Sheldon, please tell us, do you have a Sheldon Name-Searcher that notifies you when your name pops in a thread more than once? It seems like magic that you never post unless your name has appeared numerous times. Just the same magic that enables you to never be in Harris when I walk in. Curious.

No. There is way way more torque/force/whatever applied under the gearing on a geared bike, say a MTB rider in the granny ring, regardless of rider strength or ability.

i remember this thread! and reading it again it's obvious that there's no 1 simple answer as to why.

tradition, appearance and clearance issues aside, the mechainical junction at the inside of fork ends should theoretically be stiffer than the front end of a set of long horizontal dropouts.

either way, they both work and are on some awesome frames.

This wasn't about vertical vs horizontal, this was about forward vs backwards.

Not true, my clearance is tight and even flat, if
i had to shift the wheel forwards in the drop outs that whee; woudl not be coming out.

HE he he......you said rear entry.

Answer this question- why do most new ss mtb frames have track ends? On a bike with a rear brake horizontal dropouts would make way more sense.

I guess this is one of the reasons for coaster or disc brakes on a ss.

supposedly paragon machine works is going to start producing 1010b reproduction dropouts in the near future. if i'm getting a custom frame for street riding i want some 1010b's dammit.

Or you can just have a frame built using "real" 1010b's. They're not hard to find at all- harris stocks them, there's a few sets on ebay at any given time, some custom builders even got em..

I don't understand this either. Most SS MTB's run rear brakes, they should have a tensioning system that allows to change gearing without readjusting you brakes. You have 2 options for this, a dropout (forward or rear facing (and I know the rear facing ones are not called dropouts but I'm lazy) with an angle similer to the 1010's or a eccentric BB. I personally think that Disk brakes and track ends are a horrible combo.

Honestly, the reason they have track ends is because it's cheaper that an EBB.

I have read that it is safer atleast for the track

If you are fortunate enough to have a Quickbeam per the Rivendell reference then yes--
though it's strictly not a track bike. A go-anywhere fixed gear. There are other
reasons for brakes. . . .

Exactly. A 22:32 gearing puts massive force spikes through the drivetrain, which is why mtb riders nearly always snap chains accelerating up a steep hill in a low gear.

I do use the Bike Forums search function to search for "sheldon" on a regular basis. I also have similar searches for various bicycle-related Usenet groups. I subscribe to a ton of bike related email listservs, and have a filter that notifies me whenever "sheldon" appears. Good thing my name isn't Joe!

Due to my health problems and resulting limited mobility, lately I've mostly been telecommuting, and only going into the shop for a few hours on Friday afternoons. These days I'm spending my working time maintaining the Website, answering tech questions by email, and on various online fora like this one.

The only things I really need to go into the shop for are doing photography of new parts and such, and to pick up my paycheck...

Sheldon "Gimpy" Brown

Someone please photoshop Commissioner Gordon turning on the sheldon-signal!

:)

Haha. To the Sheldon Shop!

Sheldon, I hope your health improves and you keep riding! We all appreciate everything you've done.