If you do not count your rear steering wheel, do you know how many teeth are your guide wheels?

If you guessed 11T, Congratulations, you are right. It's normal if you don't know, but Jason Smith, chief technology officer of Ceramic Speed, is one of those people who can tell you the answer without hesitation. That's because he tested almost all of the rear steering wheels (because CeramicSpeed now has an independent friction test lab) to see what can save the most power for the user.

Where should we go in the face of big wave?

If you've been looking at this year's Ring de France chariots, you may have noticed that the number of chariots using the Ceramic Speed's OSPW (Oversize Pulley Wheel) super-large steering wheel system is beyond our imagination. Apart from the commercial sponsorship, the large guide board system, which resembles the Shimano Altus M310 rear dial, looks a bit silly. The reason why it stands out is that the super-large guide wheels provide enough power-saving advantages for the riders to give up the style of the chariot...

The main idea of the large guide wheel is to reduce friction in the transmission system. Power saving means that your trampling can be more efficient and faster. Rather than asking: Wait a minute, don't big guides increase the surface area of the parts they touch each other and increase the friction?

Technically speaking, yes, it will. But you have to think about how the drive works: the chain is wrapped around the disc, then around the flywheel, and finally through the snake-like guide wheel system. Friction actually comes from the angle that the chain passes through when it is turned back. Thus, by increasing the angle and making them smoother, chains can move less joints than when passing through smaller guides, thereby reducing friction.

When you think this is the end, there are actually more things.

"The biggest advantage is to reduce friction, or improve the efficiency of the drive system," Smith Amway said. "There are two ways to reduce friction in an OSPW system. In other words, it is part of the transmission system. The biggest factor is the larger guide wheel. When the chain is engaged and detached from the guide wheel, the less the articulation of the chain is, the less friction will be generated. Secondly, on the larger guide wheel, the number of bearing rotation circles is less, which can reduce certain resistance.

For any large steering wheel system in the market, these two methods are used to reduce friction. It's just a simple geometry. Oh, no, it's physics. But Smith says their OSPW is the fastest because there are other components in the system that can further reduce friction.

Smith added: "When you buy Ceramic Speed OSPW, you can also get our highly efficient ceramic bearings. The OSPW we designed has lower guide plate tension. There are three settings in the system. The lower the tension of the guide plate, the smaller the friction force produced by the transmission system. "

According to CeramicSpeed, when you export 250 watts, OSPW will save 2.4 watts for you. Of course, if your chain is dirty, these gains will be filled. Oily sludge will affect the smoothness of the chain, thereby increasing the friction of the transmission system. But even if your chain is dirty, the efficiency loss of the OSPW system will be lower than that of the ordinary 11/11 guide wheel.

Where should we go in the face of big wave?

In fact, the large guide system was not invented by CeramicSpeed. As far as he knows, Berner, a German company, was the first to try out the big guide wheels (they are not as big as the 17/17 teeth of an OSPW system). But they cancelled the project after the first exhibition. Until Smith chose to study the relationship between the guide wheel and friction, and concluded that the oversized guide wheel can indeed reduce friction. CeramicSpeed was very concerned about Smith's research and drew a conclusion before he began to focus on the development of OSPW.

Well, it sounds simple to install an oversized guide wheel system on your bicycle, doesn't it? Don't worry, it has some drawbacks, you have to pay close attention to whose guide wheel system they are, they are not "born equal". This system has no patent, so anyone can make it.

Smith Amway Again: "Some counterfeits will only roll out individual large guide wheels, whose guide wheel bearings are of poor quality and lead to high guide plate tension. And the advantage is not in the way it is designed. So, it's not just the guide wheels, you need all four factors (large guide wheels, low tension guide plates, efficient bearings and less lateral chain swing) to get the advantage.

That sounds good enough to choose CeramicSpeed. Few other brands offer oversized guide wheels, while Ceramic Speed's OSPW is the product of choice for professional drivers.

Where should we go in the face of big wave?

The OSPW for the 3-D printed guide plate of titanium alloy costs $1,700. It's really "my rear dial is more expensive than your car line"...

Even if the CeramicSpeed system seems excellent, it will also encounter some problems. First of all, this upgrade is not cheap. But apart from the $500 price, the variable speed performance may be affected by the reduced tension of the guide plate. As you might expect, the drive system brand does not encourage consumers to install oversized guide wheels on their products.

Moreover, the OSPW suspension is much lower than the standard 11/11 tooth setting. This means that the backswing needs to overcome more arm forces to move from one flywheel to another, resulting in slow speed change. This is why the OSPW kit includes a carbon fiber guide plate to help compensate for the increased arm.