Chainless bikes

baudman

Driveshaft, or perhaps belt driven.

Anyone had any experience?

richardjallen

I think there are chainless bikes with a shaft from the crank to the rear wheel.

magicroundabout

I know it's not a "bike" but: Unicycle? (Recently mentioned on another thread somewhere).

Penny Farthing?

May we ask why?

MR

TomF

The belt driven Orange P7. See, inter alia, here: http://www.singletrackworld.com/article.php?sid=2426

baudman

That P7 looks good. And gears are only a hub away. There's quite a few things out there.
And theres a few folders that use the kevlar-belt sorta deal. And I hadn't thought about the tech that's in the belts is used in engine timing belts - sorta indicates they aren't gonna stretch much hey?

Here's some suggested to me...

http://www.biomega.dk/biomega.aspx
I'm liking the Copenhagen, in black, or perhaps aluminium silver. No Australian distributor, though.

http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/defa ... tem=272389
This is concept only, but I'm REALLY impressed with it - although no photographic evidence that the working model actually folds.

http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/2007/ ... rivetrain/
This could be used on a LOT of bikes, if they licence the patent (I'm assuming they've patented it). Impressive that you don't need to remove the chain to remove the wheel - I can see this potentially going gang-busters if they allow one of the majors to pick it up.

The reason why I'm putting it out there is I was talking with friends over the Christmas break. Petrol prices are climbing, but they all mentioned that their perception of the 'filthy chain' was enough to put them off. There's enclosed chains, sure... but I was interested in something a little more elegant.

Teuchter

I long ago discovered the virtues of shaft drive over chain drive for motorbikes - I'd be reluctant to go back to a chain driven motorbike now, even though I don't ride anywhere near so many miles on the motorbike as I used to (thanks to cycling!).

Shaft drive is apparently heavier and less efficient than chain drive and if when I'm cycling, I don't want to have to work harder than I really have to! My motorbike gets away with it however by being a big, torquey 900cc.

It is a nice idea though from a low maintenance point of view, especially for commuting this time of year when the constant road salt, rain and muck play havoc with chains.

Teuchter

Looking at some of the sites posted by Mountain Goat got me interested. I also like the look of that Biomega Copenhagen! Another manufacturer of shaft drive bikes I've just come across is:
http://www.dynamicbicycles.com

Seem cheaper than the biomega ones going on the US prices. Not sure what's available in the UK though!

Now I'm beginning to want a shaft drive pushbike for commuting!

Shadowduck

baudman wrote:

The reason why I'm putting it out there is I was talking with friends over the Christmas break. Petrol prices are climbing, but they all mentioned that their perception of the 'filthy chain' was enough to put them off.

I've always thought such things translated to "I don't want to ride a bike and this is the first excuse that comes to mind". Maybe I'm just cynical.