At it again... Hambini and the OSPW

[Velocipede]

I can't take anything he says seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7VxFaLqC_g

[jpritchet74]

he makes me laugh

[GregL]

Hambini may have some points, but his message is completely lost on me. If I want foul-mouthed, adolescent humor, I'll find some videos of Eddie Murphy in the mid-1980s.

Greg

[bicycletricycle]

I agree with most of what he said-

-bigger bearings do have more drag.
-injection molded plastic with carbon reinforcement are kinda junky at this price point IMHO but I can see why they did it.
-the aero analysis is silly and misleading, I would say almost fraudulent.

I think Hambini did get something wrong though.

-It may actually be better for the cage to be flexy, perhaps that bottom pulley can twist a little to be more inline with the chain angle. I think the effect of this would be super tiny, probably lost in the noise.

Overall I think his commentary on products like this is a great counterweight to the access journalism crowd.

[shoota]

Who cares if it works, it looks amazing!

[benb]

It's hard to listen to him long but I think if he cleans up his act no one will actually listen.

And there are so many Charlatans and snake oil salesmen in bikes somebody has to say it.

[pasadena]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

I agree with most of what he said-

-bigger bearings do have more drag.
-injection molded plastic with carbon reinforcement are kinda junky at this price point IMHO but I can see why they did it.
-the aero analysis is silly and misleading, I would say almost fraudulent.

100%
Absolute Black with the horrendous responses... and then deletes them. LOL
I would never buy product from a company like that.

Hambini, as well as Peak Torque, are pointing out that it's junk science and AB proved itself to also be a trash company.

For people that say "who cares, it's just for looks" - by all means. I think most OSPW owners just have them for looks.

But AB is not marketing it as that. They are 100% marketing junk science and that's what Hambini is calling them out on.

It's also hilarious that AB's "custom" os bearing happens to be the exact same dimensions as a common rotary shaft seal.

I think Hambini did get something wrong though.

-It may actually be better for the cage to be flexy, perhaps that bottom pulley can twist a little to be more inline with the chain angle. I think the effect of this would be super tiny, probably lost in the noise.

I honestly think this is an excuse for the cheap, plastic cage.
They say the top pulley only needs to be stiff to change cogs (which is true) but that flexy cage is putting resistance on the top pulley as it does so from the bottom.

Because the bottom pulley is oversize, any deflection will cause more drag by side loading both pulleys.
Flexy cage also equals wasted energy (to flex the cage). If the cadence is such that it begins to vibrate or oscillate the cage, that is the opposite of efficient.
My unscientific opinion yet I bet more truthful than AB's claims

(from a commenter on the vid)
"their cage will suffer from elastomeric creep over time. This is well documented and happened to Campagnolo's first gen carbon cages. I have a cage on my desk that has a permanent twist, and is unusable. Thank you for exposing AB BS!"

Overall I think his commentary on products like this is a great counterweight to the access journalism crowd.

100

[robt57]

I wigged on the shyte scale...


They sure made sure it looks trick. See how long that sells them for...

Thus the 8000% mark up strategy to rake the coin fast?

[Buzz Killington]

His videos are like a car crash scene. You’re driving by, you know it’s bad, you might not want to look, but you just gotta look.

[truth]

I love Hambini and wish he would engage more in the discussions here.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by Buzz Killington

His videos are like a car crash scene. You’re driving by, you know it’s bad, you might not want to look, but you just gotta look.

True. I checked the video to see if it is as unwatchable as I remember, and it is.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by pasadena

It's also hilarious that AB's "custom" os bearing happens to be the exact same dimensions as a common rotary shaft seal.

I don't see how this is conclusive of much. It's not a shaft seal. If he had found a bearing with the same dimensions it would have been much more convincing. And finding an all-white bearing on alibaba is also somewhat lazy. This is evidence somehow?

[shoota]

I'm convinced a person has no sense of humor if they don't think he's funny.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

I don't see how this is conclusive of much. It's not a shaft seal. If he had found a bearing with the same dimensions it would have been much more convincing. And finding an all-white bearing on alibaba is also somewhat lazy. This is evidence somehow?

Also, the "see how long the bearings spin" isn't a true test of bearing drag, either - it's a function of both drag and rotational inertia. If you spin cranks (without a chain), they will spin much longer than if you spin the bottom bracket bearings with the cranks attached. Likewise, cranks will spin longer when pedals are installed then without pedals. Does that mean the crank bearings change their drag when installing cranks or pedals?

Notice that Hambini didn't refute the concept behind OSPW, just the Absolute Black implementation.

The being said, I also question the Absolute Black OSPW design. The pulleys are under load load, so there is no reason to use extra large bearings. The extra large bearing just increases drag. And the flexy cage seems counter-productive as well. If they were such a good idea, you could do with standard pulleys as well (and probably more cheaply than our current double plate cages).

[unterhausen]

It seems like everybody making something like this is using an extra large bearing, so people are starting to expect a design like this.