Development of Bicycle-suitable transmissions through performance simulation and ergometric factors

Through numerical simulations of a cyclist+bicycle system, a performance comparison was carried out between a traction drive continuously variable transmission (TD-CVT) and a traditional transmission (step-variable transmission) for bicycles. The objective was verifying the performance of both of them when the cycling frequency was kept invariable. For that, the principles of a TD-CVT were initially described. After that, the human characteristics of producing power in different intervals of time were considered. Then, the cycling frequencies which are most commonly used in biomechanical tests related to cycling were analyzed. Finally, the cyclist-bicycle system was modeled through Lagrance's movement equations. During the simulations, the cycling frequency values and the description of the transmissions used in a certain course were stored in order to be compared.