I’m going to do this one a little differently because there are other things going on here besides new fancy technology.

After doing some digging in the USPTO databases, there’s some documentation that shows SRAM appear to be in a bit of an IP buying mode. This particular write-up shows the transfer of IP (9656672, 10358133) from Civilized Cycles Incorporated out of Portland, Oregon to SRAM as of early May 2024.

This article is less about the technology and more about what exactly SRAM has purchased and what the implications may be.

I typically don’t keep an eye on this type of stuff because it’s clunky and time-consuming, but I’ll try to be better about it. These types of things are interesting from a business perspective.

Background

Civilized Cycles are in the mobility business (think cargo/people movers). I’d never heard of them until this article, and there’s not much else to say about them specifically. That being said, I’m a big fan of their business model, and I think it’s key to the growth of cycling in general. This is their Model 1. Not my cup-o-tea, but it looks nice.

Mobility is the ability to move freely and easily. You and I deal with mobility daily with the automobile. We can get in, go anywhere we want, and exert very little effort.

If you’re an executive looking to gain market share and you’re looking at the current bike industry exclusively, you’re likely barking up the wrong tree. Mobility is key to moving a brand (and the industry) forward, and going after the automotive industry is the #1 target. The replacement of the car with the bike will be a significant shift and I think we’re seeing it happen before our eyes. This document shows just a tiny piece of that puzzle.

With the advent of excellent energy storage, useful motors, and infrastructure, it’s never been more possible for this to happen. Imagine you live in a high-density area and losing that car payment, the insurance, the gas bill, the parking, and so on. Sounds kind of nice if you can make some compromises. Even if you don’t get rid of your car, the reduction in the use of a car just to go to work or the bar seems like a great move forward.

Side note, because I feel this is necessary, I am not part of the r/fuckcars crowd. I love cars and designed racecars for years. I just see this as a beneficial market move to transition away from cars in specific circumstances.

Recently, SRAM released their Eagle ecosystem with a bunch of fancy dingleberries. Among the many berries, the dingle I’m fairly certain we’re seeing here is Coast Shift. What is Coast Shift? SRAM say:

…Coast Shift allows the chainring to move freely from the cranks, letting you shift while coasting. Why? Opening the possibilities of shift anywhere performance (whether pedaling or not) puts you in total control, even when the terrain ahead isn’t favorable for pedaling.

So, you can shift without pedaling. That marketer’s chutzpah is a bit much.

Technology

So, what rights did SRAM actually purchase? Remember, a patent equates to rights to exclude others from using an idea.

As far as I can find, there are two different patents that have been transferred from Civilized to SRAM, each defining a specific functionality of shifting when no pedal force is occurring.

The first one (9656672) defines a derailleur-based shifting system that, when the crank nor the motor provides any rotation of the ‘driven sprocket’, the pedal-assisted-motor rotates the driven sprocket close to the speed of the rear wheel, and the derailleur shifts as the driven sprocket is rotated by the motor. The driven sprocket can be a single-speed rear gear, a typical cassette, or whatever else makes the wheel go round.

In an example, a controller detects that there is no pedal force, tells the motor to rotate the chainring, which moves the chain, which rotates the cassette. Then the controller tells the derailleur to shift up or down. It’s important to remember this patent is for the explicit scenario when the crank nor the motor is turning; so coasting. It’s also important to note there is a clutch system at the chainring, so when the motor rotates the chainring, it doesn’t rotate the cranks.

Long story short, this is a shift feature while coasting.

The second one (10358133) is very similar and defines a mid-drive bike with a derailleur-based shifting system that rotates the motor which drives the cassette in response to a controller determining a shift should occur.

So, the first one primarily defines the derailleur operation and the second one primarily defines the motor operation.

In both cases, the drive speed of the cassette is less than or equal to the wheel speed. This is important because the motor isn’t driving the rear wheel if the cassette speed is equal to or less than the speed of the rear wheel.

FIG. 10B below shows a representation of the concept. This shows zero pedaling force but shows a chain force as a result of the motor force only. Therefore, the motor rotates the cassette, which allows for gear changes with the derailleur. That’s about it. The chain line is not correct and I do not like it.

Lastly, they define the shift occurrence can be both automatic or manual:

In some embodiments, the electronic controller can be further configured to determine that the shift should occur by monitoring a current speed of the bicycle and determining that, based on the current speed of the bicycle, a more efficient gear is available than a present gear. In some embodiments, the electronic controller can be configured to determine that the shift should occur by receiving a user request to perform a shift.

This is a video from SRAM showing it work.

Documentation

I wish I had more than this, like how much they paid for it. We can see the dates are very recent; early May 2024. You can also see this in the USPTO assignment search if you want to deal with that turd.

Implications

Since we’ve probably seen this in the flesh, we already know one of the implications is that this is used on mountain bikes. But let’s expand on this, and jump back to the ‘mobility’ topic. Civilized are a mobility company, and appear to have developed this for cargo and people movers. While this is nifty for a mountain bike, in my mind, its key benefit is not for a mountain bike.

To get transport-style bikes into the hands of the people, you need to incentivize the bike the same way auto companies incentivize cars – ease of movement. Transport bikes should be seamless, with little thought or input from the rider. Big guess here, but I like to assume SRAM see this and would like to expand their Eagle offerings (the controller part of Eagle) outside the mountain bike to the casual/commuter type person. The mountain bike is a use-case, the transport bike is the money-maker and possible world-changer.

The idea of being able to upshift or downshift without actually being on the gas is a benefit for those who may be more inept at biking. It’s nothing more than a small refinement to ease the use of a tool.

There’s a lot of moolah to be made in replacing the car, and we’re just seeing the beginnings of it. I think SRAM see it.

Spitballin’, but maybe SRAM had to buy this to get Coast Shift to the consumer. Maybe they got through development and release, and got a nice cease and desist from Civilized, because the transfer date is after this thing was released to the public. Maybe they looked at what it would cost to adjust their product, sit in court, pay attorneys, and said “Why don’t we just use that money to buy the idea”.

Or maybe SRAM knew about it all along and this has been in the works for years. Who knows, because I don’t.

Let me know your thoughts.

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