Finished with FD riding

[bilboby]

Having spent the best part of the 2011 european Summer using a FD bike i've decided to do away with such mode of transport and now awaiting delivery of a Chain/ Gear drive kit ofwhich hopefully will give more MB ridiing fun & less future hassle.

Are their any members who are also using Chain/ Gear drive bikes and what are your thought's ie: riding experiences, reliability and any standard checkup's weekly/ monthly that such a setup may require.

Cheers

 

[cloud_2901]

Wipe chain with a towel dipped in kerosene once a week / fortnight if you're not close to the sea, then re-oil, lasts ages.

Get a proper sprocket mount, Manic Mechanic / similar, these clamp to the wheel hub rather than the spokes, rear wheel will last a lot longer.

Only annoyance is as the chain stretches over time, you will probably need to buy a half-link to make it fit without slack issues.

Have had the chain jump off on me once before I got the half-link as I tried to engage the motor at about 36-37km/h, wasnt fast enough to smash through the case thank god, but had a long walk home holding the rear wheel up.

 

[suitcasejefferson]

Having spent the best part of the 2011 european Summer using a FD bike i've decided to do away with such mode of transport and now awaiting delivery of a Chain/ Gear drive kit ofwhich hopefully will give more MB ridiing fun & less future hassle.

Are their any members who are also using Chain/ Gear drive bikes and what are your thought's ie: riding experiences, reliability and any standard checkup's weekly/ monthly that such a setup may require.

Cheers

I see you are from France. You are no doubt familiar with the VeloSolex. It is a front wheel friction drive bike that dates back to the late '40s. I used to have one, and put several thousand miles on it. Never had a problem except for the rear wheel. The Solex is designed for a max carrying capacity of around 165 pounds, I weigh 220, plus I usually carried a couple extra gallons of premix, stuff to fix flat tires with, and a few other things, putting my total weight near 250 pounds. The Solex rear wheel just couldn't handle that much, and I destroyed 2 wheels before giving it up. There was no way of making a stronger wheel for it, because it used an odd size, it was called a 19", but was very close to an American 24". Unfortunately, the 24" was just slightly too big to fit. But the friction drive system worked flawlessly, except when it was wet. Tires lasted a long time, but were expensive. I believe they were specifically designed for the friction drive, and were made out of a tougher rubber compound with an extra thick tread.