In this article, we’ll be discussing a Bicycle Device with Adjustable Operating States by DT Swiss, US publication 20240367751. The publication date is Nov 7^th, 2024 and the filing date is April 29^th, 2024.

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Brief Summary (tl;dr)

DT Swiss are developing a lockout system that appears to be intuitive, easy to use, and allows riders to switch between modes without taking their hands off the handlebars, regardless of their hands on the bars. The system consists of a bar-mounted lever, that can be operated from both aero and chillin modes, and toggles the suspension between locked and unlocked, regardless of direction.

The lever is connected to a fluid control mechanism/valve in the fork that blocks or unblocks fluid pathways (lock/unlock). A cam wheel provides haptic feedback, so riders can feel each engagement without looking down. This system may also be adapted for use with seat posts or rear shocks, reflecting a broader trend toward integrated bicycle systems.

Intro

In honor of the very-recent news that Canyon has hired Jose Gonzalez as Director of Suspension technology, while also not producing any suspension themselves at the moment. This article seems to be appropriate given the circumstances.

BikeRumor (below images) appear to have published something a while ago that seems to show the idea is a DT Swiss and Canyon development, along with a new gravel fork. Since the document we’re looking at here says ‘gravel’ about a million times, we can probably assume they overlap. The pictures don’t show inside the fork, but the lever appears to be a giveaway.

Why

From what I can tell, DT Swiss want a lockout system that is easy and intuitive to use, can be used in multiple hand positions so you don’t have to take your hands off the bars, and provide feedback to your hand so you don’t have to look down. Seems reasonable.

The ‘…multiple hand positions…’ thing is the important part here. That’s the primary goal of this system. They don’t want you taking your hands off the bars to adjust the suspension.

What

I’m going to break this down into three parts – the lever on the bars and the ratchet mechanism in the fork, and the valve in the fork.

Lever

FIG. 4 shows the lever. Let’s ignore everything that isn’t orange.  We can see by the arrows 7a and 7b that this dangle moves in both directions, not just one – there’s a reason for that. Depending on where your hand is on the bar (tucked aero or upright chillin), you can control the lever. Therefore, you don’t have to remove your hand to adjust the lever. The lever is connected to the fluid control mechanism likely with a Bowden cable. How are they doing that?

Here’s the fun part: each time you move the lever, the suspension locks or unlocks regardless of direction. So, it doesn’t matter which way you flick the lever, it’s binary; forward → backward → backward → backward → forward; doesn’t matter, it’ll always lock or unlock. When you push or pull the lever, it doesn’t stay in one of the positions 44 or 45 (bottom right), it’ll reset back to the normal operation position 43. This is called a ‘return-to-center switch”.

This dispenses with the need for rotating the adjusting mechanism in one direction for transferring from the first operating mode to the second operating mode, and rotating the adjusting mechanism reversely for switching back from the second operating mode to the first operating mode. Rotation can simply be continued.

Ratchet Mechanism

I’m going to go out of order here to help describe the situation a bit better. Figs. 6a/b shows the adjustment-side of the fluid control mechanism, and what happens when you adjust the lever on the handlebar. Long story short, you adjust the lever on the handlebar, that pink claw is pulled upward and rotates the purple ratchet wheel. The ratchet wheel is then prevented from counterrotating by the red pawl. The pink claw is then reset by a biasing spring, which is shown later.

The green thing is interesting. This is a cam wheel, which is fixed to the ratchet wheel, and …ensure[s] a defined rotation of the adjusting mechanism… It provides both slight resistance so you can have a better feel of the lever and haptic feedback to your hand when the leaf spring slaps a trough/detent. Therefore, you know when it’s been actuated without looking away from the trail. That’s pretty cool.

There’s also an acoustic example in FIG 6d, but I’m going to skip that for brevity. You can check it out in the document, components 53-55 making sound 51.

Valve

Next, let’s get into the fluid-side of the fluid control mechanism and jump back to FIG. 5.

We can see the adjustment-side we just talked about on the left, which is connected to the blue vane wheel/valve via some kind of shaft. Pretty easy – as the ratchet rotates 45°, the vanes rotate 45°. As such, the vanes cover and uncover a set of fluid path holes 15b/c, shown in the red box.

Although the specific application is likely the fork, DT Swiss say this system can be used for a seat post or rear shock, as well. Just covering their bases.

The bicycle component may… be configured as a suspension fork or a rear wheel damper, [or] a seat post.

Conclusion

First thing, DT Swiss, you guys need a better English translator. Copy and paste your application into Word with Grammarly and you’ll see all the issues.

As with any of these articles, we can argue ad-nauseum as to the real-world functionality of the product itself, serviceability, appearance, reliability, price, etc. We’re just looking at paper at this point. It’s one thing to design and file protection on an idea, it’s another thing to make said product. That being said, I’ve always been a fan of [almost] anything DT Swiss makes. From a pure concept and goal perspective (which I think we can argue about), developing a single-direction lockout system that can be used in multiple hand positions is a good goal.

Since I am now a certified gravel idiot, this one has a bit more personal interest to me. I’m currently riding a full rigid Commencal 365 and, on several occasions, have had a rough time with it. That’s not a dig at Commencal; more an observation that rigid gravel bikes on gravel surfaces can beat the shit out of you after many miles. Any level of suspension would be welcome.

But, that begs the question I commonly ask when I see things like this; do I really need this? Do I need a lockout for a fingernail-amount of travel? No. But high-level masochist racers likely would benefit from it. Isn’t that all that matters? If it makes racers go faster, it’ll make me go faster, right? So, maybe I do want it…

Lastly, I wanted to share this ride I did in the fall on that bike. Any level of suspension would have been nice on the way back down.

After four years of writing, I get nervous every single time I publish one of these. Please enjoy, I hope you learned something today.