Going chainless?
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442 days
jnrice posted 51 weeks ago.
hmmm... I worry about being able to machine all of the complex pieces well enough to not increase resistance compared to a chain drive. It looks complicated. Mostly, I don't see the advantage of shaft drive over chain drive.
2807
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1686 days
Triguy98 posted 51 weeks ago.
Weight would be a major concern for racing. I am sure that if shafts or belts were a proven concept that would compete, they would already be in the race field. I seen shaft driven bikes being marketed every now and then, but its always a comfort cruiser or casual MTB, nothing hardcore.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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523 days
jonovision_man posted 51 weeks ago.
Gears would be a problem:
7 or 8 speeds = not enough.
I like this part:
"internal hubs just eliminate all the redundant, unused gears inherent in chain bikes"
I don't know about you guys, but I don't have very many unused gears... :)
jono
342
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528 days
groovyjen posted 51 weeks ago.
jonovision_man wrote:
Gears would be a problem:7 or 8 speeds = not enough.
I like this part:
"internal hubs just eliminate all the redundant, unused gears inherent in chain bikes"I don't know about you guys, but I don't have very many unused gears... :)
jono
Oh good. So I'm not the only one huffing up a hill in granny gear thinking, "Shit! I'm out of gears!"
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
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469 days
peterwong posted 51 weeks ago.
Socket wrote:
If the gearing was right and the components could handle the kind of wattage bikers and triathletes put out, could it be beneficial?
Theoretically, if the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs, then sure, it could work brilliantly. But in the practical world this isn't so.
1705
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550 days
jtrimom posted 51 weeks ago.
"the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs..."
maybe it's because I don't quite understand it, but does that sound dirty to anyone else?
Taper Naked
2766
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1445 days
tri-ac posted 51 weeks ago.
jtrimom wrote:
"the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs..."
maybe it's because I don't quite understand it, but does that sound dirty to anyone else?
not if you clean you drive shaft after every ride ;)
5783
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2081 days
beads1985 posted 51 weeks ago.
jtrimom wrote:
"the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs..."
maybe it's because I don't quite understand it, but does that sound dirty to anyone else?
I find most everything to be dirty, but I am a 12 year old trapped in a 40+ body ;-)
I am glad you wrote something first because i was sitting at my desk at work chuckling, while restraining myself!
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
2766
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1445 days
tri-ac posted 51 weeks ago.
tri-ac wrote:
jtrimom wrote:"the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs..."
maybe it's because I don't quite understand it, but does that sound dirty to anyone else?not if you clean you drive shaft after every ride ;)
especially after a hard ride...when only a hand job will do
[did i just say that? jtrimom, you're a bad influence!]
1117
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1087 days
Ironmom posted 51 weeks ago.
I would think that you could only do this with an internal hub gearing system, which would currently limit you to just a few gears. I don't see it as being all that useful for racing, but if I didn't live on a big hill in a hilly town, it would be nice for a commuter bike. No derailleur to get muddy, gravelly and messy, no chain grease on the pants legs...
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
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1686 days
Triguy98 posted 51 weeks ago.
Ironmom wrote:
No derailleur to get muddy, gravelly and messy, no chain grease on the pants legs...
The U joints on the shaft would have to be greased, and would be dirt magnets, but otherwise the system would be fairly clean.
The shaft could handle and power you put into it, depending on design. They make shaft driven motorcycles, but those are cruiser style bikes only. You wont ever see a sport motorcycle with a shaft simply because of the weight. Harley/ Buell's Sport bikes have belts, but also have a host or reliability problems. Ill stick with a chain. It works.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
1705
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550 days
jtrimom posted 51 weeks ago.
beads1985 wrote:
jtrimom wrote:"the shaft could handle the kind of torque output generated from ones legs..."
maybe it's because I don't quite understand it, but does that sound dirty to anyone else?I find most everything to be dirty, but I am a 12 year old trapped in a 40+ body ;-)
I am glad you wrote something first because i was sitting at my desk at work chuckling, while restraining myself!
oh, good, as long as it's not JUST me.
and tri-ac, I can only influence those who are on the same wavelength ;)
Taper Naked
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Socket posted 51 weeks ago.
jtrimom wrote:
oh, good, as long as it's not JUST me.
and tri-ac, I can only influence those who are on the same wavelength ;)
Awe jeez... hope I didn't start another taint thread.
Looking at their gear-ratio comparison, yeah: size does matter. ;-P
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550 days
jtrimom posted 51 weeks ago.
Socket wrote:
jtrimom wrote:oh, good, as long as it's not JUST me.
and tri-ac, I can only influence those who are on the same wavelength ;)
Awe jeez... hope I didn't start another taint thread.
Looking at their gear-ratio comparison, yeah: size does matter. ;-P
ahhh, the good old taint thread; haven't revisited THAT one in a while
Taper Naked
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388 days
The Dude posted 51 weeks ago.
Regarding redundant gears, some of you might want to do the math on your gear ratios. Usually, there are some that are very redundant. There's a good case to be made that the increase over the last few decades from 10 to 20 speeds has been more of a marketing ploy than a real benefit to cyclists. This is especially true for cassettes that are not geared for climbing - just not that much need for all those tight gear ratios...
-Tod
709
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523 days
jonovision_man posted 50 weeks ago.
There are some redundant gears, sure, but still far more useful combinations than 7-8.
Try:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
I put in a 53/39 with a 12-25 10-speed cassette...
Gives the following:
8.7 6.4
8.0 5.9
7.4 5.5
6.9 5.1
6.5 4.8
6.1 4.5
5.5 4.0
5.0 3.6
4.5 3.3
4.2 3.1
So if you're in the big chainring, once you get to the 5th gear up on the rear (6.5 in the chart above) you're where you'd be in the small chainring and the lowest gear (6.4). So of the 20 possible combinations, roughly 6 are duplicated (ie. you can get more or less the same ratio in the big or small chainring).
That still leaves 14 useful ratios, even before we talk about cross-chaining and such.
jono
2807
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1686 days
Triguy98 posted 50 weeks ago.
Those redundant gears might be just that, but their placement in the shift pattern makes the difference. If one gear ration occurs in the big ring/ big cog, and also in the small ring/ small cog, is it really useless if you are prepping for a long climb? Nope. I'll take redundant gears over lack of options. I use all my gears, redundant or not.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
My friend told me sometime last year that his dad got a bike that was kinda different and it'd probably interest me. It's shaft driven. And works. This kinda threw me off and it got lost in my brain's file system for a while and randomly popped in there today.
Yeah, shaft driven bicycles.
I'm loving the idea, but I wonder about how this could work out for racing. Clearly this company's target market is casual riders who don't like grease on their pant legs, but it got me thinking. If the gearing was right and the components could handle the kind of wattage bikers and triathletes put out, could it be beneficial?