Saw a Chinese made autobike, (shimano made!) Works on centrifical force with 3 weights on the spokes. I doubt if it has any collectors value, but might be fun to get it running. Anyone familiar with the bike?

Is it one of those Land riders from the ever-present infomercials?

No, it's the even crappier Canadian-made auto-shifting monstrosity.

-Kurt

I'd fool around with one if it was free, but I wouldn't spend any money on one.

I wouldn't fool about with one even if it was free - unless I had enough parts on hand to singlespeed it.

-Kurt

I have a CSA Auto Bike "Classic" * that was picked up for free on trash day. It is in near mint condition. Serious riders will not be happy with the auto shifting feature. Not only does it usually shift a little too early, keeping your cadence low, but it will clatter if you ride at a speed between gears. When this happens it's easy enough to stop the noise by either speeding up a little to hold the gear, or slowing down to allow the down shift. I also do not recommend any serious honking on these bikes. When they up shift under heavy power it is quite violent, often throwing your feet off the pedals. Still, I consider it an interesting addition to my collection and will keep it.

Mine is presently kept at my work and I am more than happy to let others ride it. (after they take a brief safety test!) On the days I ride to work I then have two bikes, and can sometimes encourage someone to join me for a ride on lunch.

*There are three weights on the back wheel attached to the pie plate. As the wheel speeds up, they pull the plate out farther to the right, pushing the derailleur towards the smaller cogs. It has six cogs fixed to the hub, with a front sprocket freewheel system. The bike can then shift up or down whether or not the rider is pedaling. Coming to a stop always brings you back to first gear. It's a simple system, not much to go wrong.