It's the end of another year. I had hoped for more progress in
2025, but no one succeeds alone. Without allies to help navigate
the labyrinth of launching a product my hands were stayed by my
lack of resources. To this day, there is no one that has
experienced Crownring— no one that has any influence. My
neighbor, Mike, had a positive response to Crownring. So did the
kid that cleaned my gutters. That's it.
The recumbent wheel is finally on a good track. It's not so easy
making metal parts in a wood shop. I have the design for the
derailleur. With the reverse gear the derailleur needs to set
before the gear cluster. Its tensioner needs to completely level
out. In the end it turned out much less complicated than first
imagined.
The recumbent should be completed by spring. If not, I'll keep
up with it while attending group rides on the uprights. The hope
is their curiosity will cause them to give it a try. All it
takes is the first stroke and Crownring's benefit is obvious. It
is that dramatic.
December 28, 2025
Sunday, 4:00 PM
The holidays are not the best season for progress. The weather
hasn't been kind, either. But while progress is slow it is still
progress.
The rear wheel for the recumbent trike is nearly complete.
Between re-fabrications and broken milling bits it's been a
challenge.
My mind is seldom idle. There are many unique aspect to this
trike. They all take extensive consideration. Most of my time is
spent thinking about building rather than the act of building. I
believe anything can be done. Not only, but done many ways.
My goal is a May debut. Barring any catastrophes I am confident
I'll meet it.
December 16, 2025
Tuesday, 1:00 PM
Life
intervenes and projects can be set aside. Even though the
recumbent is near and dear to me, I've been forced away from it
for days. Wanting one was what started this whole exploration 13
years ago. Crownring is new to you, but it's an
old friend to me.
It seems anytime I have a project to fabricate,
I've neeed to fabricate something before I can fabricate the
project.
In making Crownrings, once the middle was milled out I'd lose the
certainty of the center and the remaining milling was more artwork
than machining.
The gears on the wheel don't have the same forgiveness as those on
the crank. I've just built a rotating table to mount to the drill
press table to assure the center remains fixed. This will allow
near perfect alignment on the drill press at all times.
I had to build it to make the adapter that mounts the 52T on the
wheel. But the rotating table will help considerably when milling
Crownrings. Long overdue.
I am intent on finally getting to my custom recumbent trike
design. My goal is to have it built by May— in time to join riding
groups and showcase the power of Crownring.
Meanwhile, my contact initiative is on hold. It proved futile. I
do not know why I've not received even one reply. Many of those
I've contacted have visited, looked around, and then they are
gone. Without feedback I cannot provide a convincing explanation
of Crownring's capability. I can only assume they all think
Crownring is a fake. So, May rides will be the springboard for
Crownring to make a convincing debut. Until then, my recumbent
build, and updating the website are my only concerns.
December 12
Friday, 11:00 AM
Snow. It has snowed most days. I used to like snow. It's hard to
ride a bicycle in a rural area in the snow.
I've spent my time working out the recumbent trike design. It is
slow going when my only models are in my mind. Funny thing, I have
never ridden a recumbent trike. With the upright bike conversions
I had experience to help dictate the specifics. All of my
calculations for the trike are based on reason, and what I can
find online.
I've sent a few more communications. No replies. It would be nice
if someone would take the time to reply and tell me why they are
not replying. What is it about Crownring that causes dozens of
universities, think tanks, bike shops, and content providers to
just shrug it off? There is enough information on this website to
provide even an average thinker with adequate food for reason.
Crownring would not make a very good hoax. I'd have to prove it
before receiving a dime.
I have a communication in to a man that could prove Crownring, or
bust it if it was bustable. He'd have to be curious. I've not seen
evidence to suggest he has visited crownting.bike. It's been a
week. I'll wait another week and send a follow up. If I get no
response I'll write him off as I have written off Penn State and a
few other Pennsylvania universities.
Come spring I'll get out and ride with groups. Eventually someone
will springboard me into a network.
I have no experience with bike meets, conventions, shows. And
there are none close that I could attend. If I could connect with
someone that had experience, I might manage to show up at an
event. I might bet the expense on someone with experience. I
cannot bet it on my bumbling through the processes.
