Links

fueled by coffee
Gapers' Block
GB a/c
GB drive-thru
GB transmission
GirlReaction
loosetooth
me3dia.com
my flickr
my twitter
Out of 5
poise.cc
project: wall
weightshift
1954

Sites of Interest

Chicago Craft Mafia
Craft:
Design It Yourself
DIY Trunk Show
Instructables
MICA

Shop

Shop Le Weekend
poise.cc
Sugar & Spice
Threadless

Art for Sale

imagekind
RedBubble
Society6

Listening to

Eleni Mandell
PJ Harvey
Camera Obscura
THE POSTAL SERVICE
Neko Case
The Coctails
Rasputina
The Raveonettes

web comics i'm reading

Girls With Slingshots
Questinable Content
Dumbing Of Age

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Archives

09/2003   10/2003   11/2003   12/2003   01/2004   02/2004   03/2004   04/2004   05/2004   06/2004   07/2004   08/2004   09/2004   10/2004   11/2004   12/2004   01/2005   02/2005   03/2005   04/2005   05/2005   06/2005   07/2005   08/2005   09/2005   10/2005   11/2005   12/2005   01/2006   02/2006   03/2006   04/2006   05/2006   07/2006   08/2006   10/2006   12/2006   02/2007   03/2007   07/2007   09/2007   10/2007   12/2007   02/2008   03/2008   09/2008   11/2008   02/2009   03/2009   05/2009   09/2009   11/2009   03/2010   04/2010   06/2010   08/2010   11/2010   04/2011   06/2011   08/2011   11/2011   05/2012   11/2012   03/2014   06/2014   03/2022  

 

Saturday, July 02, 2005

 

Some more bikes

As everyone who reads my blog knows, I like bikes. I've been noticing lots of interesting bikes out there, as I've noted several times on this blog, and the bikes just keep coming. One of the bike companies I've been looking at is biomega, makers of the puma bike. Well, they seem to be at it again with the newest versions of the Amsterdam, a shaft driven bicycle. Though the frame isn't all that special, it is missing one of the chain stays to make way for the shaft drive. I am intrigued by shaft drives; I like the idea of not having to deal with a chain. This seems to be the perfect bike for the casual city rider.

Shaft drives are nothing new; many companies have been building bikes with them. I've just been noticing the lately. Another manufacturer Dynamic Bicycles make an entire line of shaft drives, including the full suspension y framed mountain bike the Outback. The other frames are close to traditional frames, the chain stays are slightly elevated to make room for the drive. Apparently, a shaft drive with 8-speeds is "comparable to 20 gears on a 24-gear chain bike" and such. I've never been a real gear changing type of rider, preferring to stick with the single speed method of riding, even though my main bike is a twelve speed.

On another note, this trike, called shift, was designed by a professor and two students at Purdue University. This is a learning bicycle; it eliminates the need for a parent to hold the seat as the child learns how to balance on two wheels. The bike has two rear wheels that shift into one as the child gains momentum and subsequently learns to balance. From the photos I've seen, it looks to be a belt driven bike. The frame is shaped like a big red z; it is decidedly cool looking with its clean lines and simple rims. If I were a toddler, I'd want this bike. I want this bike anyway, not that I have balance issues, but this would be so cool looking riding down the street. In thinking about that though, if an adult version were to be made, the rear wheels would have to have some sort of suspension for turning and lean, oh well, I just dig this bike.

NOTE: Upon reexamination of the lower illustration at the site, I realized that the two rear wheels shifted completely together in a V formation, I had thought they didn't get that close, so an adult version would be possible with little change; I think I would put an internal shaft drive just for fun.