Bike Forums - Sheldon's Latest Madness...

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big ups, sheldon
:beer:

That's one funny machine... I don't really see why one would put the shifter and brake lever on the same side, but hey, the crank is on the wrong side, too!

the lacing on the front wheel is an especially nice touch. good on you, mr. brown!

that is pure madness...and completely utilitarian

Sweet God, chain that beast. If Frankenstein's monster rode a fix that'd be it. Sweet build man.

Brown saddle on a black bike? The icing on the cake of madness.

Top notch for sure. I love it.

why the long exposed cable and pulley system for the gears? isn't that vuilnerable to breakage/crud?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LóFarkas

That's one funny machine... I don't really see why one would put the shifter and brake lever on the same side, but hey, the crank is on the wrong side, too!

All of my bikes have the front brake lever on the right. I explain why at:

http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn

If I put the shifter on the left it would look weird...can't have that! ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarHorizon

And I thought I was weird!!! You covered it all! Left hand drive, ridiculously big chain ring, light weight frame with a ton of hanging accessories, goofy handlebars, and to top it all off - (the pièce de résistance) FENDERS! sacré bleu!

Don't all serious cyclists who don't live in the desert have fenders? ;-) Fenders and lights are the accessories that let you tell the serious cyclists from the fair-weather diletanttes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenLightNeddy

1) Are your pedals now opposite-threaded? ie LH thread on right, RH thread on left.

2) What happens if you're barrelling along in high gear and you accidentally knock the shift lever into
a lower gear? Does it only shift under light load? Or destroy the hub? Or the rider?

1) Yes. It is a tandem crank.

2) Sturmey-Archer hubs tend to upshift easier than they downshift, this has never happened to me, though the opposite has. The jumps aren't so big anyway--the "C" in "ASC" stands for "Close ratio."

Sheldon "Why Not?" Brown

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Quote:

Originally Posted by steaktaco

sheldon I thank you as well for introducing me to fixed riding.

nice... I think. I guess it will depend on my mood.

Left hand drive sort of reminds me of an idea I once had — is there any benefit to having a dual drive bike? I mean, I could set up the chainline ok on both sides using identical drive-side cranks, etc., jb weld the cog on the left side (or something) but is there any benefit to this except satisfying curiosity?

You mean like this?:

http://sheldonbrown.org/doublechain-fixed.jpg

The guy who did this did it mainly as a hack.

At the Paris bike show in 1988, I talked with a guy who had a booth full of dual chain bikes like this. Most of them were single speeds, but he had built a 10 speed where the left and right derailers were synchronized to operate both sides from a single shift lever. Looked like a LOT of work, manufacturing backwards derailers and a backwards freewheel body.

He claimed it was "much more efficient" but my opinion was that it was merde du boeuf.

Sheldon "One Is Enough" Brown

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Quote:

Originally Posted by explody pup

Secon-... errr... Thirded!

Uh, thanking you is like thanking my big brother for his collection of vintage Penthouse, you don't know what you did for er to me dude.

Sheldon - what type of stem raiser did you use :) ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhody

Sheldon - what type of stem raiser did you use :) ?

There is no stem raiser. The fork came from a 25" frame Cannondale, the steerer was longer than the Gunnar frame required. I extended the threads and added spacers between the headset adjustable race and the locknut.

Sheldon "Don't Try This At Home" Brown

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Quote:

Originally Posted by eddiebrannan

why the long exposed cable and pulley system for the gears? isn't that vuilnerable to breakage/crud?

That's the standard setup for Sturmey-Archer hubs, aside from being on the left side.

Sheldon "Normal" Brown

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown

...anything...

^^ this is why I love Bike Forums. Thanks Sheldon!

Hmm, that's one sinister bike. I like.

should be a centerpiece for the sheldon brown museum. i just looked at all the close ups and it is one cool funky ride. it's an s.brown masterpiece of mad bicycle science for sure. always outside the box.

I was talking about doing the dual drive fixie earlier this year on the forums but never went ahead and did it... oh well. If you skid the back wheel on a Sturmey ASC do you strip it out?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheldon "Made me a fixed junkie" Brown

Don't all serious cyclists who don't live in the desert have fenders? ;-) Fenders and lights are the accessories that let you tell the serious cyclists from the fair-weather diletanttes!

I concur, nothing like a cyclist who respects the utility of his bike. I drooled over the left hand drive btw...would make my Raleigh more English than the folks who made it. Thanks for converting me to fixed. Maximum respect!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erich Zann

I was talking about doing the dual drive fixie earlier this year on the forums but never went ahead and did it... oh well. If you skid the back wheel on a Sturmet ASC do you strip it out?

I don't know. Mine is geared pretty high, and I've never tried to skid it. These hubs have a reputation for being not the sturdiest things ever made. That's one of the reasons i've got it geared high...less stress on the internals.

Sheldon "Got A Good Front Brake" Brown
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My roomate and I have had conversations about building 3 speed fixies and left hand drive fixies at separate times, but leave it to Sheldon to combine the two and actually go through with it.

Ya know what we also talked about... a 2 wheel drive bike. We still have no idea how we would even begin to try to make it work, but it's an interesting thought.

Don't bother, it exists. KTM, I think. It's crap, of course.

Didn't find the KTM they basically made to promote their 2WD motorcycle they sent to the Dakar Rally, but here's some other 2WD madness: http://www.spicercycles.com/index.cg...0drive%20bikes

Christini also makes one
http://www.christini.com/

Is there a prize for being the first person on this thread to get it?