the cracks.
That is all very cool.
But what does it mean for us, as cyclists?
Well, bikes made with the 7075 aluminium
could be made much lighter
than traditional 6061 aluminium bikes.
Effectively eliminating the main problem
with aluminium race bikes.
Could this mean that we see the return
of aluminium bikes to the World Tour?
Personally, I think these bikes could be
the ultimate amateur race bikes.
Something that performs as well as a carbon bike,
but you can crash as much as you want
without having to worry about it really breaking.
Indoor training really has come on
leaps and bounds in the last few years.
It feels like only yesterday
that direct-drive trainers were invented.
And now, it's actually getting difficult
to get a turbo that isn't direct-drive.
And then you've got to talk
about probably the biggest change in turbo training:
the invention of apps like Zwift and The Sufferfest.
They actually manage to make turbo training interesting.
But, I think there is one way technology
could make indoor training even better.
And that is by using VR.
Imagine riding on Zwift and actually being able to
look around the bunch, and really get the feeling
that you're actually riding in Watopia.
Obviously though, VR technology does have
to move on a long way before you can use it on a turbo.
Just imagine how sweaty you'd get
with one of those headsets on for a start.
But, surely, it's only a matter of time.
I would love to know what tech you think
could change the future of cycling.
Make sure you leave a comment in the description box
down below and feel free to be
as out there with it as you want.
I want to see some properly crazy ideas.
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