Friiik, or a derailleur bike with a chain guard
 

The Dutch bicycle factory Gazelle has had it engineers look at the derailleur. And they decided the split the chain tensioner and the gear changer for once. And suddenly it has become possible to have an all weather bike with a derailleur and a full chain guard.

Apart from that, the rear wheel it is only mounted on the bike at the drive side.

Mind you, the bike itself is a bog standard Dutch city bike, so it is far too heavy, and has the wrong brakes. Apart from that, it is 100 euro more expensive than the same bike with an IGH.

But what do you think? Could we have witnessed here what the future will bring for commuters? Are nine or ten gears enough?

Ratio spread and spacing matter, the how many speeds is a poor data substitute..

One thing that still wont do , that an IGH will, is downshift at a full stop..

low = pretty flat, but I understand pedal-elects sell well
because of the Headwinds off the North Sea.
odd single sided wheel would mean Puncture repairs have the wheel stay on the bike ,
That is if the Mudguard stays are also single sided.

http://www.gazellebikes.com/Collecti.../Friiik?3d=men

It would seem as though this product is pretty well thought out. When viewed from the NDS and close up from the rear the whole tire will come off w/o having to remove any part of the hub/spoke/rim assembly. The fender struts look to be removable.

The lack of 2 seatstays makes me nervous. But, the way the support struts/rack assembly are all strengthened at various points makes up for that. Adds weight, no doubt, but it is an urban commuter which makes that a secondary consideration.

I like it. And if I still lived in Chicago...:p

That being said this is still my dream urban commuter: www.quitmann-ms.de/eng/big_apple.html And I'd have the 'Speed' as a tourer. Both equipped w/a Rohloff. :thumb: