General Cycling Discussion - 63 gears

Sachs used to make a 3x7 rear hub coupled with a single chainring for 21 speeds. I was thinking that if you added a double CR it would be a 42 speed and if you added a triple it would be 63.
That seems, to me, to be about enough gears to tow almost anything and go up the steepest grade without having to work so hard.
There would probably be little improvement in top speed, but the lower ratios would be incredible.

I'm thinking that might be my next project. The problem, of course, is finding a frame that won't crumple, buckle or break under the stress of towing heavy objects. Perhaps and old Schwinn would be satisfactory. Any ideas?

Just be sure that you're not riding a 30 speed bike with two sets of gears. There's no point having 63 gears if you're duplicating speeds all over the place. And I think you might end up spending more time shifting than pedalling.

Jonny B, of course you're right, but this will be more of a curiosity piece. It won't be an every day bike. After I see what it will do, I'll probably put it in the store as a conversation item.

Doesn't Sheldon Brown have something like this on his website? I don't remember exactly, but I think he describes how he built one like this.

I seldom, if ever, visit Sheldon Brown's site. It's quite possible he has mentioned it. It's not a new idea and not difficult at all. You just build a wheel with the Sach's 3x7 hub add a triple chainring and you're in business.
A few years ago, I was talking to a guy from White Bros about this. He said he was thinking of building a Quad CR and have 84 gears. I don't know if he ever did.

What would be a real challenge would be to graft a 10spd cassette onto a 14spd internal hub and add a triple. It would be 420 gears of pure uselessness. Maybe! But think of the "bragging" rights.

Would you be able to keep your bike upright pushing only 3 gear-inches?

Sheldon does have one on his web site.

http://sheldonbrown.org/otb.html

Sheldon Brown built one, and there are a few recumbent builders that have offered 63 speed drive trains, one even offers a 105 speed drive train. But why stop there?
use the newer Sachs 3x9 with a tripple for a total of 81 gears, then add a Schump Mountain Drive and you end up with 162, then you could always add a mid drive, like the Trek recumbent used, and you end up with 810 gears..... silly? yep.... Single speeds are looking better and better :)

You could make the bike pay for itself by charging $$ to pull tree stumps. :p

Louis, Thank you! for that idea.

Fixer, with three gear inches, think of the spin exercise you'd get!

bentbaggerlen, 810 gears sounds great for a tandem. I had single speeds when I was a kid. They don't look good to me at all, especially those without brakes.

As bentbaggerlen notes recumbent and trike builders have been using variants
on this setup for some time as have builders of small wheel folder bikes, though
usually with dual front CW. Mid drive survives on the Rotator recumbents
(www.rotatorrecumbent.com), on my Pursuit a 6cog mid cassette (12-32) interfaces with a 12-27 rear 9spd for "54" gears. In practice this means you never have to look for a gear, one is always available, unless you fail to down shift before stopping! It also gives a 7 to 1 ratio from top of 144" to bottom of ~20". Steve

I thought 3-speed bikes broke easily.


Jacob

I thought 3-speed bikes broke easily.


Jacob
Ummm no. A Sturmy Archer three-speed - when properly maintained (and often when not) will outlast any deraillieur system.

Actaully, raiyn, I think he meant their resistance to abuse was fairly low. Sure, anything properly maintained will last forever. However, I think that the internal hub gears are less resistant to bashing around. after all, why don't you see hub gears on MTBs? it seems like they would fail less due to the fact that all the complicated bits are internal and protected from muck. the reason is that they dont survive getting bashed up.

Actaully, raiyn, I think he meant their resistance to abuse was fairly low. Sure, anything properly maintained will last forever. However, I think that the internal hub gears are less resistant to bashing around. after all, why don't you see hub gears on MTBs? it seems like they would fail less due to the fact that all the complicated bits are internal and protected from muck. the reason is that they dont survive getting bashed up.
Then why do they spec Rolhoff hubs on DH bikes? While I realize its not an SA your generalized comment needed a counterpoint. In regards to SA's I've seen many "ghetto bikes" come in equipped with SA 3 speed hubs. These bikes are as abused as you can get (dirty, improperly lubed, and generally beat to hell) and the bikes in question are generally no newer than 20 years old - clean them up, adjust the mechanism, squirt in some Phil Wood Tenacious Oil and more often than not they're good to go

Speedhub 500/14

The Speedhub 500/14 is Rohloff's flagship product. It is a 14 speed planetary geared hub that is suitable for many cycling applications. It's gearing range is the same as that of a 27-speed mountain bike drivetrain, a 526% increase in gear ratio between the lowest and highest gear. Some of the outstanding features of the Speedhub are listed below:

14 unique gears that cover the same range as a 27 speed derailleur drivetrain.

Operates with a single grip type twist shifter.

Simplifies the geared bicycle drivetrain to that of a single speed.

All gearing is sealed inside the hubshell in a lubricant bath.

Virtually maintenance free, no shifting adjustments required.

Shift while pedaling forward, backward or standing still!

Disc brake compatible.

No more torn off derailleurs!

Available in black anodized, red powdercoat, or polished aluminum.



The Rohloff Speedhub 500/14.



The Speedhub DB mounted on a Van Dessel Buzz Bomb.

The Speedhub eliminates the redundant and unused gears of a 27 speed drivetrain, the rider is left with 14 usable gears with a nearly constant change of gear ratio (13%-14%) between each gear. All of the gearing is sealed inside the hubshell in a lubricant bath where it is safe from contamination. This provides a single driveline between chainring and hub cog so you always have a perfect chainline.



The Speedhub is virtually maintenance free. An annual oil change is the only required maintenance for the hub. The shifting will never need adjusting because the shift indexing mechanism resides inside the hub, not at the shifter.



The entire hub is manufactured in Germany where it is held to the tightest tolerances. This makes the Speedhub the most mechanically efficient planetary geared hub available. The mechanical efficiency of the Speedhub rivals that of a clean, well-lubricated derailleur drivetrain. When conditions become severe a traditional drivetrain loses quite a bit of efficiency while the Speedhub with its sealed transmission loses considerably less. Only the single driveline chain that is exposed contributes to the increased efficiency loss.



The Speedhub is retro-fittable to any bicycle, recumbent, trike, tandem, etc. It is suitable for downhill, cross country, trekking, etc. It is also compatible with all popular disc brakes, a special rotor is required. Different variations of the Speedhub exist for different applications, depending on if your frame has, horizontal, vertical, or specially designed dropouts to accommodate the Speedhub torque arm. To help you determine which model of Speedhub required for your application Rohloff provides the Speedhub Advisor.

http://www.rohloffusa.com/images/speed1c.jpg
http://www.rohloffusa.com/images/speedhubvandessel.jpg

See also http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Hub/product_68271.shtml

I like the 420 useless gears.

Thanks for the info on the speedhub. I may buy one for my hybrid. Then I can swap out the triple crankset for a single chainring, put on a chaingaurd,fenders, and platform pedals and have a casual bike that I can ride in street clothes.