Cooooool

Chainless bicycles! [via Robert]

[W]e’d suspect that most people will have had an unfortunate recollection of an incident involving a de-railed chain, lost skin, grease and perhaps a destroyed garment or two.

Boy, that's for damn sure.

So we like the idea of a bicycle without a chain. US-based Dynacraft has introduced just such a beastie - the Dekra-D Drive bike has an internal drive shaft which offers less maintenance, greater safety and a cleaner solution than a conventional chain-driven bike ...

Comments

[ben]

That sounds pretty cool! I wonder how it does on the efficiency front.

(the bicycle is one of the most efficient mechanical transportation devices ever invented, meaning a very high percentage of your effort goes toward creating forward motion, much moreso than walking or running or skateboarding or whatever. A bunch of this is due to the chain drive and is enhanced by being able to use a range of gears so you can still use optimum effort going up or down hills, etc)

There have been enclosed chains for a long time, particularly handy for those nutjobs that like to ride their bikes in the snow and slush to get to work in the winter, they work pretty well but of course aren't perfect.

Neat stuff!

[pam]

Good question. Also, does the internal drive get f'd up as often as the external chain does? I'd love to test-ride one of these.