This is an informal review of the Dynamic shaft drive bicycle.

After surviving a heart attack last year I treated myself to a new bicycle. Since I already had a mountain bike, a old steel road bike, a 3-speed Raleigh Tourist, and a number of junkers, I wanted something unusual and-more important-something I could ride around town and use for commuting to work. I bought the Tempo model without a suspension fork, and it has more than met my expectations. The company sells several styles: mountain, road, folding, all with shaft drive, most with suspension forks. All are sold on line.

The Dynamic Tempo is a fairly conventional Taiwanese aluminum bike with good components. The shaft drive is the only thing that makes this bike unusual. When riding I hardly notice that there is no chain, except that the bike is CLEAN. This is the main advantage. I can ride in office clothes without getting sprocket tooth marks on my pants and without the annoyance of pants clips or –even worse – having to change clothes to ride. The drivetrain takes no grease or lube of any kind, except for an application from a grease gun once a year, depending on use. (There is a Zerk fitting underneath the bottom bracket.) This feature alone would make the bike a good commuter.

Another feature adds to the attraction: the 8-speed Shimano hub. I have used 3-speed SA hubs for years. They are fine, but the Shimano is way ahead in terms of smoothness, ease of use, and range. The gear range on the Dynamic is about 30 to 90, not far from the old 10-speeds. This range is perfect for riding around town and for day rides. Adjustment of the hub is easy, and as for service, my local lbs told me to “ride it till it dies”; don’t sweat the service. Because of the shaft drive the range of gears cannot be changed – no sprockets. Also good for in-town riding are the 700-35C tires and the available fender kit.

The brakes and other components are more than adequate. I had assumed I would change the seat for a Brooks B67, which I have used for years, but so far I have not made the change. The seat is not quite as comfortable as a Brooks for long rides (no other seat is), but it is certainly good enough for now. I had to change the stem to get the bars higher and closer to the seat. This kind of adjustment is normal, but it does reveal one problem in buying on line. An lbs would normally change a stem with no charge as part of their setting up, but any changes to a mail-order bike are at the customer’s expense. The pedals were too small, so I replaced them with some mountain bike platforms which I already had.

Along with the bike, I also bought the fender and rack kit. The fenders were the usual pain to install. The front wheel and forks are set up for disk brakes, an option on this bike, and the disk brake tabs on the fork interfere with the fender support wires. The solution? Bend the wires. Eventually I got everything straightened out.

I have ridden the bike several hundred miles in and around Sacramento including some dirt roads. My longest trip has been about 30 miles along the Sacramento Northern rail trail north to Rio Linda. I have had no problems at all. The hub shifts perfectly, the bike is very quiet, the 35mm tires have taken everything in stride. When installing the fenders, I did loosen the rear wheel and pull it out of the dropouts. This is no harder to do than on a derailleur bike. I have not as yet had to completely remove the rear wheel to fix a flat. I suppose I really should do a practice run. Unhooking the hub control cable seems to present the main difficulty.

The total cost with the additional kits and shipping was about $900. I’d recommend this bike to anyone as a commuter and fitness bike. I hope to get years of service from it.
M Riley