How does the Dimension Edge system work?

Ok lets say Im a mountain biker and i want to get my ride up to the trailhead and remove the engine and ride trails engineless. How hard is it to remove the DE?

If that's a literal question it's moot, and why I asked upthread if you were planning on dirt riding, friction drives are not going to perform well with knobbies.

If you were asking the question for general on road use and specifically about the DE system I think you already got your answer.

Another question I continually ponder though and probably not an abundant amount of interest in this question here since much of the point of this board is about the machinations people go through just to complete a one-way transformation of a working MB is:

What drive system least impacts the functionality of a good bicycle in regard to compromises of that functionality and with matters like weight and ease of swapping out or returning to pure pedal mode?
 
Another question I continually ponder though and probably not an abundant amount of interest in this question here since much of the point of this board is about the machinations people go through just to complete a one-way transformation of a working MB is:
What drive system least impacts the functionality of a good bicycle in regard to compromises of that functionality and with matters like weight and ease of swapping out or returning to pure pedal mode?

You know what? THAT is an EXCELLENT question!
I'd have to say that a rack mount (front or rear) friction system- like the DE, Island Hopper, Bike Bug, etc.- is the answer to that one. I like that question and it brings to mind of keeping some things basic, pure and at it's root core. I had somehow passed that by in my motoredbike bliss...
This is now firmly implanted in the files of my mind and will keep me in check with these builds I like to do. In fact, it gives me an idea...
Good on ya' for that!
 
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That's a good point. It only took a couple of hours to remove the Staton friction drive from my old bike AND install it on the new bike.
 
Apologies to TWalker if this veered off topic but thanks as well for the opening to raise the point. I'm being somewhat of an opportunist piggybacking here 'cause frankly I wouldn't think it could carry it's own thread.


You know what? THAT is an EXCELLENT question!
I'd have to say that a rack mount (front or rear) friction system- like the DE, Island Hopper, Bike Bug, etc.- is the answer to that one. I like that question and it brings to mind of keeping some things basic, pure and at it's root core. I had somehow passed that by in my motoredbike bliss...
This is now firmly implanted in the files of my mind and will keep me in check with these builds I like to do. In fact, it gives me an idea...
Good on ya' for that!

Thanks for the eye to recognize it.
I love the pure sweet functionality of a well tuned bicycle and I still want the exercise and to pedal it.... but having a touch of gray....just not all the time. :D
Let's not forget, Mosquito, Firefly, Solex...and others......
http://under50cc.wordpress.com/page-1-history-of-cyclemotors/

That's a good point. It only took a couple of hours to remove the Staton friction drive from my old bike AND install it on the new bike.

Not sure how complicated your bike specific mounts are but with mine on MTBs I'd say swaps are 40 minutes or less, 15 off and 20-25 on.
 
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Ok lets say Im a mountain biker and i want to get my ride up to the trailhead and remove the engine and ride trails engineless. How hard is it to remove the DE?

Ah yes Grasshopper, I missed the Knobby tire point, :rolleyes: while friction drive will technically work with knobbys, they don't stay very knobby after 100 or so miles. So if your using knobbys best use something different or go thru a lot of tires.
 
You know what? THAT is an EXCELLENT question!
I'd have to say that a rack mount (front or rear) friction system- like the DE, Island Hopper, Bike Bug, etc.- is the answer to that one. I like that question and it brings to mind of keeping some things basic, pure and at it's root core. I had somehow passed that by in my motoredbike bliss...
This is now firmly implanted in the files of my mind and will keep me in check with these builds I like to do. In fact, it gives me an idea...
Good on ya' for that!

This is why I love the friction drives. They don't alter the bike any more than a simple bike rack does.

I disagree about friction drives being obsolete. They may have been one of the first ways to power a bicycle but you just can't get past the beauty of their minimalism. In fact, if the majority ever saw the multitude of benefits the MB offers what kind of kit do you think average Joe and Jane would be able to install and maintain easily?

As far as jackrabbit starts goes... I didn't mean engine only starting, just hard starting and jamming on the throttle rather than rolling on it.
 
This is why I love the friction drives. They don't alter the bike any more than a simple bike rack does.

I disagree about friction drives being obsolete. They may have been one of the first ways to power a bicycle but you just can't get past the beauty of their minimalism. .

Well stated. With the exception of knobby tires there really is nothing a friction drive cannot do, also I have taken them off road with other tires anyway. My love of the friction drives comes down to their simplicity, light weight, and being nearly foolproof while requiring only a tire upgrade if you have cheap tire.

Simple stuff.
 
Well fellas (and dolls) Due to this question I pulled my old Island Hopper kit off the shelf, an old huffy ladies 24" atb frame, and a rear coaster wheel in order to build a rider for my roomate who is an older lady that thought she might try this whole strangeness that I am into. sometime in the next few weeks I will dust off the engine, tear it down to clean it up and check the components; I will then build a very basic bicycle with rear rack mount friction drive set-up. Thank you for the inspiration to go back to the basics and my roots of all this...
Sorry for going so far off the original topic with this.
 
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If anyone has deatialed pictures of a DE set up or links to same I sure would like to see em.

The main thing thats holding me back from considering the kit is a lack of understanding how it works and what it looks like.

One really irritating thing is when Staton, GEBE, DE and others show all pics from a side view especially the right side and on friction drives.

This is very misleading as to how far some systems stick out on the right side.

Also a Staton gear or Nuvinci set up take more power to run than a straight GEBE. Wonder how much a friction roller eats up power VS. a GEBE?
 
Here is a link, the engine on the left looks to me to be with a cent clutch so it hangs out a little more.

http://www.bikemotor.com/hybrid.html


The trick as I understand it to eliminate extra power loss is proper adjustment, since the DE is self adjusting its pretty efficient.

I will try to get some photos done tonite of my set up.
 
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