Daily Evolution from Mastering Tai Chi

Chapter 328 - 260: Subsonic Off-Road

Wang Ye lifted the custom bicycle with one hand,

and weighed it.

After estimating with his sense of touch, which is nearly twenty times more sensitive than the average person’s,

he concluded that this custom bicycle weighed about eighty kilograms, more than ten times heavier than a regular road bike.

Keep in mind, an ordinary motorcycle only weighs around a hundred kilograms,

and Wang Ye’s custom bicycle is almost as heavy as a motorcycle.

And that’s after trying every possible way to reduce the weight.

If he added an engine and a complete transmission system,

it would probably weigh even more than a regular motorcycle.

If it were an ordinary person, it would be difficult to even budge this custom bicycle by pedaling hard,

and the top speed would only be around 10 km/h.

Wang Ye placed the custom bicycle on the ground, and a "sizzle" sound was heard. This was the sound of the air suspension compressing under pressure.

He pressed down hard, testing the sturdiness of the suspension system.

With his current strength, he could release nearly a ton of downward pressure in an instant.

This could simulate the impact of a fall during mountain biking.

He tested it several times, and the suspension system still showed no damage, only making a bit of noise as the tires repeatedly hit the concrete floor, producing a "bang, bang" echo. This made Li Weimin and his group, who were organizing their luggage in the room, think there had been a car accident downstairs.

Seeing the bicycle’s excellent shock absorption capabilities reassured Wang Ye a bit.

In fact, when designing this bicycle, he had specifically implemented multiple shock absorption structures in various parts of the frame to prevent the suspension system from being insufficiently strong. For example, two sets of shock absorbers were installed on the front fork and the mid-section of the frame, including the most primitive and durable spring shock absorbers as a base. In addition, there were lightweight air shock absorbers for comfort, primarily used in racing. This intricate and lightweight shock absorption structure was obviously not very durable and quite difficult to repair, easily "breaking" under severe pressure and vibrations, so multiple shock absorption systems were very necessary. Even if one system failed during a ride, another would still provide support.

In conclusion, the bicycle’s suspension system was very robust. Even falling from a height of over five meters at high speed wouldn’t cause structural damage, though it might cause some wear and tear.

Wang Ye got on the bike, intending to try out the riding experience.

This bike had no gear-shifting mechanisms; the handlebars had only the grips and brakes.

This was because the chain was too wide and the frame was too narrow to allow normal shifting mechanisms. Installing a gear or shifter would add at least another ten kilograms to the weight and make the structure more complicated and prone to damage, overall not worth the trade-off.

So Wang Ye’s choice was to remove the shifter and use a single gear design directly. This design is similar to fixed-gear bikes and track bikes.

The inability to shift gears would be a fatal flaw for ordinary people. Typically, one main reason bicycles accelerate slowly is due to a high gear ratio, which makes it difficult to gain speed quickly with too much torque. By reducing the gear ratio with a shifter, one could accelerate smoothly, but the top speed would be limited, needing the gear ratio to be increased again to raise the maximum speed.

The shifting mechanism of motorcycles and cars shares a similar principle, but torque and gear ratios vary due to the vehicle’s weight. That’s why they generally need to shift gears gradually after starting, rather than immediately switching to the highest gear.

But this wasn’t an issue for Wang Ye.

As long as the chain and gears were robust enough,

he could quickly accelerate the bike using his own strength.

However, according to Wang Ye’s calculations, his strength allowed him to accelerate only on flat terrain.

Encountering a steep uphill could be challenging.

But in off-road environments, it’s usually a downhill scenario, similar to downhill racing.

It’s rare to encounter uphill climbs.

This way, his speed would consistently remain high.

Even if he encounters a steep uphill, he could use downhill momentum to ascend.

However...

Theoretically, that’s the case.

In reality, he might face some unresolvable difficulties.

But that’s something Wang Ye would need to test and modify himself.

Before the actual challenge, he needed to continuously test it in various terrains.

Trying to modify this bicycle to be perfect enough.

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Wang Ye spent about half an hour.

Testing all the performance aspects of this custom bicycle manually.

Overall, the performance was above the passing line, though it appeared somewhat rough.

Many aerodynamic designs and welds looked a bit odd.

After all, the design was drawn up by an amateur like himself.

Anta’s factory wasn’t specialized in manufacturing bicycles either.

Producing a rideable bicycle of this sort is already pretty good and not something to demand too much from.

Wang Ye obtained a map of the surrounding area from Li Weimin and quickly memorized its layout.