Recreational & Family - Chainless Bikes.....Let's Compare Notes

Hi Bike Forum,

I recently purchased 2 chainless, drive shaft bikes and wondered
if anyone out there uses chainless bikes and would like to compare
riding experiences and repairs.



Cheers:)

ShaftMan

I recently looked into those bikes, but am still looking for something.... Some negative comments about their durability and repair parts had me look elsewhere. But was wondering how well they ride and how lightweight they are...

I am looking for a simple to ride and maintain bike for recreational on road riding. Something that will be reliable and lightweight so I can lift it easily onto a bike rack.

lightweight usually means money. I'd go more for a bike that matches your style of riding, is comfortable and that you like. Recumbents are very comfortable although they are somewhat heavier. Reliability typically equates to cost. You don't need top end components, but middle of the pack ones are very nice. Sometimes they differ only in finish and weight with the same performance as the top end components. Shimano 105 and Ultegra are nice, although you will likely not get Ultegra due to cost. I do not know much about the lower Shimano except by name of Tiagra, and Sora (others?). I think I have read that Tiagra is decent but I my impression is that Sora is ok but you'd be better off with Tiagra. Someone else will have to give a more accurate description of the Shimano line. Given your needs, I think it would be very unlikely you would end up with Campy components. All my forays into LBS show few if any Campy bikes. You can get some decent bikes in the 400+ range. If you have a friend or a good shop that can check a bike over for you, the used market provides extremely good values in bikes.

I have not ridden or seen any of the chainless bikes. I know it would not be for me, but performance, parts, support and reliability would be my biggest questions.

I recently looked into those bikes, but am still looking for something.... Some negative comments about their durability and repair parts had me look elsewhere. But was wondering how well they ride and how lightweight they are...

I am looking for a simple to ride and maintain bike for recreational on road riding. Something that will be reliable and lightweight so I can lift it easily onto a bike rack.

Trek FX


The Marin Novato is similar to this.

Bianchi Bergamo - uses an internal 3-spd hub with a 7 speed derailleur; gives you 21 gears and you can shift with one hand. Excellent commuter.


Check out the San Jose from Bianchi. Singlespeed, very simple to maintain.

Giant OCR

Trek's Pilot is similar in geometry but pricier.


There are tons of bikes that fit your criteria. Could you narrow your specs down a bit? Price? How many miles would you ride? Do you think you'd end up riding more? How fast do you want to go? How flexible/in shape are you? Do you like a road bike geometry or do you want something more relaxed? How heavy is too heavy for you to lift? Do you want/need fenders? multiple gears or singlespeed? What bikes have you ridden in the past? Have you seen any bikes that caught your fancy or are you open to suggestions?

The U in the gearshift cable below the 'chainstay' looks like it will collect water-dirt. The housing should be divided at the bottom of the U to let any water drain out.

The U in the gearshift cable below the 'chainstay' looks like it will collect water-dirt. The housing should be divided at the bottom of the U to let any water drain out.




Sounds like you are making up a problem. In 15 years of wrenching on bikes in a humid, rainy coastal area, I've never even seen such a problem.

Aren't you going to give us *your* experiences on these chainless wonders? I know I live in a cave, but I've never seen or heard of them before.

WAIT, I found your post on this:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=237464
I'd be really curious to ride one. If the drivetrain is reliable they would make great, low maintenance, commuters...

For fools like me, who just found out about these things:

Weight: 26 lbs

Drivetrain efficiency: 94% according to the manufacturer...
(versus 95-97% for a well maintained single speed/fixie. 94-96% for derailleur bikes. Chain bike efficiency numbers are from a random google search - I don't guarantee the accuracy of them...)

Gear Range: 35-86 gear inches

Interestingly, this bike has similar gear range as my touring bike if I kept it in the middle chainring.
The 35 inch low gear is adequate for a road bike, though my touring triple gets down to 25 gear inches.
The 86 inch high gear is quite low for a road bike, but adequate for pleasure riding and commuting. My touring bike gets up to 96 gear inches (46x13). Racing bikes will get you 110-124 gear inches at the top end (52x13 to 52x11).

Hi TrackSmart and the Group,

I've been riding my Sprint about 2 months now......including a 30
mile group ride around San Diego Bay. So far so good. No strange
noises coming from the shaft, keeping up with the chain bikes in
the group and no mechanical failures.

The only mod I've done is install Egg Beater clipless pedals for long
rides. I wear cleated bicycle shoes to match.

My biggest complaint is not with the shaft drive, but with the Shimano
hub transmission. I prefer a lower gear ratio for the hills. The cure.....
a $79 low gear/shaft swap. An easy, do it yourself mod, according to
the factory.

Happy trails.

ShaftMan

Everything's a compromise when you're working with an internal hub with a limited gear range. If you lower your bottom gear, you lower your top-end, too. And your top-end is already pretty lacking.

Unless you often ride up monster hills, I'd say wait a while to see if your improved fitness is enough to allow you to make those hills in a 35 inch gear. If that doesn't seem like it's going to happen, then okay, it's better to drop some top-end speed than it is to have to walk your bike up hills.

Ideally they would have used an SRAM 7-speed rather than the Shimano Nexus 7-speed. The SRAM costs about the same but has less powerloss, a true 1:1 gear that rivals derailleur bikes for efficiency (only that gear), and most importantly: It has a wider gear range than the Shimano. It would give you 11 more gear inches to play with. So you'd be able to have a really low 25-inch gear without sacrificing your current high gear of 86 inches.

Gear calculator from Sheldon Brown's website:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/internal.html






Hi TrackSmart and the Group,

I've been riding my Sprint about 2 months now......including a 30
mile group ride around San Diego Bay. So far so good. No strange
noises coming from the shaft, keeping up with the chain bikes in
the group and no mechanical failures.

The only mod I've done is install Egg Beater clipless pedals for long
rides. I wear cleated bicycle shoes to match.

My biggest complaint is not with the shaft drive, but with the Shimano
hub transmission. I prefer a lower gear ratio for the hills. The cure.....
a $79 low gear/shaft swap. An easy, do it yourself mod, according to
the factory.

Happy trails.

ShaftMan

Sounds like you are making up a problem. In 15 years of wrenching on bikes in a humid, rainy coastal area, I've never even seen such a problem.



OMG!!! Im going to make that into a shirt! Thats so funny!! hahaha

I have no experience with the bike in question but when I heard about it I thought it was a great idea. Chains are largely the bain of my biking existence. As far as power loss goes, my shaft drive R1100RSL has done just fine now for more than 10 years without any drive train maintenace. I like the idea of a carbon fiber shaft too.

Hi Wannaride and the Group,

A lot of posts are about the efficiency of the shaft drive.

I can't feel any losses when I compare my drive shaft bike to
my Trek chain bike.

What my drive shaft bike needs is a 2 speed bottom bracket. The factory
had plans for a 3 speed BB, but the product never made it off the drawing
board. They may switch to an 8 speed hub. I hope it happens!

Cheers.

ShaftMan