Originally Posted by ieatrats
I had the impression that the rear entry fork ends were in case the wheel slipped you wouldn't lose it and crash. Makes sense on a track bike where you're putting enormous energy into a sprint say, or a bmx with tricks and jumps and stuff. Maybe I just made that up.
And they look cool, almost as cool as a horizontal dropout conversion bike.
Sounds cool and all, but when you actaully look at the forces applied, derailleur bikes apply way way way more torque and force to the rear axle/etc than ANY single geared bike, regardless of rider's strength or ability.
And if the wheel slips on either a bike with horizontal dropouts or a bike with track ends, the wheel end up in the same place: locked against the non-drive side chainstay, sending you into a uncontrollable skid.
Horizontal dropouts are actually way better and more functional than track ends.