> Chris Phillipo typed:
> > Remind me again who's looking for an automatic transmission for a 3 speed bike?
"<<>>" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In
news:[email protected], I think the Auto Milano is a 7-speed. I
> looked at one tonight and I wasn't terribly impressed by the auto shifting. The mechanism is the
> same as the manual bike it just has a speed-sensor and a do-wacky that shifts for you depending on
> the speed. Not very wiz-bang if you ask me and certainly not worth the ~$100 price increase. I was
> under the impression that it was some sort of Continuously Variable (CV) transmission, which would
> have been much cooler. I'm looking for a bike to cruise around the City and the regular Milano is
> high on my list.
Bianchi offers the bike with Shimano's Seven Nexus and also with their Auto Four. These are two
different bikes.
Although I haven't sold a Bianchi Auto Four we do sell Milano Sevens. More pointedly, I made a
commitment to Raleigh's Auto Four and their Nexus Seven bikes when they were in style a few years
ago. The Nexus outsold the Auto Four in spite of similar bike specs and a higher price tag. (Both
together sell less well than a premium quality fully-equipped Kettler with SRAM seven at double
the price.)
The Auto Four offers an automatic shift acomplished by a servo behind the BB with a small camera
battery and a wheel speed sensor. The control includes regular auto, an agressive "early shifting"
auto mode and a manual override with pushbutton shifting ( Not as slick as my '58 Rambler's
pushbutton automatic but cool nonetheless).
Customers for the Auto Four were almost exclusively non-cyclists. A common comment on these and the
SRAM sevens is that the customer really liked the fully covered chain. (Exposed chain is, by the
way, still a _major_ purchase objection for beginning cyclists.) None of our Auto Four customers
were concerned with rear wheel removal as they would have us change flats always. These bikes,
while not high-mileage, are giving good service and battery replacement is about the only shifting
service we do.
So in my limited experience the Auto Four does just what it is intended to do - get a non cyclist on
two wheels onto a fun and innovative vehicle at a very low price. My shop does not see great numbers
of that kind of customer but overall I was satisfied with the product.
Raleigh has discontinued that model and the Bianchi, while a _much_ nicer bike, is $250 more (or 50%
more expensive) and so I haven't comitted to it. Milano Sevens sell dependably year in and year out.
I can't imagine a CVT at $400 and in fact CVT designs I have seen are not all that suitable to
a bicycle.
--
Andrew Muzi
http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971