Riding That Friction Thing in the rain !!!

Yep, they will slip,, but the grit coated roller helps a lot. You must be EASY on the throttle, pedal a lot more, & take your time. NO way you will hit top speed,, unless downhill.
 
my orders have came in --- YES SIR WILL DO !!!!

Mountainman...
Put fenders on that bike, put goggles on, put you raincoat on, and
RIDE THAT THING

I hear you loud and clear Sergeant s_beaudry

I didn't intend to wuss out in the rain while riding sir

it had been many years since my butt has been totally soaked while riding
I didn't enjoy that very cold wet feeling up between the little mountain valleys
and when my tennis shoes filled up with water
I do enjoy that while camping -- why is it so different on my motor bike
I thought that I was in a hurricane or something similar to it

please give me one more chance Sergeant
this time while heading out to the raining wet freezing cold front MB lines
I will have the proper wet attire uniform on to include at least the following

fenders, goggles, raincoat and PLASTIC WATER PROOF REAR END PROTECTOR

back to the wet front lines Mountainman - and - RIDE THAT THING
 
Yep, they will slip,, but the grit coated roller helps a lot. You must be EASY on the throttle, pedal a lot more, & take your time. NO way you will hit top speed,, unless downhill.

Yes the grit roller does help in the wet stuff but it is a pain to stop while you are riding and change rollers whenever it starts to rain a little. It is nice to now just keep rolling not worying about the rain. I did enjoy my friction DE setup for about a year though just got tired of some of the downfalls of that setup.
 
It rains every so often in Hawaii, and that is good because we need it. These past two days have been soakers and I was glad I didn't get caught riding in it.

With my 20" friction bike, the tire would slip, but not as madly as my 26" friction cruiser. I had to feather the throttle and use much more pedal. Gas mileage suffered also.

On my dual-engined "Mr. Hyde"(friction drive), tire slippage was 10 times less than my 26" single engine cruiser, because of "all-wheel drive" and less stress on the rear tire.

Now that I've converted "Mr. Hyde's" rear engine to chain drive, tire slippage should be non-existent while using only the rear drive on wet roads.
 
For me, riding in the rain with FD has not been a problem simply because who wants to ride in the rain anyway, with any kind of MB?

I know one can get caught out in the rain, or have the weather change from dry to wet in the course of a day IE: sunny in the AM on the way in to work and rain later in the day, or caught out and try to shoot home between showers.

As mentioned, easy on the throttle and pedal....but hey it's a bike.

Honestly, and maybe I'm just lucky, the scenarios above account for maybe less than 5% of my riding incidence. Given that low percentage, and what I account as the solid advantages: low cost, low weight, low impact on the frame, ease of install, maintenance, and the ability to swap from bike to bike in 20 minutes, friction drive, for right now anyway, makes the most sense to me.
 
Last edited:
No slipage on the GEBE yet!!!
Just keeps on crusing. I do have to slow down in the rain becuse the streets get so slick around here, and I have *rappy tires on my bike.
 
For me, riding in the rain with FD has not been a problem simply because who wants to ride in the rain anyway, with any kind of MB?

I know one can get caught out in the rain, or have the weather change from dry to wet in the course of a day IE: sunny in the AM on the way in to work and rain later in the day, or caught out and try to shoot home between showers.

As mentioned, easy on the throttle and pedal....but hey it's a bike.

Honestly, and maybe I'm just lucky, the scenarios above account for maybe less than 5% of my riding incidence. Given that low percentage, and what I account as the solid advantages: low cost, low weight, low impact on the frame, ease of install, maintenance, and the ability to swap from bike to bike in 20 minutes, friction drive, for right now anyway, makes the most sense to me.

This post I can totally agree with. It IS just a bike. To me FD keeps a bike the most true to its roots as still being mostly a bicycle. So what if you have to slow down and pedal assist? You still have more assist than with a regular bike and being forced to travel 1/3 slower than your top speed in the rain may actually save your arse in those conditions. Between my electric, nuvinci and friction I would have to say the friction is my favorite for its simplicity, smooth and quiet operation, extremely low weight, almost no maintenance and its very easy on the bike. You just can't go wrong with it unless you want a bike that is a pure off road mud slinger. I can accept the one slippage fault. ****, I don't INTENTIONALLY ride in the rain anyway. It's a darn mess if anything.
 
lesson learned -- again -- dang dong ding

I don't INTENTIONALLY ride in the rain anyway. It's a darn mess if anything.

and that is where I went wrong
when I headed out that morning -- it was slightly raining already
thinking that I needed to conquer this rain THING sooner or later

man oh man -- what a dumb thought that was
it's like said up above somewhere
if we happen out on a ride and it starts raining
then we deal with it
but - to just head out into the rain on a MB
and just for starters in my case
riding downhill on a very dangerous road with no good bike lane
NOT THE SMART thing DONE...

lesson learned -- again -- dang dong ding -- this is getting mountain old

ride that thing
 
I have a Staton F/D also. Just park it when it rains. Get caught in the rain, peddle generously, apply very little throttle, maybe tighten the drive wheel against the tire a bit more.

I have my Staton on an old tandem right now, so it's not getting a lot of use. I miss having it on my Trek. Wore out a tire this summer. Pretty reliable rig. So reliable, it's almost boring. I like to fiddle with my Happy Time. Gives me something to do when it's raining.
 
Back
Top