blilrat

That is one cool ride! There would be something unnerving about riding with half the frame 'missing' and only drum brakes to stop me.

Peugeotlover

What keeps the rear wheel straight when you pedal?

rotharpunc

wtf? that is too cool!

frantik

wow seen one armed forks but neer one rear stay.. that RD setup is crazy

Raging_Bulls

An oversized chainstay with a large bearing press-fitted in the end of that. The freewheel and the hub securely clamp the inner part of the bearing.
The locknut is smooth and conical on the side that touches the hub, and is the only part (together with the side of the main bearing) that actually transfers the power from the axle/freewheel assembly to the hub.
If you don't tighten it securely enough, you have no drive. Pretty good failsafe system really.


As for how much abuse it can handle : I've done a few wheelies with it already, and it has no problem whatsoever with my 180-ish lbs.
According to the original advertisement, Laïti tested the concept by letting one descend 10.000 steps in 8 hours. Nothing broke or got out of alignment.
The bike itself is still perfectly straight after all these years, so I'm pretty confident about the strength of the design.

-----

@Chris_in_Miami : Funnily enough, I've already heard a few people say the exact same thing about various aspects of the rear design. I'm going to nickname it "the brainbreaker"

@blilrat : The drum brakes should be powerful enough to do endos ... if I get them working properly.
Right now 10-0 MPH takes about 5 seconds, and I really can't squeeze the levers any harder. The pads are worn, which is my major concern because these don't appear to be off-the-shelf items.
As for missing half the frame and forks, I really don't notice that when riding. It's as stiff and responsive as any other MTB.

Peugeotlover

[QUOTE=Raging_Bulls;14636911]An oversized chainstay with a large bearing press-fitted in the end of that. The freewheel and the hub securely clamp the inner part of the bearing.
The locknut is smooth and conical on the side that touches the hub, and is the only part (together with the side of the main bearing) that actually transfers the power from the axle/freewheel assembly to the hub.
If you don't tighten it securely enough, you have no drive. Pretty good failsafe system really.


As for how much abuse it can handle : I've done a few wheelies with it already, and it has no problem whatsoever with my 180-ish lbs.
According to the original advertisement, Laïti tested the concept by letting one descend 10.000 steps in 8 hours. Nothing broke or got out of alignment.
The bike itself is still perfectly straight after all these years, so I'm pretty confident about the strength of the design.




Thank you for the explanation, Raging_Bulls. It makes more sense now- at least I believe it is not an illusion! It is a pretty neat bike, thanks for the good photos of it.

So, the obvious question the bike raises is "Why?"
It probably doesn't save so much on weight, though maybe some.
Probably, the designer wanted to prove that it could be done.

Good luck with getting the brake pads, there will be a solution to that, too.

dmpstrdvr1962

it wasn't that old, but I could just about kick myself for not buying the steel frame Jamis Dakota at the flea mkt today, especially after retrieving my phone and finding out that the WTB Cantilever brakes it was sporting were selling for over $100 dollars and still had 2 days left on the bay. I can console myself in the following ways, It was too big for me, I already have way too many bikes I am trying to flip, she wanted $150.00 and it would have been awhile before I found the right buyer, or sold it in peices. cest la vie

Pompiere

[QUOTE=Peugeotlover;14639908]One advantage would be flat tire repair. You only have to take one bead off to replace the tube. You could repair a flat with no tools except a pump.

Raging Bulls,
For the brake pads, look for a shop that repairs industrial clutches and brakes. Many machines are hard to get direct replacement parts for, so there are shops that rebuild the original brake linings with new pad material. I did this some years ago when I worked at a ski area to repair the clutch on a rope tow. They only need to know the approximate thickness of the original pad material. Good luck.

Raging_Bulls

The answer to that question would be "Why not?". History has been full of attempts to think outside the box. Some got us from cavemen to our current state, some were dead ends.

As for weight, it's hard to tell. I've put it on my scales, and it's 14.9kg (33lbs).
Then again it has a heavy groupset (Suntour 3040 XCM) and I suspect that it's a Hi-Ten frame, none of that butted Cro-Moly stuff. The only comparison I have is my old Hi-Ten Trek 800, which weighed slightly more.



Flat tire repair is one of the advantages indeed.
Also, yesterday I noticed that the wheels themselves are interchangeable. If I break one or more spokes at the rear, I can just swap them around so that the weaker rear wheel becomes the front wheel (which needs to carry less weight). That means I can ride it home without having to worry about it collapsing. All I need for that is a 15mm Allen key.

The only downside I found is that you really need to set the gears up properly. If the chain goes off the cassette in the lowest gear, it'll mess up the rear brake. If it goes off in high gear, there's no axle that will hold the chain. It just drops all the way down to the RD's cage.

Thanks for the suggestion about the repair shops. I'll look into them.

PHT

that thing is like the mobius strip of bicycles

ZeRinger

Just a few pics of my 1989 Panasonic PICS Team MC 800 now that it is finally assembled.

frantik

^ sweeeeeeet

Bikedued

That Panasonic is CLEAN!! How often do you see that era of Deore cranks that still have a factory sheen on them?? It looks like it was bought new last week!?,,,,BD

Force 

Loving that Panasonic - well done!

Chris_in_Miami

Very good! It's the mountain bike M.C. Escher would ride.

Sebastion

MY first mountain bike bought in 84-85 I think. Excuse the mess its been through a very rough life.
But its time to retire it. switching to a full suspension bike to help out with back problems.

dirty tiger

Don't retire her, throw some slicks on her and make her your townie.

Sebastion

Actually my new mountain will be used mostly on road. I put big apples on it. My reason for the retire is to remove some of the shock from bumps that causes my pain in my back. Seems to be helping so far. I just turned 57 on friday so I had to go for a ride. lol

Bikedued

I have a weakness for chrome mtb's, and the only two I ever owned were too small for me. Do you have any interest in passing it on to a good home? Aside from a basic recable, cleaning, and lube, it will stay just as it is. Maybe a Brooks saddle to set it off, but that's it.,,,,BD

techteg

My 89 Trek 970. Powdercoated with rainbow sparkle metal flake and set up for rainy winter commuting in Portland. Happily friction shifting 7 speed on the original DX drivetrain, with DT->Barend conversion replacing the thumbshifters.

Vonruden

Early 90"s Specialized Stumpjumper

marley mission

i like that stumpy von

Vonruden

Thanks Marley. Why are you selling the Hoo Koo? I may be interested, let me know if you hit up Allaire anytime soon.

IthaDan 

Had the Cinelli out today.

marley mission

allaire isnt far for me - anytime you want to check it out let me know - the hoo koo is a nice bike but i like to ride and sell - i get bored of a bike and want something new from time to time - plus now i have just picked a fisher joshua