A shaft-driven bicycle is a bicycle that uses a drive shaft instead of a chain to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel. Shaft drives were introduced over a century ago, but were mostly supplanted by chain-driven bicycles due to the gear ranges possible with sprockets and derailleurs.
source/image(PrtSc): The Q
Imagine bicycle without chain. Can it work as well as regular one? Well.. let’s watch this cool experiment and find out. Yes, this prototype works but definitely needs some modifications.
Watch the video from The Q where he builds a custom shaft driven bicycle.You could start with the front end of a bike, and part of a frame, but the whole wheel, shaft drive, gears, and back of the frame will have to be custom.
Advertisement
Instead of using a chain and sprocket set up to rotate the rear wheel, two sets of bevel gears transfer energy to the rear wheel via a drive shaft. The entire drive system is usually housed in an steel tube case that doubles as the right-hand side chainstay of your frame.