Videos seem to be the thing people pay attention to now. But I
cannot make a quality video by myself. The best I could do alone
is say what is already written on the website. But if I had a
team, then I could get footage of Crownring in action. I could
video responses to it. Someone to help edit, someone to help write
the dialogue.
There is opportunity in Crownring and no one is seeing it. I am
alone. I have very limited funding. I have given Crownring all I
have to give. The recumbent trike will be the last demo I can
fabricate that will prove Crownring's potential. After that, I am
solely reliant on luck.
December 2, 2025
Tuesday, 1:00 PM
I took the red bike for a ride in the snow. It performed well
though the deep snow resistance urged me to lower the gear.
Powering the bike was no trouble, but steering was horrible. Then,
when I put the bike up I could feel additional stress in my legs
over what a dry run would be. It was indeed more work.
My conclusion is I do not like riding in snow. But if you have to,
you should do it with a Crownring.
December 1, 2025
Monday, 5:30 PM
Another full day on AI. The page you flew in on was entirely
conceived by Gemini AI.
The weather is cold. I've not been on my bike in four days. Snow
tomorrow. I will absolutely test Crownring in the snow.
House chores, letters and website. That's the production of late.
Eventually something will break. I really want to see the numbers.
Somewhere there is someone that can't wait to run it through the
meters. Me too.
November 30, 2025
Sunday, Midnight
I spent nearly the entire day in a conversation with Deep Mind,
one of Google's Gemini AI releases. We spoke about previous
contacts, drafted compelling communications for future contacts;
universities and efficiency labs home and abroad.
But what Gemini warned most is to stop saying 25% greater
efficiency. It doesn't technically increase efficiency. What it
does is makes use of energy that the round ring, and even the oval
cannot harness. Gemini's exact phrasing was "improvement in
compensated energy compared to a conventional round chainring."
It is not a matter of producing more energy. It is simply reducing
the losses.
It has been well known that rotary crank drives have deficits. The
oval tried to address some of those, but at the cost of endurance.
Crownring is its opposite. It maximizes the entire stroke for
rider strength and endurance.
I always thought achieving higher speeds with lower T values was
Crownring's stock-in-trade. But as we delved into the Crownring's
3 phase uphill performance it seems Crownring's reduced effort at
climbing is far above a little unconventional speed.
So, one way or another I am going to break into the recumbent
trike market. Recumbents are of course notorious for their poor
climbing performances. Crownring is the perfect solution.
I have a few irons in the fire concerning recumbent venders. We'll
see who gets the brand, so to speak.
There are also universities within travel range that could be
prime contacts. The efficiency labs are all over seas. If you know
of one in the States please drop a comment.
If you are interested in a demo, I assure you it will not be
wasted time. And I love seeing your expressions on that first
pedal stroke of the Crownring bike. First stroke…it is that
noticeable. I really wish I had the staff to get some of them on
video.
November 26, 2025
Wednesday, 10:00 AM
Not having a dedicated
editor for progress reports just caused the loss of a month of
reports. I guess we find incentive most often after disaster
hits. I'll be fixing the editor issue quickly.
My last backup was October
9th so that is where history was restored. I guess backups will
happen more often now too.
I'm still waiting for replies to my contact letters. None yet.
None.
I took the problem to Deep Mind. I don't have any humans to assist
so I rely on AI. Deep Mind seemed quite a bit more astute than the
others.
It's greatest assertion was I am using the wrong language. That
there is nothing wrong with the design (and it actually
articulated on Crownring features I hadn't fed it) but my
communications are toward the average minds, and professors and
engineers expect a certain level of formulation in my
explanations. It is a "Resistance-Adaptive, Dual-Crown Geometry."
I get it. They want to feel they are talking to a colleague and
not some guy working from a garage. But from my perspective they
should be able to examine the Crownring motion while considering
the leg posture (Bio-mechanical position) and easily extrapolate
the varied forces involved.
An adult bicycle stroke is about 14 inches from top to bottom. A
stroke is basically a step up. Sure, the body does not go up as
with a staircase. The step goes down.
But think of this. Why is a staircase built with 7 inch steps? If
we can step 14 inches why not 14 inch risers? It would condense
the staircase and provide more floor room. It would be a faster
climb to the top with half as many steps.
