In a kind of reverse of Singletrack Magazine’s ‘Bike P0rn’ feature, we present ‘Freak of the Week’ bikes…
And to start us off is a creation from Fred Williams’ Cycles. Given a few idle days and some sprockets, the mentalists there couldn’t resist seeing what they could come up with with a chain guide and an extra long chain…
For more on the world of the unbalanced singlespeeder, have a look at the 1FGear website.
Apparently, there’s also a track version of this that has already done a few laps of the Manchester Velodrome under Rob Hayles. Suggestions on how exactly it works are welcome below (we reckon we’ve worked it out)… Enjoy your Monday.
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Presumably you can pedal backwards and still go forwards if such a thing took you fancy.
Surely it wouldnt be very pedal-efficient as the chain wears/stretches?!!
is it one of those bikes where you pedal backwards and you can climb hills in a lower gear?
Just WHY???????
I think ‘just because we can’ is probably the answer to that Michael. You’ve probably never spent a quiet, wet Tuesday afternoon in a bike shop. Things tend to get crazy…
“is it one of those bikes where you pedal backwards and you can climb hills in a lower gear?”
That’s exactly what it is. One of the freewheels is reversed so whichever way you’re pedalling, one freewheel is engaged while the other ‘freewheels’.
Me want 😀
Can you freewheel then? How do you transition from pedalling backwards to forwards at speed?
You slow your forward pedalling motion until you are no longer pedalling, and then either immediately or after a delay of your chosen length, you begin to pedal backwards.
Awesome!
we need a video!
A far as I can work it out both free wheels are normal in the way that they rotate and you can freewheel just like normal. If you pedal backwards you get an easier gear. Pretty simple really. Might be fun over bumps with the chain coming off the chainring at two very different angles and no guide to keep it in place.
You can indeed freewheel normally. The only slight oddity is that you can’t roll the bike backwards.
I know exactly the thought process leading to something like this..
“You’ve probably never spent a quiet, wet Tuesday afternoon in a bike shop. Things tend to get crazy…”
Yup, many a time… Weirder things than this have come out.. DIY quill seatposts and so on
Kent Peterson featured these on his blog (http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2008/12/retro-direction-perfection.html) recently, but they’re a fairly old idea.
I’ve seen Rob Hayles use that (or at least, a track bike similarly equipped) at Manchester Velodrome, it took a couple of minutes for me to work out why it looked odd!
Well, technically, is it a singlespeed then??
A lower gear for going up hill….
there was one without a chain tensioner posted on the forum a couple of years ago.
‘Things tend to get crazy…’
I mean yeah, like totally insane, far out, etc
Now I think about it, I kind of like it. The statement “one of the freewheels is reversed” threw me – actually the chain direction to the inner fw is reversed. So, if you’re pedalling fast enough to engage the outer fw then you drive that. Stop pedalling and both fws fw. Pedal back fast enough to engage the inner fw and you drive that. With a bigger difference in fw sizes it’s worth a go for shits and giggles….
Cheers, al.
Too much:
Spare time?
Spare parts?
Crack Cocaine?
Or all 3?
My melon just melted..I will take another look at this after a few more Sierra Nevada IPA’s…Yeahhhh….
So, you climb hills using your little hamstrings, and ride on the flat with your quads. I suppose it could be used for some muscle balance, if it wasn’t just mad……
“So, you climb hills using your little hamstrings, and ride on the flat with your quads”
Kent Peterson set his up the other way round.
I have no idea what characteristics make a ‘just because we can’ idea actually worth building, but this is definitely approved of!
Sorry if I’ve missed something, but what advantages would running such a set-up on a track bike offer?
“So, you climb hills using your little hamstrings, and ride on the flat with your quads”
Hows that then? surely you push with your quads regardless of which direction you’re pedalling, it’s just that you’re leg angle will be different when pedalling backwards.
If I had the time and a spare bike I’d give it a go. Just don’t try doing it with a cassette single speed adapter and two sprockets. It won’t work 😉
MrSmith says:
March 2, 2009 at 6:52 pm
there was one without a chain tensioner posted on the forum a couple of years ago.
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Eh? How the hell would that work? 🙂
there’s an update from jam on the onefgear website. http://www.onefgear.co.uk. Check out Jams blog.
This bike goes forwards AND backwards, side to side and Back in time…Doh
Well I had a blast down the shop on this today & it’s cracking. The road version has 2 different ratios, MTB is 34:16 both ways due to chainstays….great fun…..cheers Jam.