Logic of putting drivetrain on right side of bike?
#1
It tastes like burning!
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: SOUTH Jersey
Posts: 1,014
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Logic of putting drivetrain on right side of bike?
Someone's recent report of a bike crash made me wonder... is there a specific reason why bike makers decided to put the drivetrain on the right side of the bike? Because to me it seems more logical to put it on the left. Reason being that, while riding on the road, if you KNOW that you're gonna fall, and somehow you are able to make a choice between falling to the left or to the right, most people would choose right... there's more potential for drivetrain damage that way.
Anyone have any input?
Anyone have any input?
#2
Sumanitu taka owaci
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 8,945
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
I'm not sure why the drivetrain is on the right, but once that became a standard, deviating from it would be difficult, no?
__________________
No worries
No worries
#3
It tastes like burning!
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: SOUTH Jersey
Posts: 1,014
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
yup of course . just like once you get started on the english measurement system, switching to metric would be VERY VERY difficult LOL. I don't know how those canadians did it!
#4
human
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: living in the moment
Posts: 3,562
Bikes: 2005 Litespeed Teramo, 2000 Marinoni Leggero, 2001 Kona Major Jake (with Campy Centaur), 1997 Specialized S-Works M2, 1992 Specialized Rockhopper
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Bike races on the track, like horse races, go counter-clockwide around the track. Early bicycle racing was all track and one of the reasons I've heard for the right-side-drive is that left-side-drives tended to get more fouled from the crud and dirt on the inside of tracks, AND it was found that spectators, who in those days watched exclusively from the outside of the track wanted to see the works of the bicycle.
Mundane, yes. Totally arbitrary? Pretty much...
Mundane, yes. Totally arbitrary? Pretty much...
__________________
when walking, just walk. when sitting, just sit. when riding, just ride. above all, don't wobble.
The Irregular Cycling Club of Montreal
Cycling irregularly since 2002
when walking, just walk. when sitting, just sit. when riding, just ride. above all, don't wobble.
The Irregular Cycling Club of Montreal
Cycling irregularly since 2002
#5
It tastes like burning!
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: SOUTH Jersey
Posts: 1,014
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
whoa... good call.. thanks for the info another piece of useless trivia to add to my collection
#6
Grounded
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Wisconsin, Land of the Cheeseheads
Posts: 901
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
That's interesting!
My only guess would have been that it had something to do with what side you mounted a horse from.
I remember reading an interesting paragraph once, pointing out that the width of railroad tracks was set to be the width of a wagon drawn by two horses: and the size of the space shuttle was determined in order to make it possible to ship it by train. The point being, that, even in the space age, we are still basing our engineering on the average width of a horse's @ss......
My only guess would have been that it had something to do with what side you mounted a horse from.
I remember reading an interesting paragraph once, pointing out that the width of railroad tracks was set to be the width of a wagon drawn by two horses: and the size of the space shuttle was determined in order to make it possible to ship it by train. The point being, that, even in the space age, we are still basing our engineering on the average width of a horse's @ss......
#7
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 337
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally posted by velocipedio
Bike races on the track, like horse races, go counter-clockwide around the track.
Bike races on the track, like horse races, go counter-clockwide around the track.
#8
I am a lonely visitor
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Where even Richard Nixon has got soul
Posts: 2,630
Bikes: Michelle Pfieffer, the Carbon Fiber Wonder Bike: A Kestrel 200 SCI Repainted in glorious mango; Old Paintless, A Litespeed Obed; The Bike With No Name: A Bianchi Eros; RegularBike: A Parkpre Comp Ltd rebuilt as a singlespeed.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
A trained competent mechanic can correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that a right-side drive train tends to tighten itself when pedalled. The only item in the drive train that would not tighten itself is the left pedal which is therefore reverse threaded. A left side drive train would need to have all of its parts reverse threaded (except the right pedal) or else it would tend to loosen itself under the force of pedalling.
__________________
Religion is a good thing for good people and a bad thing for bad people. --H. Richard Niebuhr
Religion is a good thing for good people and a bad thing for bad people. --H. Richard Niebuhr
#9
Skin-Pounder
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Clarkston (Atlanta, GA., USA)
Posts: 502
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally posted by deliriou5
.... Reason being that, while riding on the road, if you KNOW that you're gonna fall, and somehow you are able to make a choice between falling to the left or to the right, most people would choose right... there's more potential for drivetrain damage that way.
Anyone have any input?
.... Reason being that, while riding on the road, if you KNOW that you're gonna fall, and somehow you are able to make a choice between falling to the left or to the right, most people would choose right... there's more potential for drivetrain damage that way.
Anyone have any input?
#10
Sumanitu taka owaci
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 8,945
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Originally posted by RegularGuy
A trained competent mechanic can correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that a right-side drive train tends to tighten itself when pedalled. The only item in the drive train that would not tighten itself is the left pedal which is therefore reverse threaded. A left side drive train would need to have all of its parts reverse threaded (except the right pedal) or else it would tend to loosen itself under the force of pedalling.
A trained competent mechanic can correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that a right-side drive train tends to tighten itself when pedalled. The only item in the drive train that would not tighten itself is the left pedal which is therefore reverse threaded. A left side drive train would need to have all of its parts reverse threaded (except the right pedal) or else it would tend to loosen itself under the force of pedalling.
__________________
No worries
No worries
#11
human
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: living in the moment
Posts: 3,562
Bikes: 2005 Litespeed Teramo, 2000 Marinoni Leggero, 2001 Kona Major Jake (with Campy Centaur), 1997 Specialized S-Works M2, 1992 Specialized Rockhopper
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Originally posted by RegularGuy
A trained competent mechanic can correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that a right-side drive train tends to tighten itself when pedalled.
A trained competent mechanic can correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that a right-side drive train tends to tighten itself when pedalled.
__________________
when walking, just walk. when sitting, just sit. when riding, just ride. above all, don't wobble.
The Irregular Cycling Club of Montreal
Cycling irregularly since 2002
when walking, just walk. when sitting, just sit. when riding, just ride. above all, don't wobble.
The Irregular Cycling Club of Montreal
Cycling irregularly since 2002
#12
Huachuca Rider
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 4,275
Bikes: Fuji CCR1, Specialized Roubaix
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Oh, the money I could have saved this year had I just thought to shop for a bike with the drivetrain on the left
__________________
Just Peddlin' Around
Just Peddlin' Around
#13
Oh God, He's back!
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 1,021
Bikes: Paramount
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
So it all boils down the thread direction on a screw... [/B]
???
Wouldn't you know???
__________________
I can't ride and Frown!
I can't ride and Frown!