On the Effectiveness of Suspension Stems in Reducing the Vibration Transmitted to a Cyclist’s Hands in Road Cycling†
1
VÉLUS Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
2
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics—University of Brighton, Cockcroft Building, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 4GJ, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 13th conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, Online, 22–26 June 2020.
Proceedings 2020, 49(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2020049020
Published: 15 June 2020
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 13th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association)
The practice of road cycling is often associated with low levels of comfort for the cyclist and can be a physically painful experience on bad roads. Apart from cushioning in the saddle, applying handlebar tape, or reducing tyre pressure, a road bicycle offers in itself few options for comfort improvement, as it is primarily designed for performance, with emphasis on low mass and high stiffness. However, a range of components exist (e.g., suspension stems and seatposts) that can be fitted to a road bicycle, which can potentially improve comfort. In this context, the aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of suspension stems in reducing the vibration transmitted to a cyclist’s hands in the case of impact loading. The results showed an important reduction in the vibrational energy transmitted to a cyclist’s hands with two commercially available suspension stems compared to a regular stem.
Keywords:
road bicycle; dynamic comfort; vibration; suspension stem; transmitted energy
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Drouet, J.-M.; Covill, D.; Labrie, A. On the Effectiveness of Suspension Stems in Reducing the Vibration Transmitted to a Cyclist’s Hands in Road Cycling. Proceedings 2020, 49, 20.
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