Dealing with an oily bicycle chain is never fun, especially for cyclists wanting to ride on the open road during the hot summer. Cyclists need not be disappointed any longer, as engineers have come up with a design that could send the chain to the history books.
Danish-based company CeramicSpeed, has showed a revolutionary bike that uses a new type of drivetrain to take power from the pedals to the back wheel. It is claimed that the system creates almost 50 per cent less friction than the most efficient conventional bikes, making it far easier to pedal. The system, called Driven, is one of a series of developments in recent years intended to find an alternative to the traditional chain.
The company insisted that its chainless system is the most efficient to be seen in the industry. The technology, which has been developed in a deal with the mechanical engineering department at the University of Colorado, was introduced at a recent trade show. It uses a pedal to turn a horizontal shaft containing 21 bearings which in turn powers the back wheel.The Driven drivetrain has no chain, making it more than 99 per cent efficient. This means almost none of the power is lost.
The move towards a chainless bike is seen as a worthy goal for bike companies, given the problems many cyclists have with chains. Chains require some oil and cleaning to perform well and also need replacing sometimes.
Sam Jones, senior officer at Cycling UK, said, “I'm sceptical about the efficiency claims of this bike. Shaft-drive bikes have been around for over a century and never taken off because they've always been much less efficient than chain drives. They're more expensive too, because a new frame design is required.”
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