Originally Posted by
pierce
indeed. derailleur gearing was invented nearly 100 years ago, and fixed gears were relegated to tricyles, unicycles, and velodrome track racing.
and now its made a comeback, mostly among the cafe poseurs.
of course, I live where its hilly. I have absolutely no desire to be stuck in one gear.
Fixed gear bicycles were still widely sold into the early fifties as it was only then that derailleur gears really became accepted and went mainstream... the geared option for most was to have an internally geared hub.
The modern derailleur was invented by Suntour in 1964... their design is what all current derailleurs still use.