It's because even an 8 inch riser is noticeably harder than a 7
inch riser. 14 inches would be exhausting for some and impossible
for others.
So why do we have a 14 inch static radius step on a
bicycle? Well, a shorter step would require faster cadence among
other things. The 14 inches is practical. It's the demand of force
at the top of the stroke, excuse me, the Biomechanical
RationaleStage 1, that is not practical.
By reducing the force requirement at the weakest posture Crownring
provides a smoother, easier start of stroke. That is elementary.
Raising the radius when posture provides a rider's greatest force
is just logical.
There is a 13 tooth difference between low and high radii on any
Crownring with size 2 crowns and yet they feel physically equal
when riding.
I don't understand why doctors of physics and engineering cannot
surmise the mechanical benefits of the "Efficiency Gain via
Dual-Crown, Resistance-Adaptive Cycling Kinematics." when a
machine can.
I understand they want validated empirical data, but if I could
give them that I would not need them. My campaign is about finding
allies that can assist in quantitating the specifics. 25% greater
efficiency is a lot, but it is lower than some of the AI
estimates. A demo ride on my bikes would provide subjective
agreement that could then be quantified.
I'm just one guy that literally stumbled onto a great idea. The
longer it takes to get a functioning network the longer it will
take to bring better bicycling to the world. And that has
everything to do with the climate initiative.
October 9. 2025
Thursday, 1:00 pm
After days of trial and error I have the low low, really low gear
on the red bike maintaining Crownring engagement. A backing plate
designed to slide the chain back to the teeth when it rides off
seems to be working well. I'll do the write-up in the red bike's
development and post it under the "Demo Bikes" link on the left
panel.
The first letters have gone out seeking allies. With my limited
social network I need allies just to find allies.
With the inclusion of the red bike's development, the website will
be complete save for progress updates. I do have plans for more
builds, recumbent trikes, and I have some hope to build my design
of a bicycle for the handicapped. Both are a ways down the road.
I'm nearly as far along as I can get on my own. I'll be writing
letters and making connections from here on out.
October 6, 2025
Monday, 10:00 AM
I've completed the 34T/30-42(2x2) Crownring for the red bike. It
needed to be mounted with an offset so my mount is non standard.
The point is function. The bike handles the local hills with
little effort, even in high gear (3.8:1 ratio). The conversion
revealed a matter I'd not thought of. The smaller the chainring
the more susceptible it is to chain angle. The 30T of the low
radius drops the chain as easily as the crown decline when
engaging the larger cogs (up to 50T).
The bike does well on its eight smaller cogs. The solution to the
chain-drop is a simple guide to limit chain angle. When the bike
can access all its gears I'll includ its performance details in
the Demo Bikes link on the left panel.
October 2, 2025
Thursday, noon
I managed to make the adapter for the red bike's GXP mount. It
presented an issue that limits the universal mount I was going to
use. The GXP drive requires an offset of 3mm. The adapter could be
offset but I don't have a hydraulic press and die to fabricate
one. The red bike Crownring will be a bandaid mount, one of a
kind, but this build is primarily to test if the crown recession
will survive the chain angle of the 12 speed gear cluster, and the
2 tooth stretched peak performance. More to come on the red bike.
September 26, 2025
Friday, 5:00 PM
I just received the 32T GXP chainring. It will be applied to the
new bike as (2x3) stretched crown.
The new bike is a 1x12 drive. The wide 12 cog rear will
demonstrate the Crownring versus extreme chain angle. It will also
test the stretch and if it results in higher ratio. If it goes as
I expect, the Stretched Crownring will bring crown racing to the
pros.
More on this after fabrication.
Friday, 2:40 PM
Over the years I have put scattered entries in various places. My
energy has gone into Crownring development. Taking time to write
down my advances has not been uppermost on my todo list. As I
discover pertinent entries of past I will list them by date
retroactively.
I am one guy trying to perform many jobs. I do what I feel is most
important at the time. This journal is not what I'd hoped to
create. The format was intended to list entries by subject on the
home page. I have not had the time to automate a process for that,
so I'm borrowing the format from my personal journal that simply
presents latest post first. The method is not very efficient and
should I find time, or am assisted by a programmer I'll develop a
more efficient journal. As for now I am content to present
progress in any way possible.
