SHAFT-DRIVE BICYCLES

this shows how far behind the times i am, when it comes to bicycles. during an online chat with my best friend last night, we were talking about motorcycles and shifted (as it were) to bicycles. he mentioned several tech innovations which are new to me, among them direct-drive or shaft-drive bikes. wow. the last bike i had was 35 years ago, a very nice motobecane 10-speed with (of course) a chain drive.

as a motorcyclist, i have a clear preference for a shaft drive over the more traditional chain or belt drive. the power train is self-enclosed, with no need for cleaning or tightening chains or belts. my 1982 honda silver wing (the last year it was sold as a 500cc, before going up to 650cc) had a shaft drive, and it was sweet to ride.

so it makes perfect sense to introduce the technology to bicycles, and i'm surprised no one thought of it sooner. here is a link to one manufacturer, and here is a link explaining the construction. i'm just entering the learning curve, so cannot offer recommendations yet. but stay tuned.