Originally Posted by squirtdad
Is it possible that the speed selector is a kind of auto-shift device? It kind of sounds like the mechanism that is described for "Auto-bikes"....the disk flexes with speed and nudges the derailleur to shift**********
The disc doesn't flex outward like an Autobike's though. I pulled the rear wheel tonight in the course of detailing the bike, and where you'd expect to put the puller to yank the freewheel there's a stainless dust cap with 'Automatic Five' and '333' stamped on it. In the driveside end of the axle is a screw marked 'oil', where I suppose you lubricate the freewheel. Here's the really odd part. Like any other freewheel, it spins freely in one direction. But when you turn the freewheel in the opposite direction, instead of engaging and trying to turn the wheel, it spins the axle in the opposite direction.
If it is some sort of autoshift, it clearly isn't doing anything; it rides and shifts like any other bike. Weird; can't find anything about it on the web, either...