Which Friction Set-up?

[happycheapskate]

Roosterscrow, is there some way you can rig a "mudflap" (maybe literally from a car floormat or big rig mudflap) that will wipe the tire, but can't get into the roller? That ought to help. I'm thinking about ideas now to devise something like that.

 

[rawly old]

My staton kit is great....., on dry roads. If you live in the rainy Pacific NW,
as I do, you might wanna rethink going with a friction drive.

 

[suitcasejefferson]

Around where I live, dirt and mud usually means sand and tiny gravel. It's so bad I cannot use an 0-ring chain on a dirt bike because it chews up the 0-rings in nothing flat. I can just imagine what this stuff would do to a drive roller, and any bearings that are not 100% sealed. I have ridden off road on dual sport bikes, and found this stuff inside the turn signals, which are water tight. I have no idea how it got in there, but it did.

Back to bicycles, this stuff is also very hard on mountain bike chains, sprockets, derailleurs. It also finds it's way into wheel bearings and sealed bottom brackets. Hopefully the dirt where you live is different.

I definitely would not go with a belt drive like GEBE, it seems a good way to go on asphalt, but I have personal experience with motorcycle belt drives being chewed to pieces by small pieces of gravel getting between the belt and pulley.

It's probably not a good idea for a first build, but I considered a frame mount 4 stroke engine with a jackshaft kit from Sick Bike Parts. I first wanted a frame mount engine, but did not want to deal with rag joint sprockets and clamp on chain tensioners. The SBP kit is a way to do it, and still keep all your gears if you have a derailleur geared bike.

As for the Staton kit, I agree, it is great, well made, and does everything you could reasonably expect a friction drive to do. And it should last forever. Oh, and it does not rain in Phoenix, AZ, so that is not a problem. However, you can have problems in the summer with sprinklers throwing water out into the bike lanes. My Solex tolerated that fairly well, will have to see how the Staton kit does.

 

[rawly old]

Sounds like the real nitty-gritty. Here it's not just the wet alone. When it rains
the busy streets get coated with a mix of water and fuel residue that's slick as ice;
whereas the back streets grow a coating of gooey algae mixed with loads of pine
needles. I guess it's always gonna be something. In the meantime, my homebilt
whizzer-like project progresses in spite of unforseen engineering challenges. all I
still require is 2- 3/8" x 3/4" washers...... and a bunch of fine tuning.

 

[loquin]

A 'tire saver' or something similar might help, if you rig it to scrape off the slop aft of the roller, rather than in front of it at the brakes.

 

[happycheapskate]

I had one of those a long time ago on a touring bike. Hard to say if it worked or not, but I don't remember getting a flat with it. The little rubber tube will wear out after a while though.

I guess you could make something for your mb, but make sure it doesn't brake and get in the spokes or run through the ringer.

Maybe something made of heavy wire, almost like a 5 gallon bucket handle, that just falls down on the tire, with or without a spring, will scrape enough stuff off to improve traction. Something that turns would probably last a lot longer than something that drags, even if it has flaps or geared teeth.

In a sense, friction drive is a belt drive, but the belt doesn't wrap around the roller in the conventional sense, and relies on air pressure for tension.